Comments on: How to Make Homemade Yogurt

on 6/10/2009 How soon milk curdles into yogurt depends on the atmospheric temperature. I live at the equator and I make yogurt as follows: Boil a litre of milk and allow it to cool. In the mean time, smear the base and sides of a glass container or any other container with one or two table spoons of starter yogurt- which can be the remains of previously made yogurt or from a store-bought cup of plain yogurt. While the milk is slightly warm or almost going to get cold, I pour into the prepared mould and cover it and leave it for about 6-7 hrs to set. Once set, I store it in the fridge. I make it with skimmed milk and it comes out well. It is in fact light and refreshing.

on 12/4/2008 I culture my yogurt in a crock pot. I set up a water bath in the crock pot,pour the mixture into a beanpot (The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evaporation and heat loss, while the deep, wide, thick-walled body of the pot facilitates long, slow cooking times), and place the lid on the crockpot. I monitor the temperatures using an "instant read" thermometer. My crockpot (slow cooker) holds a temperature of 120 degrees on the "warm" setting. I check the water temperature every half-hour or so, turning the crockpot on and off as necessary.
I've also done the set-up at bedtime, turning the crockpot off and wraping the entire thing in a heavy towel when the proper temperature is attained. In the morning the yogurt is ready for refrigeration.

on 5/27/2008 This yogurt was very easy to make and the end result was a yogurt that wasn't as tart as some of the commercial brands and it was a LOT cheaper! Fortunately, one of our local grocery stores has milk on sale every couple of weeks, sometimes as low as $2.00 a gallon, which makes this recipe even more thrifty. The most difficult thing about this recipe was waiting for the milk to cool down. A candy thermometer is essential! This would be a good science experiment for kids.