Yogurt the Easy Way

Recently, I found a recipe on Pinterest that detailed how to make yogurt at home. Since I spend a great deal of money on Greek yogurt, I thought perhaps this might be a fun little project. I enjoy yogurt, but here's the caveat to my relationship with it: I really only like yogurt when it's thicker and creamier. My challenge with making my own yogurt was to make sure that it would be thick enough for me to actually like it. Sundry challenge to making my yogurt was that I'm super lazy. Like, seriously, really very lazy. It's almost embarrassing how lazy I am.

The process of making one's own yogurt really is just a process of heat and some time--as a lazy chef, I'm inclined to like it already. The nice part about a food like yogurt is that the bacteria really do all of the work for you. You just have to set up an environment for them that gives them the things that they want. I looked for methods that made that easy for me, and I found a technique using a crock pot to make yogurt that seemed perfect.

 I'm a busy person, and I do like to have a little time left in my day to enjoy a book or a movie with Tony. When I'm on the hunt for a recipe or technique, I like to rifle through various YouTube videos looking for something that's easy and appealing. When I can actually see the process, I can decide if it's for me or not. I used this recipe, which I found simple and user-friendly.

The start of the process--milk in  the crock pot.

Basically, you pour your milk into the crock pot and let it heat up to 180 degrees. It seriously could not have been simpler. I was a little surprised that it took as long as it did to heat up, and it did built up a skin that had to be skimmed off. For the most part, though, this really didn't take any effort on my part. I checked the temperature every now and again, and when it was up to temp, I turned it off. I let it cool back down to 115 degrees, added my store bought yogurt, placed the lid back on, wrapped it in a towel, and put it in the oven for overnight storage. It was pretty much as simple a process as it could be. When it was done, I spooned the yogurt into a paper towel placed over a strainer to give it a thicker consistency, placed the strainer over a bowl in the fridge, and let time take it's course.

After sitting for around ten hours, this is what it looked like. Yogurt!

I made my yogurt plain because I thought it would be nice to have the freedom to use it as a substitute for sour cream if I wanted to. However, given this recipe, it would be incredibly easy to add flavoring. It was so much better than store-bought alternatives than I ever could have imagined. It had a more pure, milk-like flavor. Because I took the time to drain out a lot of the whey, it was creamy and not as tangy as regular yogurt. (That's a big part of why I like Greek yogurt over traditional yogurt. It has a much milder flavor.) My crock pot yogurt was perfection with a little bit of honey, and I have a feeling that almond slivers would make it even more enjoyable since I love a little crunch with the smoothness of yogurt.

I purchased these jars specifically for yogurt storage.

I stored the yogurt in some 8 ounce Ball jars I bought. I also set aside a starter for my next batch. If I keep it up, I'll never have to buy store bought yogurt again, which would be just fine with me.

Yogurt and honey, a delicious combination!

This process was an incredible success. The texture and flavor of the yogurt I made were far more enjoyable than the yogurt that I've bought over the years. It's almost enough to make me wonder why anyone even bothers with store bought when making your own is so simple. If there's any project that I would encourage people to try of the kitchen projects I've done so far, it's definitely making homemade yogurt. The work was minimal and the product was of a superior quality considering what little work was put in. I will definitely be doing this again.