Homemade Yogurt

I like to make my own homemade yogurt.It is easy to do. It doesn't take much time and is much more economical than store bought yogurt.

In 1974 when all the family was constantly exchanging recipes, we finally all got together and created a “Family Cookbook”. Everyone put in at least one favorite recipe and sometimes more than that.

One family member collected and organized all the recipes and made comments about each one. They were then typed up….remember this was before the days of personal computers! And fortunately one person was working for a printing company. He had all the pages printed and collated and gave everyone a “Family Cookbook” for Christmas.

I still have mine even though it is very worn and held together with a rubber band.

I have a Salton Yogurt maker. My recipe for yogurt is as follows.

I take one quart of milk and add ¼ cup of powdered milk and heat it in the microwave for about eight minutes…..until it is just below boiling. I then let it cool to 110 degrees. If I am in a hurry, I set the container in cold water and bring the temperature down quickly. At that point I add1/3 cup of yogurt that I have saved from the last batch or that I have from some storebought yogurt. I stir it thoroughly and set it into the heated Yogurt maker. And that is it! In about 4-6 hours, the yogurt is set and I can chill it in the refrigerator…..ready to use.

I use yogurt on cereal, as a topping for fruit or dessert, and many times as a substitute for sour cream in cooking. It would be hard to run my kitchen without it.

I am amused by the recipe that I used to use before the Salton Yogurt maker. The recipe came from the Last Whole Earth Catalog This recipe called for:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

Heat one cup of water to boiling and pour over the powdered milk. Mix well.

Add the rest of the water, the milk and the evaporated milk. The mix should be about 115 degrees. Add the yogurt as the starter. Mix well and cover the bowl and put into the preheated oven. Turn the oven off and let the yogurt brew for 8 to 10 hours.

I used to make this in the evening and in the morning, the homemade yogurt was ready to use.

As you can see, the recipe that I use for homemade yogurt now for is simpler and easy to do. Try it. You will like it!