Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 07/13/2018:

I am starting with raw milk that we are able to obtain locally, but milk from the store will work just fine.

I am now making 2 gallons a week as my family is more likely to eat yogurt than drink milk.

I start by pouring my milk into a stainless steel pot and heating it to 180*. (I am using a meat thermometer to do this. A digital would be handy, but my thermometer is just fine.)

Then I let the milk cool to 115* on the counter. Once it is at 115* I add 1 Tablespoon of already make yogurt per quart of warm milk. (For 2 gallons I am adding a cup of yogurt.)

I mix that yogurt in and pour the milk/yogurt mixture into quart, gallon or half gallon canning jars and put it into my oven with the light on. I bought a 75 watt appliance bulb (which really only puts off the heat of what a 60 watt bulb used to put out.)

I leave it in the oven (no additional heat, just a bit of warmth from the light bulb) for 12-24 hours. I pour off the whey and voila! Yogurt!

One website suggested a cooler instead of an oven. You would keep it warm by putting the jars into a warm water bath (hot tap water) in the cooler for 6-12 hours.

I like the yogurt unsweetened and add chopped almonds and blueberries or chocolate chips.

My husband likes it with honey. Adding honey and a bit of lemon extract is really tasty.

I used the Fage brand of yogurt from the store because I like the collection of probiotics that it contains. After the first batch, you can use your own yogurt to start the next batch, but may need to restart with store bought yogurt now and then.

I love the homemade yogurt. It is so creamy and doesn't contain chemicals whose names I can't pronounce. It contains no artificial sweeteners (which many yogurts hide in them! ) No artificial colors. I have read about mixing in gelatin along with the yogurt when the temp. reaches 115* but I haven't done that yet. I like finding ways to add gelatin in to foods but usually forget to do that.

DIY yogurt has provided a probiotic food source that I and my family like a lot.

~Mama to Many~