Making yogurt

I have been making my own yogurt. It is surprisingly easy.  I was intimidated at first by this seemingly daunting task (or at least I always thought it would be daunting) but truth be told the most simple, trivial task turns daunting when you have a toddler hanging on your leg, wanting held, and whining at you the whole time. Despite the difficulty, it turned out quite well (and it truly is easier than you think).

Let's talk about what you would need to make this happen:

• You need milk (I have used goat milk before but today I just used whole milk.) You may use any kind you would like, skim, whole, 2%. I like mine fatty so I use whole (it makes it extra creamy!)
• You need yogurt "starter" aka yogurt you already have. You will need at least a Tablespoon. You will want this to be plain not flavored.
• You need ice
• You need a pan(s) (you can truly accomplish this with just one pan)
• You need a candy (food) thermometer.
• That's it! (told you it was easy)

Now let's talk about how to make this happen.

• Pour a quart of milk (4 cups) in a pan (I use a double broiler, but that is not necessary). 
• Heat the milk to 180 degrees. Your milk should be frothing but not boiling. 
• While the milk is heating prepare a pan or sink with ice water.  
• Once the milk reaches 180 degrees go ahead and put it in the ice water.
• Bring the milk down to 120/110 degrees.
• Once the milk gets down to (at least) 120 degrees go ahead and add a Tablespoon of yogurt. You can also add a teaspoon of sugar to help the bacteria grow but that is not necessary. 

Now for the tricky part (dadada) you have to keep the yogurt temperature as close to 110 as possible (you definitely don't want it any lower than 100 or higher than 120)  it has to stay in that temperature "zone" for 6-7 hours (yeah, yeah I know a little tricky) But! The best way to make this happen (in my opinion) is to to seal that baby up, nice and tight. I usually have a quart mason jar ready and pour my yogurt into that.  I then set the mason jar in a pot of water that is 120 degrees, I put the lid on tight and wrap that baby in a big bath towel (that keeps it nice and toasty).  Every two to three hours I check the temperature of the water, you may need to replace the water with some fresh, hot water.  Once your yogurt has incubated for at least 6 hours it is ready to go in the fridge and wait for breakfast in the morning where it is going to be deliciously creamy served over some granola or fruit.

As a side note, I would highly encourage you to not be as silly as me and start this yogurt making process in the evening! I started so late that I had to get up at 3am to put it in the fridge! So, be smart and start in the morning :)

* this recipe was adapted from Honestfare