Yogurt making!

Last week, I made yogurt.

It was pretty awesome, and now I'm totally hooked.

The Husband and I have been trying to buy organic dairy products, and while we've completely made the switch with milk, we are often frustrated by the cost of organic yogurt and cheese.  But, I made a quart of organic yogurt for about a $1.50 worth of organic milk, so that was very cool.

For the project, I borrowed a Donvier Yogurt maker from some friends, but the yogurt maker is really just for the incubation part... it is  machine with individual yogurt cups that keeps the cups at a constant temperature for 10-14 hours so the cultures can do their thing.  The interwebs are all full of DIY yogurt incubator ideas, so if you don't have access to a yogurt maker machine, don't sweat it.

Here's what I did:
I gently heated a quart of milk over medium heat on the stovetop, checking with a candy thermometer to be sure the milk didn't get over 185 degrees (F).  Once it reached that hot, I turned the burner off and monitored the milk until it got back to about 115 degrees.  Then, I added a few tablespoons of store bought plain yogurt with live active cultures to a bowl, and poured over it a ladle full of the hot milk.  Once the milk and yogurt were stirred together, I added that mixture back to the full pot of 115 degree milk on the stove top and stirred thoroughly.

Then, I poured all the milk into the yogurt cups that came with the machine and kept them warm for 12 hours overnight.  In the morning, I had yogurt, which I popped in the fridge.  This yogurt is delicious with a drizzle of honey, a dollop of sugar-free strawberry preserves, or in smoothies.  I am making a couple recipes this week that will feature the yogurt as well.  Yummm!