Yogurt

We go through a lot of yogurt in our house. By a lot, I mean we could easily down a 2 pound container in a day.

So I was very interested in this post about making yogurt. While something about it seemed so, um...gross...I was still interested. And the more I read, the more I thought, "you know, I think I could do this!"

After consulting with several other granola moms (my mom, one of the original hippy earth mothers, my sister in law Jenn, and my friend Katrina) I decided that yes indeed, I could and would try this. Katrina's husband said he even made it himself using the top of his fridge to keep the milk warm and cozy...to which Katrina responded, "in which country?" "Ann Arbor" was the response. Got to love TCKs...

Anyway,
So, yesterday, I made my first attempt. Basically it works like this (if you want the full directions, check out this tutioral out.)

First you...ok back up ( I know, I really haven't even started but hang with me on this)

First First, you need to sterilize your equipment, but I didn't get a photo, so you'll have to go to the tutorial to check that out.

Then, you head your milk in a water jacket until it reaches 185 degrees F. Stir occasionally.


Next, you need to cool that said milk down to 110 degrees. I used a ice cold bath for the pot in my kitchen sink.


Then, you add about 3 tablespoons of a starter yogurt (I bought some at the store...oh and it has to be plain, with live active cultures in it.) Mix that in good.

Now it's time to put the yogurt to bed for about 7 hours. Put the pot on a heating pad in a quiet corner of the kitchen. Make sure to cover it up all nice and sing a little song...you could probably skip that part. Anyway. Leave it alone for 7 hours to do it's thing. And if your heating pad is like mine, make sure to reset it ever hour, so it will keep the pot warm.


After the 7 hour wait, pour your almost yogurt into a container, stick it in the coldest part of the fridge and leave it overnight. In the morning you will have plain yogurt. And you make as much yogurt as you had milk...so we made about 1/2 gallon!


You can add all kinds of things to make your favorite flavor...this morning Forrest and I had it with fresh strawberries...so yummy! And yes, I will be making this again!