Homemade Yogurt
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Homemade yogurt is so easy to make and it tastes delicious. Even better, it costs four times less than the store-bought version.
Making homemade yogurt is a great way to save money on groceries. Once you get used to the process, you’ll see that it takes almost no work to make a beautiful batch of Greek yogurt. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I’m so glad I stuck with it.
How to Make Homemade Yogurt
It’s simple to make your own yogurt. Here are step-by-step photos that guide you through the process. You’ll find detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
Use this yogurt to make a homemade orange yogurt parfait, and try a few more easy DIY dairy products.
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 tbs plain whole milk yogurt
Instructions
- Heat the milk to a temperature of 180 degrees, and then let it cool to 110-115 degrees. You can do this by heating it on the stove top and monitoring the temperature with a thermometer, or by using a slow cooker. If you use the slow cooker, heat it on low for 2 hours and then turn it off and leave it covered in the slow cooker for another 3 hours.
- Set up a cooler with a bath towel inside.
- Fill a pot with a few cups of boiling water and place it in the middle of the cooler. Be careful to keep the pot from touching the sides of the cooler (the towel is a buffer). Cover the cooler.
- Pour the milk in a large glass container, and add the yogurt. Stir to combine.
- Place the glass container in the pot of water in the cooler. Place a meat thermometer in the cooler and close the cover. Ideally, the temperature will be between 90 degrees and 120 degrees. Let it sit for 6 hours.
- After 6 hours, replace the water with a fresh pot of boiling water. Let it sit for another six hours.
- After 12 hours, the yogurt should be done. If it doesn’t seem ready, replace the boiling water again and leave it for another 6 hours. There will be liquid on the top (whey) and yogurt at the bottom. When the yogurt is ready, put the yogurt in the freezer for 20 minutes to help it thicken.
- Separate the whey for another use by placing the yogurt in a strainer lined with a cheese cloth. Let the whey drip out until you have the consistency you want. I use this Butter Muslin, which is woven more tightly than some cheese cloth and it’s washable and reusable.
Approximate Nutrition Info
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Price Breakdown
I spent $.96 on the ingredients for this batch of homemade yogurt. I let a lot of the whey drain out to yield a thick, Greek-style yogurt, so the final product was only about two cups of yogurt. If I had left it thinner, it would have been closer to a quart of yogurt. A two-cup container of Chobani plain Greek yogurt has a shelf price of $3.49. Store-bought Greek yogurt would cost almost four times as much as my homemade yogurt. This recipe is definitely worthwhile for that kind of savings.
