Yogurt Making Tutorial

I thought that I put together a tutorial on how to make yogurt.  I have been making yogurt for a bit and I have been getting some questions so I though that I would actually photograph the whole process (something I am bad at doing since I forget until I am half way through.)




How to Make Yogurt

1 Start with a pan, I like a pan that is easy to clean and somewhat wide on the bottom.

2 You'll need some milk, I am using whole milk this time but feel free to use what ever milk you want.  I normally use 2% but I thought I would try Homo milk to see the difference. Apparently reduced fat milks produce rather firm yogurt since the manufacturers add milk proteins to cover up for the lack of fat.  I haven't made yogurt with skim milk but it might be something I try in the future.

3 Pour the milk into the pot.  I know this is basic stuff, but sometimes it is necessary to spell everything out step by step

4 Time to take it's temperature.  I insert a probe thermometer in to the milk, but not touching the bottom of the pan.  I use a binder clip (I had to look up the name of it) with an elastic to hold the probe off the bottom of the pan.  I channeled some MacGyver here, I am pretty impressed by myself.

5 Turn the heat on low and let it heat up.  I would stir every so often and keep a lit on partially.  The common temperature that the milk is heated to is 180-190F but I didn't know that my temp alarm on the thermometer was broken and it was heated up to 210F and it still turned out well. The process of heating the milk concentrates the proteins and denatures the whey protein lactoglobulin.  You can try to keep the milk temp at 190F for a little bit to help this process along.  Commercial yogurt producers keep the milk at 185F for 30 minutes or 195F for 10 minutes.  They also add dry milk powder to increase the protein content of the milk.

6 While the milk is heating, take some yogurt from an earlier batch or from a commercially produced yogurt (make sure it says active cultures on the container) and let it come to room temperature.  You will need 2-4 tbsp per 1 liter of milk.  What you're doing is adding the culture into the milk which slowly spreads it way through the milk giving it the texture and taste of yogurt.

6a While the milk is heating turn on the oven light.  I find that this produces enough warms to keep the milk mixture warm so that the bacteria keeps growing.


7 Once the milk has made it to the desired temp, this took 35 minutes for me today, I usually take it to 190F  Today I will try to keep it at 180F - 190F for 15 minutes to see how it changes the final product (I do this by . To take it off the heat and let the milk cool to 110F. *If you do keep it at temp for a bit you will probably have to skim the skin off the top*. The cooling process took about 20 minutes.

8 Once cooled it is time to whisk in the room temp yogurt.  This will create bubbles, but it will also break up any skin that develops during the cooling process.

9 Pour the still warm milk mixture into a washed, still warm glass jar or container. I love my Weck Jars (I have seen them in publications for years but I finally found some in Vancouver.  I bought 2-1l jars especially for making yogurt.)  

10 I like to wrap the filled jars to keep it warm.


11 Place the jar into the oven with the door closed and the oven light on and let it sit there for 6-12 hours.  The long that you leave it the thicker and tangier it will become.  I keep experimenting with the time that works in my batches and I think the longer the better.  Remember that since this yogurt doesn't contain any preservatives it will continue to "mature" in the fridge, although not a great deal.

12 After the yogurt has been kept warm for the desired time, then it is time to chill and then enjoy.

Yogurt Time

I came across a post about whether you should bother buying a yogurt making or if it is just something to take up counter space.  And this lead me to 3 articles about making yogurt at home without buying a unitasker.  My favourite article was by Harold McGee, know for his food science book "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" which is a great book if you want to know why cooking works the way it does and why ingredients change they way they do when cooking.


The yogurt making process is rather simple and I can see why you don't need a yogurt maker to make it.


Making Yogurt


You can use almost any type of milk to make yogurt, although skim milk makes a thin and a little grainy yogurt.  I would suggest using whole or 2% milk to start and if you want try 1% or skim milk. You can always add a package of gelatin to the warmed milk to make a firmer yogurt.


1 For every liter of milk your cooking you'll need 2 tbsp of yogurt, either from a previous batch or from commercially produced yogurt (preferably, live culture and plain.  You could probably use flavoured as well, I haven't so I don't really know). 1a) Start by taking out your yogurt (I used approximately 2 tbsp for every liter of milk) and let it come to room temp on the counter while you do all the other stuff.  Cold buggies don't do a lot, but warm ones are great for making yogurt. 1b) Also, turn on your oven light to warm up the oven just a bit.


2 heating milk in a sauce pan on low to 180-190 degrees F.  There is where a digital thermometer is very helpful (and even butter when you turn the alarm on, but I'll get back to that later.


3 Once the milk has been heat to 180 or so, then let the milk cool to 110F.


4 Then add your room temp yogurt and mix with a whisk to get everything mixed well and then pour into a warmed glass jar, cover and wrap with a towel.


5 Place in the oven, wrapped in the towel, and let sit for 6-10 hours.  The amount of time that is required to culture the yogurt depends on how you like your yogurt.  I let mine sit for 6 hours this time which leaves the yogurt mellower and thinner.  Essentially the shorter the time the yogurt is left to mature the mellower and thinner the resulting product.  The longer the time you leave it the tangier and thicker the product.  It will also get tangier in the refrigerator since there aren't any of the commercial preservatives or stabilizers.

Here is my new additions.  Yogurt and a new Weck Tulip 1L jar.  I have been ogling Weck jars for years but they aren't available locally but I did find a place in Vancouver that were selling them, so I picked up 2 - 1L jars. 

I had a taste of it to make sure that it was good, and it was.  That liquid is the whey that always comes out when you disturb the protein strands.

Final Notes:

~I got a migraine in the middle of the process of heating the yogurt and I hadn't turned on the temp alarm on my digital thermometer, so I didn't catch it until it made it to 215F, I let it cool to 110F and followed the rest of the directions.  Still tasty and yogurty :)

~If you like greek yogurt, then once the yogurt has set, spoon the yogurt into a fine mesh strainer or a strainer lined with cheese cloth over a bowl and let all that drain in the fridge overnight or until it is as thick as you like.  The whey is yellow-green liquid in the bowl which is full of riboflavin and is apparently a nice drink with a bit of sugar or salt.

~If you want fruit flavoured or honey yogurt, you can blend up some fruit and mix it in the yogurt once it has cultured in the oven.  I haven't tried this but I think I might try some honey yogurt since this is the kids favorite.  I might also try adding the honey to the warm milk rather then to the cultured yogurt, but I don't know if that will work as well as I want it too, I guess I will have to try :)

~If your interested in using a slow-cooker then try this article.  I haven't tried it but it looks interesting.