A couple of months ago, I started making my own yogurt at home. Two things brought this on: 1) on the final day of our neighborhood farmer’s market in November, I bought some fresh yogurt and learned that it was so much better than most commercial yogurt, and 2) a few weeks after that, my sister mentioned that she had been making homemade yogurt so I figured that I could be doing it too. A quick internet search informed me that it was really quite simple to do.

Although making yogurt does take a good chunk of time from start to finish, it doesn’t require much active time. All you need is a reliable kitchen thermometer, some milk (I’ve been doing a half gallon each week which results in 4 to 6 servings of yogurt), and some prepared “starter” yogurt. The starter yogurt is where you get your active cultures from so you need to make sure you buy a yogurt that contains active live cultures. Once you have made your first batch of yogurt, you can use that as the starter yogurt the next time (I do buy a fresh starter yogurt every so often just because I don’t like the idea of some part of my yogurt, however small, being more than a couple of months old.)

In a pot, heat the milk over low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching. When the milk reaches 180 degrees (at which point any bad bacteria will be killed), remove from heat and allow to cool back down to 115 degrees. Once the milk has cooled, whisk in a couple of tablespoons of prepared yogurt. The final step is to incubate the yogurt for at least 6 hours so that the live cultures can do their business. The yogurt must be kept between 110 degrees and 90 degrees during this time in order to avoid killing off the cultures. There are several methods you can use here. My preference is to put the yogurt into a large, clean jar, insert the thermometer, top the jar with foil, wrap it with a few kitchen towels and place it in the oven. If the temperature begins approach 90 degrees, I turn the oven on to the lowest setting (around 100 degrees) for a few minutes. I have found that the temperature of the yogurt doesn’t drop too much over time unless it is really cold in my apartment. In fact, I rarely need to turn the oven on at all; once winter is over, I may just leave the yogurt out on the counter to culture. I’ve heard that leaving the oven’s pilot light on is sometimes all you need to maintain the correct temperature. You can also use the hot water bath method (for example, filling an insulated ice chest with hot water and putting the container of yogurt in it.) Or, if you are in doubt, you can always buy a yogurt maker.

After 6 hours, check the yogurt to see if it has thickened to your liking. If not, let it rest for longer, checking again every hour or so. So far, my yogurt has been ready at 6 hours every time. The result is a much milder yogurt than you get at the grocery store. It has much more of a smooth milk flavor than the tangy commercial yogurt you may be used to (although, I’ve heard that the longer you let it incubate, the more sour it becomes.) Homemade yogurt also tends to be a bit stringier in texture which is kind of strange at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. My favorite way to eat homemade yogurt is topped with honey and toasted walnuts, although I’m sure in the summer I will enjoy it often with fresh fruit.

What started out at first as a kitchen science experiment has become a weekly thing in my household. One of my favorite things about making yogurt at home is the lack of waste. I always felt so guilty “recycling” those tiny plastic cups all the time. Now, I am getting my milk in returnable glass bottles from Golden Glen Creamery in Bow, Washington (via either Madison Market or Pike Place Creamery.) The only thing that gets thrown away is the cap to the milk! Robert calls this my hippie yogurt and claims I should be living on a commune somewhere. He’s trying to make fun of me but, if doing something that is good for the earth, good for the local farmers, good for me and happens to taste great makes me a hippie, than so be it!