I decided to make my own homemade Yogurt after reading an article in Costco Connection, Costco’s monthly magazine last month. I am not fond of buying kitchen gadgets that may be used only for only one purpose such as a yogurt maker. They just take counter or cabinet space after the initial craze dies out. So I decided to make my homemade yogurt in a regular glass casserole.

Here is how I did it:

1. Got the most natural yogurt I could get from the local supermarket that was labelled with “live cultures” to use as a starter. There are very little “live cultures” in store bought yogurts as these product are pasteurized, which kills most of the bacterial cultures.
2. Heated 1 cup of milk in the microwave to the boiling point. This takes between 1½ to 2 minutes
3. Let the milk cool back to room temperature to slightly warm
4. Added 2 tablespoons of the store bought yogurt as the starter to the milk and mixed well.
5. Warmed the oven for 3 minutes and turned it off. Put the milk-yogurt mix in the warmed oven and left it there overnight.

The yogurt from the first round tasted like sour milk and did not form any curds. Texture and flavor were both missing. I followed the steps above again, except that I used the “yogurt” from the first round as the starter for the second round. I repeated these steps 2 more times, each time using the “yogurt” from the prior batch. This helped to increase the amount of starter bacteria in each subsequent round.  

I got the my first batch of edible yogurt from the 4th round and finally a close to a perfect batch in the seventh round. The homemade yogurt has a very different texture from the store bought yogurt and can take some time to get used to it. However, it is definitely cheaper and healthier.

A few of more tips if you decide to make some yogurt for yourself:

1. 2% milk is the best to make yogurt at home. You can make it with skim milk, just remember it will very runny.
2. If you live in warm part of the country, you may not need the oven. You can leave the milk-yogurt starter mix in the a cover bowl on the counter-top.
3. It may take upto 24 hours for the yogurt to firm up and ferment to your taste.
4. Refrigerate once the yogurt is ready and consume within 2-3 days. It will not last forever like the store bought yogurt.
5. Remember to save some yogurt to be used a starter for the next time.

Enjoy a better digestive health with homemade yogurt!!

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