Homemade Yogurt

Name: Homemade Yogurt
Total time: 13 h 40 min
Yield: Makes 2 quarts
Ingredients: 7½ cups ultra-pasteurized whole, 2 percent low-fat, 1 percent low-fat, or skim milk; 1/2 cup plain yogurt

By Paul Adams & Lan Lam

Time

40 minutes, plus 13 hours fermenting and chilling

Yield

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients

Ingredient check list

7½ cups ultra-pasteurized whole, 2 percent low-fat, 1 percent low-fat, or skim milk

½ cup plain yogurt

Why This Recipe Works

For tangy, creamy yogurt, we skipped the usual preliminary scalding and cooling steps by starting with ultra-pasteurized milk, which has already been rapidly heated and chilled. This lets bacterial cultures turn it into an especially thick and silky yogurt. We brought the milk to 115 degrees and stirred in store-bought yogurt with live cultures, strains of bacteria that digest the lactose in milk, producing lactic acid. This acid is what gives yogurt its flavor and causes the proteins in milk to gradually form a gel, turning liquid milk into creamy yogurt. To provide those bacteria with a cozy environment to do their work, we placed a covered pot of boiling water in the oven beside the pot of warm water holding the jars of milk. This setup helped the oven maintain a temperature of 100 to 115 degrees for hours. After that, it was just a matter of tasting for tartness and thickness to decide when to pop the jars into the fridge to let the yogurt set.

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Before You Begin

This recipe will work only with ultra-pasteurized milk. Most organic milk is ultra-pasteurized; this will be noted on the label. Be sure to use freshly opened containers of milk. Any type of plain yogurt (whole-milk, low-fat, Greek, etc.) that contains live cultures can be used. You can halve this recipe, if preferred. Be sure to save ½ cup of yogurt to use as the starter for a subsequent batch.

Instructions

Bring milk to 115 degrees in saucepan over medium heat, 2 to 5 minutes. (If your milk gets hotter than 115 degrees, let it cool to 115 degrees before proceeding. Higher temperatures can kill some cultures.) Off heat, whisk yogurt into milk until very well combined. Divide mixture evenly between two 1-quart Mason jars (they will be very full; a funnel can be helpful for this step). Add lids, then screw on rings until just finger-tight.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and turn on oven light. Bring 5 quarts water to boil in large covered pot. Place jars in second large pot. Add water until jars are submerged to their necks. (If jars are taller than pot, add water to 1¼ inches from rim of pot.) Remove jars and bring water to 120 degrees over medium heat. Return jars to pot of 120-degree water. Transfer both pots to oven. Incubate yogurt, without opening oven door, for 5 hours.

Remove 1 jar from water bath. Using clean spoon, taste yogurt for tartness and consistency. If tarter, thicker yogurt is desired, return jar to water bath and shut oven door. (Bear in mind that yogurt will thicken significantly as it cools but can be loosened up by stirring prior to serving.) Set oven to 350 degrees and heat for 3 minutes (start your timer as soon as you set the dial; oven will not reach 350 degrees). Turn off oven and let incubate for up to 10 more hours, repeating heating step each time oven door is opened. Remove jars from water bath and refrigerate until fully cooled and set, about 8 hours. (Yogurt can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.)