Make Yogurt by the Gallon Without a Yogurt Maker

How to make yogurt from scratch at home - by the gallon. Easy without a yogurt maker, crock pot, slow cooker, etc. This homemade yogurt recipe is simple and delicious. While the very first batch needs an acquired starter, subsequent batches are self-seeding.

Just a few cooking utensils are needed along with some jars & jugs and a cooler. Neither crock pot nor low temperature oven are required.

Step 1: Watch the Video

Step 2: Equipment

Step 3: Prepare the Incubator

Step 4: Clean the Glassware and Equipment

Thoroughly clean four 1 quart (~1 liter) glass jars with lids and a 1 cup jar (also with lid). Wash the utensils too. Cleanliness is very important, for the goal is to incubate and grow the desirable cultures while inhibiting the undesirable competitors. A 1 cup jar will hold the "seed crop" for the following batch of yogurt (after this one).

Step 5: Cook the Milk

Cooking the milk for half an hour results in a firmer yogurt.

Step 6: Introduce the Seed

Here, for this very first batch, we use store-bought yogurt with live cultures. Once this first batch is made, we'll have the seed necessary to make the next batch, no longer requiring us to buy yogurt. There are other methods for preparing a seed crop that do not require such an initial purchase, but this method is cheap and reliable.

Step 7: Fill the Jars

Step 8: Incubate

Step 9: After Nine Hours, Remove From the Incubator

Step 10: Enjoy!

Comments

[SherylinRM]

Wow, talk about memories lol.

o basically make everything clean [as in utensils and jars etc].

Then pasteurize the milk [again as they do it before they bottle it].

Bring the milk down to a temperature that is high but not so high as to kill the yeast.

Store bought yogurt should NEVER have sugar or flavouring in it [that part was skipped in your video].

It should only contain milk and live culture.

Then store in a warm place until done. Got it :)

By the way. Once the yogurt is made, storing it in the fridge is ok as it only makes the bacterial culture go to sleep and does not kill it.

Freezing it will often kill it however. Some may survive freezing but most will die. Remember we are dealing with a living thing here.

Certainly one of the best tutorials on this subject in a long while.

Thanks for the memories :)

Just as an aside.

Greek yogurt is simply regular yogurt that has been strained of water.

Best way to do this is to simply put your yogurt in a coffee filter over night. The liquid goes to the bottom and what is left is super thick and becomes the expensive greek yogurt :)

Most greek yogurt in stores is nonsense.

Again, thanks for this tutorial :)

[MitchellA13]

does this work with soy/almond/coconut/etc milk?

[GraceC54]

No, those are not fermented. Soy and almond milks are made by grinding up the beans/nuts with water and heating them. Coconut milk comes from coconut, as far as I know.

[PKM]

I'm always intending to eat more yoghurt but I think it would take me a while to eat a whole gallon. How long does it keep if left sealed in the fridge? Could you make another batch after two weeks without the seed starter spoiling? Four weeks?

(Presumably, of course, you could just use fewer jars and only make a half gallon at a time)

[Adeldor]

Hi! Officially, correctly made plain yogurt can be kept refrigerated for up to fourteen days. Our experience supports this. We find the starter remains viable over the same period. Others report that the starter can be successfully frozen for longer periods, but we haven't tried that.

[darus67]

Do you use whole milk or does it work well with lower fat (2%, 1%, or skim) also?

[Adeldor]

Hi! It works well with all the milk types you listed. Note: for it to thicken properly, it should be regular cow's milk. Goat's milk results in a thinner yogurt.

[doodlecraft]

This is fantastic!

[Adeldor]

Thank you!

[aalnahed]

great stuff. Simple and well explained .

Can I substitute normal pot of supermarket youghourt to be a starter .

Thanks

[Adeldor]

Hi! So long as the yogurt contains live cultures (and is unflavored), it should work fine.

[Rivermute]

Having been using this method for many years and cant reccomend it enough. Great video and instructions!

[Adeldor]

Thank you!

[milindnirgun]

Great step by step instructions. One question, is there any particular brand or kind of seed yogurt you would recommend or any regular plain grocery store yogurt will do?

[Adeldor]

Hi! So long as the yogurt contains live cultures (and is plain, not flavored), we're not particular as to which brand we use.

[dmlandrum]

Hello! Do you think this process would work with kefir? Thank you!

[Rivermute]

You would certainly get a very energetic thick and yeasty Kefir. I find Kefir ferments better at temps lower then yogurt generally requires.. tastes better at lower temps as well.

[Adeldor]

Hi! While we haven't tried that, we believe it should work, so long as the seed has the appropriate live/active cultures. Caveat: we don't know what the optimal temperature and incubation time would be.

ADDENDUM: a Google search returns many links to making kefir at home. Hope this helps!