Our “Dairyman’s Daughter” Makes Yogurt

My dear daughter, Lydia, makes yogurt for us every week (family of five) by the half gallon. It really isn’t hard at all. Here are the steps she gave me:

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Needed (ingredients may be halved):

Clean, scalded half-gallon Mason jar with a lid

7 cups of milk (whole, 2%, 1% OR 6 cups re-constituted powdered milk with 1 cup whole or evaporated; keep in mind that the less fat it has, the less creamy it will be)

1 c. powdered milk (if using all fluid milk)

2-4 T. commercial plain yogurt with live cultures (may be frozen by the tablespoon in ice cube trays, then thawed when ready to use)

1 T. powdered gelatin

1/4 c. *cold* water (to soften gelatin – hot water won’t work!)

large saucepan

candy thermometer

heating pad

old, clean blanket or mattress cover

1. Heat milk in saucepan over low heat with candy thermometer attached to side of pan with tip in milk. Bring to 180 degrees, stirring occasionally.

2. Immediately pour into sterilized jar.

3. If using all non-powdered milk, you may stir in a cup of powdered milk while it is still hot.

4. Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the jar with the tip in the milk. Let cool to 125 degrees.

5. In the meantime, soften gelatin in COLD water and set aside.

6. At 125 degrees, pour about 1 cup of the milk into a bowl and add the yogurt. Stir to combine.

7. Whisk yogurt mixture into milk in jar.

8. Whisk gelatin mixture into milk in jar until well dissolved.

9. Screw on lid tightly.

10. Wrap tightly in a heating pad or place on top of heating pad.

11. Wrap this in blanket or mattress cover.

12. Set in a warm place (on top of refrigerator or on dryer, if using it) with heating pad set on low.

13. Let incubate for 8-10 hours depending on the temperature of your home.

14. Immediately remove to refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (may take awhile).

15. Keep refrigerated.

Stir-ins per cup:

Sweeteners: honey, sugar, syrup, Splenda or some other grody (is that a word?) artificial stuff you may like, a little fruit juice, sweet fruit, or some just like it plain

1 tsp. vanilla with sweetener of choice

fruit of all kinds

preserves of all kinds (may omit sweetener)

nuts and seeds

granola or cereal

or just use your imagination!

You can find more instructions with pictures at Lydia’s blog along with some savings tips for making yogurt:

http://pearlsgleanings.blogspot.com/2007/08/yogurt-making.html

http://pearlsgleanings.blogspot.com/2007/08/frugal-yogurt-tips.html

Some good resources for making your own yogurt:

Whole Foods for the Whole Family
More With Less Cookbook
Nourishing Traditions

An online tutorial which Lydia found very helpful when learning to make yogurt:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/yogurt_making/YOGURT2000.htm

You might also put “making yogurt” in your search bar and see what else is out there.

If you run into any snags, you may ask Lydia in the comments section of her blog. Write and let us know how it turns out!

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