Easy Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt?? It sounds intimidating, and really impressive, but truthfully it’s a lot easier than it sounds. I’ve been making a fresh batch of homemade yogurt every week for the last 6 months and it has been a really smooth, easy transition to make. All you need are 2 ingredients, a pressure cooker - (well, that’s not necessarily required. This can be done on a stovetop, but I like to use a pressure cooker for consistency and ease) - and a little bit of time and you’ve got yourself fresh, homemade yogurt that doesn't even begin to compare to the stuff you find at a grocery store!

 

What do you need?

  • 2-4 litres milk (preferably raw)

  • 1-2 TBSP plain, greek yogurt*

  • Maple syrup, honey, or sweetener of choice, to taste

*This is your starter. You want to make sure that the only ingredients are milk and bacterial culture. Alternately you can use reserved yogurt from previous batches, or even whey, but I get the best results when I use a little of the store bought stuff.

**If you look up yogurt recipes you’ll notice the ratios between milk and yogurt differ drastically. This is because measurements do not need to be exact when making yogurt, but the temperature does. I never measure when I make yogurt but I do keep a close eye on the temperature!

How It’s Done

  1. Sanitize and preheat your pressure cooker. This step may be unnecessary but it only takes a couple extra minutes and it’s probably a good idea. Fill your pressure cooker pot about 1/2 way with water. Secure the lid and turn on to a boil setting. My pressure cooker is an older model and every one is different, but I turn it to the pasta setting and adjust the temperature to high to achieve this. Once the water begins to boil, press cancel, release the steam, and discard the water. Now you are ready to start!

  2. Pour milk into your pressure cooker pot. I always do 2.5-3 litres and this is the perfect amount to last our family of 5 for a week. You can adjust the amount according to your own needs. Place the lid back on the pressure cooker, select the yogurt setting, adjust the temperature to high, and start. You want to bring the temperature of the milk to 180 F. For my pressure cooker I have to run the high yogurt setting 3 times in order to achieve this. Check the temperature every once in a while with a thermometer to make sure you reach 180 F without going over. (This step heats the milk enough to get rid of bad bacteria but not enough to boil.)

  3. Once your milk reaches 180 F, remove the pot from the pressure cooker and submerge in an ice bath. Now you are looking for a temperature of 110 F. Give it a whisk and check on the temperature every once in a while. Once it reaches 110, remove from the ice bath.

4. In a separate bowl, add 1-2 TBSP of plain, greek yogurt. (The amount you use here depends on the amount of yogurt you’re making. Add 2 TBSP for more and 1 TBSP for less, but I always eyeball this.) Very slowly, whisk in one cup of the warm milk to the yogurt. The key is to make sure this mixture is silky smooth - no lumps allowed. If there are lumps here, there will be lumps in the final product. Once this is thoroughly mixed, pour it back into the rest of the milk and mix.

5. Place your pot back in the pressure cooker, secure the lid, select the yogurt setting, and set the timer for 24 hours.

6. The next day your milk will be thickened and should smell like yogurt. It may look a little lumpy at this point, but do not worry. A vigorous whisk will take out the lumps and leave you with silky smooth yogurt. You could call it finished at this point but I like my yogurt really thick. To strain the whey from the yogurt, place a strainer over a pot or large bowl. Spread cheesecloth over your strainer and pour the yogurt in. Leave uncovered in the fridge for 6-8 hours, or until it reaches your desired constancy.

7. At this point you will have two separate liquids - the yellow, liquid whey and the thick, creamy yogurt. You can discard the whey or store it in your fridge to add to smoothies or use it as a fermentation starter in different recipes (I personally use it in homemade mayo). To the yogurt, add maple syrup, honey, or your sweetener of choice, and enjoy!

PS

I like to start my yogurt first thing in the morning. The yogurt will be ready for straining early the next day and will be finished by the evening. If you accidentally forget your yogurt straining overnight (I’ve been there!) and it gets a little too thick, just add a little bit of that whey back in and give it a mix!

 
Delilah Loeppky