With it’s abundant probiotics, yogurt is incredibly healthy. But at $5-$6 a quart for the quality products, it can sure eat into the monthly food budget especially in a family the size of ours. For about two years, I tried numerous methods to make my own yogurt. But the results were hit or miss. Finally, my friend, Jen, shared her dehydrator yogurt making method with me. Occasionally I still have a batch that “flops,” but it’s very rare. Rather than pre-sweetening yogurt, I like to make it plain. It’s more versatile that way. From there it’s easy to turn it into Greek yogurt (I’ll get that recipe uploaded soon), or even cream cheese (also coming soon). Or it’s easy to sweeten it with honey, stevia, raw sugar, or whatever you prefer. Our kids love to make smoothies with berries and yogurt.
- Pour 4 cups of milk into a saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat until it reaches 185-195 degrees.
- Let the milk cool until it reaches 110 degrees stirring occasionally. Stirring prevents a film from forming. But if you forget to stir (like I usually do), just skim the film off the top.
- Whisk in 1 heaping tablespoon of yogurt with active cultures. I use plain yogurt with no extra ingredients.
- Transfer the milk/yogurt mixture to glass jars. I use two pint size jars, but you can also use one quart jar. Put lids on the jars.
- Remove the trays from the dehydrator, and place the jars inside. *
- Turn the dehydrator on to 105 degrees and put the cover on.
- Let the yogurt incubate for 8-10 hours.
- Remove the jars from the dehydrator and place in the refrigerator. Yogurt will continue to thicken in the refrigerator.
* You don't need a dehydrator to make this recipe. It's my preferred method because it keeps the temperature constant, but there are other ways to incubate the yogurt without it. For example, you can wrap the jars with towels and place in a cooler with the lid closed, place the jars in the oven with the light on, or place the jars in a crock pot with the lid open. The important thing is to keep the temperature constant at around 105 degrees. Not all ovens and crock pots are the same, so be sure to check the temperature of whatever you're using.
This recipe is also easy to double or quadruple which I often do for our family.