March was Ethan's month to do a presentation for 4-H. He decided that presenting how to make homemade yogurt would be fun and he even brought samples to pass out. We followed the instructions from here.
Ethan during his presentation.
Heat one gallon of whole milk to 185-190 degrees in a heavy bottomed stock pot.
Keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
We used a candy thermometer and checked the temperature often. It took while to heat up, be patient. :)
Put cold water in the sink to quickly cool the milk to 120 degrees.
This part doesn't take long.
Next add your yogurt starter to the cooled milk. This is just 1 cup of plain store bought yogurt. You can also save some from a previous homemade batch to use. Be sure to whisk it well so that the starter is thoroughly incorporated into the milk.
If you want to make a vanilla version add 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar and 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla to the mixture. We added 1 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of vanilla. We don't like the plain yogurt, tastes like sour cream to us. :)
Carefully pour the mixture into sterilized jars and put on lids. Our favorites are the plastic screw on kind, but we also use lids and rings.
Place the jars in a cooler and add water that is heated to 120 degrees 3/4ths of the way up the jar.
Place in the warm place and let sit for 3 hours. We found 4 1/2 hours was better. The yogurt was nice and firm at 3 hours it was still a little runny. Don't wiggle the yogurt during this process it can cause the yogurt not to set up.
After it's firm, place it the refrigerator. It lasts one week after being opened and one month if sealed.
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