Debi's: Yogurt Making Recipe

[DeejayDebi]

I used the Dannon brand as a starter when I haven't made yogurt in awhile and find it very good. I'm sure you have a recipe for what you did around here somewhere but I am still finding my way around. This is how I make mine:

A pot large enough to hold 1 gallon of milk

1  or 2 heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt (with active yogurt cultures – I use Dannon)

1/3 cup of carnation powdered milk

 
You can use any kind of milk 1%, 2% whole milk or skim. I prefer whole milk because it’s creamier but I often use 2% milk just to lower the cost.

If you are using skimmed milk and want it a little creamier you could add a pinch of Knox unflavored gelatin if you want or a bit more powdered milk.  Stay away from Ultra pasteurized milk if you can.


1.   Set the milk and the yogurt out at room temperature for about an hour to warm it up. This will make heating the milk go faster.

2.   Take your pot and place it on the stove.

3.   Pour in the milk I the pot and heat it on medium high

4.   Add In the powdered milk and mix well

5.   Heat the milk to 170°F to kill off any bacteria or germs that may be in there. Stir to keep the milk from burning on the bottom.

6. Let the milk cool to 100°F

7. Warm your oven at it lowest setting  and turn it off leaving the light on.

8. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt in a small bowl.

9. Add some of the warm milk to the yogurt and mix well. This will make it thinner ad easier to add to the warm milk.

10. Add this mixture to the warm milk and mix well

11. Place the pot in your warm oven with the light on and leave it for 4 to 8 hours without disturbing. After about 4 hours it will be thickening. I leave it overnight and check it in the morning.

12. By morning you will have a pot of nice plain unflavored yogurt! Congratulations! Chill it for a few hours and it will be wonderfully tart yogurt you made all by yourself!

I like to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract - I find for naturally sweet fruits like mangoes you don't need any sugar if you add vanilla.
Webmaster Note: Split off Debi's excellent yogurt toppings into new Topic here.

[Cheese Head]

Debi, great minds think alike, very similar to where I've evolved to with this standard recipe.

I've found that re-pasteurizing to high temp even with store bought pasteurized milk helps as does thoroughly mixing in the yogurt starter. Also, my daughter bought me a cheap yogurt making machine, which makes it very simple.

[DeejayDebi]

Hey John we even have the same corningware pans!

When my boy was little I got a few of those little cup maker thingys. I think Salton made them. Anyway it only made 6 cups so if I was lucky we'd have enough yogurt for a day or two assuming no friends came over.

By the time he got to the 1st grade I had two of those things and still always out of yogurt!

One day I made a big pot 2 gallons I was going to try putting it on the coringware fryer on low in another pot like a double boiler and he fell and had to go to the ER for stitches. Well we were there all night - I left the yogurt in the oven so the cats wouldn't get it and acidently left the light on. We came home and had the best yogurt ever! Been doing it that way ever since!