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From Scratch Yogurt
 
Finding a recipe for yogurt in my culinary textbook when I was in chef school was my first food “eureka” moment. The simple, two-ingredient recipe totally changed my approach to food. When buying yogurt, I used to feel overwhelmed and almost frustrated at the selection. I found flavoured yogurts too sweet and the ingredients questionable. Almost all of them contained some sort of ‘natural flavour’, or filler.

Once you start making your own yogurt, you may never go back to store bought. This is the perfect from-scratch staple to add to your healthy cooking routine and it’s magic watching it thicken up on your counter.
Ingredients
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt, store bought (make sure “live active cultures” are listed on the label) or reserved from previous batch
Method
  1. Heat milk in heavy bottomed saucepot over medium until scalding (just before first boil), and temperature on digital thermometer shows 185°F.
  2. Take off heat and let cool until just warm to the touch and temperature shows 110°F, about 10-15 minutes.
  3. Once cooled, whisk in yogurt, cover with lid and place in a warm spot for several hours or overnight. The inside of an oven with the light left on, on top of a heating pad, or even wrapped in tea towels are all great ideas. The residual heat from the pot helps with the incubation time. Note: Seasonal fluctuations in kitchen temperatures can influence fermenting time.
  4. Once thickened, stir and store in clean glass jar (s) in fridge for up to 2 weeks, making sure to reserve ¼ of this homemade yogurt for the next batch. First time making yogurt you will notice that it is not as thick as store bought and also milder in flavour. The flavours will develop the more you make it.
Tizz's Tips
I have accidentally forgotten about the fact that I have milk cooling, and yes, have added the yogurt to the milk at a variety of temperatures. Oops. All this will do is prolong the time it takes the yogurt to set.

Yes, you can make this recipe using low fat milk, however, the fattier the milk, the creamier the yogurt.

When buying store bought yogurt for your first batch, look for the one with the most bacterial cultures listed.

Want Greek Yogurt? Drain yogurt in cheesecloth lined strainer fit over bowl overnight in your fridge. This strains off its liquid whey. Use this whey to make sauerkraut.