How to Make Liquid Yogurt

If you like yogurt, you'll be pleased to learn that you can make it easily in your own kitchen for less than it costs to buy in the store-- and you can adjust the ingredient amounts until you find the consistency and flavoring that you like best. The only essentials to good yogurt are a yogurt starter with live cultures, the proper temperature, and sterile equipment.

Things You'll Need

• Canning jars and lids
• 1 qt. to 1 gallon skim, low-fat or whole milk
• Instant nonfat dry milk
• Sugar or liquid Sucralose
• Glass cooking thermometer
• 8 oz. plain or vanilla store-bought yogurt with live cultures

Instructions

1. Boil your canning jars and lids to sanitize them, and take your yogurt out of the refrigerator.

2. Stir the milk and milk powder together in a stainless steel pot. The amount of powder you use determines how liquid or solid the final product will be. Using 2 qts. skim milk with 1/2 cup powder results in a runny consistency; if you add 1 cup powder, the result will be a pudding-like consistency.

3. Add sugar or Sucralose to taste. Two qts. milk needs about 1 cup sugar to taste sweet, but only 2 tsp. of Sucralose. There's a huge calorie difference between the two.

4. Heat the liquid slowly while stirring it frequently. Fill your sink with water and ice cubes while the milk is heating. Remove the milk from the heat when it reaches 190 to 200 degrees F. Place it in the sink to cool quickly.

5. Keep your thermometer in the pot and watch it as the milk cools. Take the pot out of the water when the milk temperature reaches about 115 to 118 degrees F. Add the yogurt to the milk and stir well but slowly.

6. Pour the milk into the canning jars and cover them. Put the jars in the oven and turn on the oven light. The idea is to let the yogurt incubate at 110 degrees F, and the low-wattage light in your oven will generally keep the yogurt around this temperature. A sunny window may also work well.

7. Let the milk incubate from 3 to 6 hours. Set your oven timer to remind you. Tilt the jars to see if the yogurt has started to coagulate. If it has, put the jars in the refrigerator. The yogurt will last 2 to 3 weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• Before adding your store-bought yogurt to the pot of milk, pour it into a bowl, add 1 cup of the warm milk mixture and stir well. This makes it easier to combine with the rest of the milk. Set 1 cup yogurt aside in a separate container to use as a starter for your next batch.

Resources

• Making Yogurt at Home