Homestead Skills: Homemade Vanilla Yogurt

There are lots of reasons to get started making your own yogurt.  Not only is homemade yogurt a frugal choice, it's also an extremely delicious (and healthy!) one!  I promise it's not as intimidating as it seems, and I hope you'll try it out and see for yourself how wonderfully creamy this yogurt can be!  Need more convincing?  Read on!

Reasons to Make Homemade Yogurt

There are a lot of good reasons to make your own homemade yogurt.  I started making it for a couple of reasons and in the process found even more reasons why making your own yogurt can be a really wonderful thing.  

• Homemade yogurt is delicious.  This yogurt has a very rich and creamy texture, almost like an ice cream treat.  There are so many things you can do to it, too, to make it even more delicious, which I'll touch on next...
• Homemade yogurt is versatile.  You can really play around with this to make it your own.  We like to add honey to ours to make it sweet, and we've added strawberry jam (really yummy!) and sprinkles too.  Cut up fruit is another great thing to add to this wonderful treat to pack in some more nutrition to this already nutritious food.  Which leads to reason number three...
  
• Homemade yogurt is healthy.  I like to support my gut which is why I ferment a lot of foods.  The fermentation process of the yogurt is great for your digestive system as it is feeds the good bacteria that serve as probiotics.  If you choose to use a natural sweetener, like honey, then this yogurt can be an even healthier option.  Not to mention that by making it homemade you are in complete control of what goes into the product.  No extra fillers or preservatives making their way into this girl's yogurt!  I know exactly what I put in and what's going into my family's mouths.
  
• Homemade yogurt is sustainable.  Once you have your own yogurt started, you can continue to create your own yogurt by saving some and using it as starter for the next batch.  Never buy store bought yogurt again!
  
• Homemade yogurt is frugal.  This is one of the main reasons I started making my own yogurt.  It saves money!  A gallon of milk cost me about $3.20 + the starter was $0.75 + the vanilla which was about $4.00 (and you don't use a whole bottle of vanilla each time, so this cost really should be lessened).  I can use those ingredients to make about 4 quarts and 1 pint of yogurt for a grand total of about $8.00.  Compare that to the commercially bought yogurt.  It's about $2.75 for a quart of yogurt at my grocery store (not organic).  That means it would cost me $12.50 to buy the yogurt- which is $4.50 more than making it!  For the little effort it takes me, I'll save the money!
  

So are you convinced?  Let's get started then!

Homemade Vanilla Yogurt

Disclosure:  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon of whole milk
• Vanilla extract (to taste)
• 1 cup of vanilla yogurt (pick a good brand like Dannon or Yoplait.  You don't want to go cheap here.  Also don't choose a Greek yogurt- I haven't had good luck with those and using a Greek yogurt starter won't make you Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sweetener (sugar or honey *note that honey may change the consistency slightly)

Other Materials Needed:

• Quart jars and lids
• Large stock pot
• Cooler
• Food Thermometer (I use my meat thermometer and it works well!)

Directions:​

• Before starting, sterilize your jars by boiling them for 10 minutes or washing them in the dishwasher.
• Get two large stockpots on the stove, one filled with water and one filled with the gallon of milk.  You're going to heat both the milk and the water.  You'll want the water to come to around 120 degrees.  Once it's there, you can pour it into the cooler and close the lid.  This is where your yogurt will ferment.  The milk will need to be brought to a temperature of between 185-190 degrees.  There is more work to be done with the milk!

• While the milk is warming, fill the sink with cold ice water and prepare your jars.
• When the milk reaches between 185-190 degrees, place the pot filled with the milk into the sink full of cold ice water to cool the milk.  Cool the milk until it reaches around 120 degrees.

• As the milk is cooling, stir in your sweetener and yogurt starter with a whisk.  Be sure it is well incorporated with the milk.
• Place the milk mixture into your jars and screw on the lids tightly.

• Place the jars in the cooler filled with the 120 degree water and close the lid.  The jars should be almost completely under water.  Place the cooler in a warm place for 3-5 hours.  As tempting as it is, don't open the cooler beforehand!

• After 3-5 hours, your yogurt should be ready to come out of the cooler.  Put it in the refrigerator to set more. 

**A few notes:

• Without the added fillers, sometimes yogurt batches are runnier than other times.  If you have a particularly runny yogurt, you can strain it using a coffee filter.  
• If you're unhappy with the consistency, runny yogurt is also great in smoothies!

If you liked this and would like to support me as I build this blog, please SHARE ​on Facebook and Pinterest.

Share