Homemade Greek Yogurt

Today I made homemade yogurt. Do you like yogurt?  This is the way to go, homemade is better AND you know the ingredients, especially the sugar content.  You will need half a gallon of milk, your choice, whole, 2%, 1%, or nonfat.  Buy milk that you would drink.  You will need a yogurt starter, which is already prepared yogurt.  A single serving cup of good yogurt, not the cheap stuff.  I used Fage Greek yogurt.

Do you like Greek yogurt?

 

Ingredients for this recipe are: 6 cups milk, and single serving cup of Greek Yogurt (room temperature).  I used an 8 qt. Stainless Steel stock pot to cook the milk in, and a 1/2 gallon 

mason jar for the yogurt.

 Pour milk into cold pan, turn burner onto Medium.  Using a thermometer to guide you, heat

 the milk to 185 Fahrenheit,  when it reaches temperature maintain this temperature and 

scald the milk for 30minutes.

 

 After scalding the milk place pan in sink filled half full with water and plenty of ice.
You will need to cool your milk to 110 Fahrenheit before continuing.

Time to pitch the yogurt, put a few tablespoons of you cooled milk with the yogurt and stir.
Do this a couple more times to bring yogurt to temperature.  Pour the milk in the mason jar,
and add the yogurt to it and stir gently (not too much).

 Wrap your jar in a heating pad set to medium.  The yogurt needs to remain warm for 7 hours,
 this will produce the right amount of thickness and tang. 

 After seven hours mix the yogurt, and remove from the heat.

 Strain your yogurt in a cheesecloth lined colander over a bowl and put yogurt in an airtight
container of your choice and refrigerate.  The liquid in the bowl is Whey, you may use it in
place of liquids in a myriad of recipes, bread, pancakes, smoothies, or drink it as is.  Your
yogurt will reach its peak thickness within the first 24 hours.  

The yogurt is complete, and we didn't use any sugar, so you may add honey, jam, cut
up fruit, the choices are endless and all within your grasp.

Enjoy!