
How I Make Yogurt (2019) - ciconia
https://rmosolgo.github.io/blog/2019/03/28/how-i-make-yogurt/
======
rmosolgo
A few updates since I first wrote this up:

\- I don't bother sterilizing any more. I make sure the jars are clean, but
that's all. I think the culture is fast enough to raise acidity to a safe
point very quickly. (I still sterilize for cheese though.)

\- I always use commercial culture now. I had off-results after the third
round of saving a starter. (Someone mentioned heirloom cultures, which I think
would avoid this problem. My wife tried those, but we didn't care for the
flavor, and I prefer the workflow of two gallons at a time, done overnight.)

\- If you make yogurt, but never started with the high-temperature initial
step, I really recommend trying it. It makes a thicker consistency because the
proteins are denatured and curdle better. (The downside in my opinion is that
it also destroys some of the goodies present in my previously-raw milk.)

\- My 20-minute high-temperature hold is often much longer. I try to reach 180
degrees F and take it off the heat, then put the kids to bed. It always seems
to do fine.

Anyways, thanks for all the comments. I'm always happy to read a nice
discussion about dairy processing! Next time you're passing through central
Virginia, let me know and we can share a cheese plate.

~~~
supahfly_remix
How critical is the rate of cooling? Do you have to use an ice bath or can you
use air cooling to cool it down?

I make my own yogurt using an instant pot for both the boil and incubate but
cool using the air. Sometimes the consistency is lumpy, and I wonder if this
anything to do with it.

~~~
chris_st
I use my Instant Pot in pretty much exactly this way, but have never had lumpy
yogurt, so maybe something else?

~~~
supahfly_remix
That's good to know, thank ou. Maybe it's my starter culture. I had been using
yogurt from Dannon or a Skyrr.

~~~
chris_st
Try (if you can find it!) Stoneyfield plain yogurt, not their Greek-style. It
tastes great, and I have a 100% success rate with that as a starter. Good
luck!

------
diffuse_l
How my wife does it:

1\. Boil milk in a pot (3-4 liters). Forget it's there. Turn it off when
someone notices it boiled.

2\. Wait till it cools to ~40c. Try to put a finger in the milk. If it's cold
enough so you don't have to take your finger out, it's about ready.

3\. Dump a cup of probiotic yougurt inside and stir.

4\. Cover with the lid. In the winter wrap it with some blanket to keep it
warm (probably not really necessary)

5\. Wait for 24 hours.

6\. It's ready. Put the whole thing in the fridge.

Somehow this works every time... It's seems really hard to ruin the process,
and not for lack of trying...

~~~
tveita
I'd like to hear more about _why_ you make your own yoghurt. Does it taste
very different than store bought plain yoghurt, do you find the DIY aspect
appealing, or is it mainly for cost savings?

~~~
mixmastamyk
I do it to make full-fat, low-sugar yogurt, which is harder than it should be
to find at the grocery store. Almost all of them besides the Fage Greek are
loaded with sugar. Guess which one our store doesn't stock? (the Fage 5%)

~~~
narag
In Spain you can find everywhere "natural yogur", not sweetened, with "4 g
sugars", I guess lactose, per 100 g, so 5 g per 125 g cup. Is this low-sugar
by your standards or is it possible to achieve lower contents?

~~~
mixmastamyk
Yes, I'm referring to "no sugar added" really. As you mentioned, there is some
natural sugar.

------
martythemaniak
Instant Pot is great for this. 1\. 4L of yogurt, press button. 2\. Wait to
cool to 40C (place whole pot in sink full of cold tap water if you're in a
hurry). 3\. Stir in 1-2 tbsp yogurt, press second button. 4\. 8hrs later/next
morning, yogurt is ready. Transfer to whatever container you want.

You can strain it further with one of these dealios, or a homemade
contraption: [https://www.amazon.ca/Euro-Cuisine-GY50-Greek-
Yogurt/dp/B009...](https://www.amazon.ca/Euro-Cuisine-GY50-Greek-
Yogurt/dp/B0091XNL0I) It makes it milder and absurdly thick.

Sometimes I like to leave batches for 60hrs instead of the usual 8. It makes
it incredibly acidic, but after straining thoroughly, most of the acidity is
gone and you're left with a very strong tasting, goat cheese-like product, ie
yogurt cheese. Mixing this with finely grated garlic and salt is sublime. I've
given this to many friends and acquaintances, it's always a hit.

~~~
BeetleB
Yep - Instant Pot makes it really simple. Do make sure your model has a yogurt
button (not all do). It works something like 95% of the time. You'll easily
make up the cost of the Instant Pot with just yogurt if you eat as often as I
do.

The only modification I make is that after the milk has cooled down to about
110F, I pour the milk into containers, and put the containers in the Instant
Pot. I add water to the IP to make a water bath. This way when the yogurt
forms, it is in my final container I want it in.

Some other "tips": I do 6.5 hours - it is enough. For the cooling, I simply
put the hot pot in the fridge and wait an hour - easier than continually
checking the temperature. I've timed it such that an hour will get it to about
right. In any case, it's OK if you forgot about it and it gets cold - you can
still make yogurt - you only have to adjust the time (so instead of 6.5 hours
for me I may do 8 hours with cold "boiled" milk).

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pokot0
For those interested in avoiding the complexity of dealing with industrial
bacteria strain that can't survive easily in normal conditions, I recommend
looking into traditional yogurts.

. They don't need sterilization at all

. They mature at room temperature

. They taste great and have a range of different textures and flavour
depending on the strains

. They are stable among generations and can be reused indefinitely

My favorite is Viili but the slimy texture is challanging for some.

This is a great low scale shop that I use:

[http://gemcultures.com/](http://gemcultures.com/)

~~~
anitil
That website has a delightful geocities look to it.

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sleavey
I've never bothered with sterilisation to a great deal (just hand washing with
washing-up liquid), I just use UHT milk (I think it tastes better for yogurt,
and it's already obviously more sterile than fresh milk). I just add a
spoonful of yogurt to 1-2 L of milk (I don't bother heating it beforehand),
leave it in my PID-controlled crock pot [1] overnight at about 42°C, then it's
done. I usually leave the yogurt in some coffee filters for an hour or two to
get more of the whey out and make the yogurt thicker. If you leave it for 2-3
hours it's essentially solid, and absolutely delicious.

[1] No write-up yet I'm afraid, but it's a custom PCB I made with a simple
temperature sensor, Atmel microcontroller and mains relay that switches on and
off my crock pot. It's powered from the mains via a cheap board-mount switch-
mode power supply, so no extra power required. Board files here:
[https://github.com/SeanDS/slow-
cooker/tree/master/hardware/v...](https://github.com/SeanDS/slow-
cooker/tree/master/hardware/v2).

------
joe8756438
There is no comparison between home-made and store bought yogurt. More than
anything a proofer box [0] has made the process better. Author mentions the
Brod and Taylor recipe, but not the box. The box is what makes that recipe
easy. The "Set it" step is where I find things tend to go awry. The box will
hold the temp, which will allow you to control the consistency of the finished
product. Also it makes it easier to do larger quantities.

[0] [https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/brod-and-taylor-
fol...](https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/brod-and-taylor-folding-
proofer-and-slow-cooker/)

------
ashish01
Or just use instant pot. I use it to make a small batch (1/2 gallon) of yogurt
everyday for years now and it have never failed me. Thought I add the culture
at 110F.

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sriram_malhar
This seems hugely complicated. I make yogurt daily.

Warm up milk to lukewarm. Mix spoonful of starter. Bundle the vessel in a
thick towel for insulation. Leave it overnight. (Or less, if you live in a
very warm place).

If it is cold, I warm up the oven just a tad and turn it off, and leave the
vessel inside.

Use a spoonful of that yogurt the next day as starter.

~~~
poulsbohemian
Do you strain yours, does yours naturally thicken to a consistency you like,
or do you like it kind of thin? I ask because this is the part I find the most
frustrating - the making it is easy, the getting it to the consistency I want
is work.

~~~
sriram_malhar
The image shown in this link is the consistency I get.

[https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/how-to-make-thick-
curd-...](https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/how-to-make-thick-curd-at-
home/)

As this site says, if you want it thicker, use whole fat milk, or boil the
milk on low for a while before letting it cool to luke warm temp.

~~~
poulsbohemian
Good info -- yes I've gotten sloppy about milk selection as I often make it
with just whatever we have on hand that needs to get used up.

------
mhneu
I find you can even make yogurt from slightly sour milk, just by adding a
little baking soda.

Details: to make good yogurt you need to bring it to 85-90C, which denatures
the milk proteins and improves thickening. If the milk is acidic, it will
separate into curds and whey when heated. Sour milk is acidic, so adding a
little baking soda to raise the pH allows you to heat the milk without
separation. Then, during the later fermentation process, the pH falls again,
and the yogurt is tart.

------
dundercoder
My method is very similar, but I find even just a tablespoon of yogurt from
the previous batch is enough to inoculate 1 gallon.

We also drain off a good portion of the whey using a nut bag to make Greek
yogurt. The leftover whey we put in smoothies.

I LOVE being able to control how much sugar is in it, and it’s way cheaper
than buying individual packs. All in it costs us right around $2.50 for a
gallon of yogurt at home.

------
nick_meister
This is how I make yogurt:

Step 1: Put 1 liter of milk mixed with 0.2 liter of Yogurt on a heating
radiator at 11PM.

Step 2: Wake up at 7AM. Yogurt is ready.

~~~
hazelnut
What Yoghurt do you use in Step 1?

~~~
nick_meister
The first time, you can use a Yogurt without artificial flavor. Afterward, you
can reuse the Yogurt made the first time. Or just use a common Yoghurt from
the store. You can use less than 0.2L the first time because the artificial
flavor mixed with the natural Yoghurt flavor will not taste that good. The
second time and afterward you can use the Yogurt made the first time, the
artificial flavor will be diluted.

EDIT: Warning, I do not know how many times can you safely reuse the Yogurt.
I've reused the 'same' Yogurt several times without any issue, but please do
your research. Of course, I store it in the fridge.

------
specialist
Nice writeup, good tips.

I recently started making my own yoghurt. Here's my bits:

I buy the Costco 3-pack of organic whole milk. I'd never get thru that much
milk otherwise. Works out to about the same price as their greek yoghurt, but
theirs is low fat and I want the full fat for the extra calories.

For my starter, I now use a store bought brand I really like, ellenos.com. I
tried a few dry starters. Blech. Though I will now try cheesemaking.com's
Thermophilic stuff too (linked in article).

I can't figure out an easy, practical way to drain the whey. I don't mind the
juice so I've stopped trying.

Now I use my Instapot.

I bought the wrong model of thermometer.
[https://www.thermoworks.com/DOT](https://www.thermoworks.com/DOT) Has a
temperature alarm. But it only works for rising temps, no way to alert for
cooling temps. Surely someone knows how to hack it. Recommendations please.

------
snikeris
I make and consume kefir every day. It's a lot less involved than this and has
the same familiar tang that plain yogurt has.

I also notice a sense of well-being shortly after drinking it. I noticed this
prior to learning that kefir is Turkish for "feel good".

~~~
dundercoder
What is your method? I’m a champ at making yogurt, but my first foray into
kefir went horribly wrong.

~~~
muscularab
1\. Put kefir grains in milk.

2\. Wait maybe 24 hours at room temperature, depending on preference. I
regularly do 48 with no problems.

3\. Remove grains and eat.

~~~
driton
Can you reuse the grains? If so, how many times until they stop working?

~~~
ValentineC
I've been using a set of grains since 2017 or so.

Since they're essentially a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY),
they won't "stop working" as long as the grains are regularly replenished with
milk, or kept in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.

------
eulenteufel
You can also make Yogurt out of soymilk. Not every milk that you can buy in
the store will work, but it works just the same way.

What works for me is:

\- Heat up the soymilk to 45 °C

\- Put in the yogurt culture or a tablespoon of the leftover yogurt

\- Add a tablespoon of sugar

\- Fill into an isolating container and wait for 8+ hours

\- Put the yogurt into the refrigerator

\- Consume yogurt but save a spoon for the next batch

I've found that when starting from culture it takes a couple batches until the
yogurt gets really good. After that there didn't seem to be an upper limit on
how long you can keep making yogurt from the old batches, although it can get
bad if you wait for too long with starting a new batch.

~~~
vinay427
I've actually found that it doesn't usually make a noticeable difference for
soy yogurt whether I heat the yogurt to 45 °C or some lower temperature or
even at all, at least when using a electric yogurt maker (or other device with
active heating). Maybe I need to try them side-by-side because I assume
there's some reason many people suggest heating the milk first.

I just mix the existing soy yogurt with soy milk, both of which only consist
of soybeans, water, and cultures which seems to be the most reliable option.
It involves virtually no effort this way.

~~~
AnonC
With a yogurt maker there’s no need to preheat it since the appliance will
take care of heating and maintaining the temperature. But if you make soymilk
yourself, the milk has to be cooked for sometime (regardless of whether you’re
going to consume it directly or make yogurt with it).

------
devchix
Hello, former home yogurt maker here. I used to do this weekly, using a recipe
from Harold McGee in the NYT. The incubator was a home oven left warm
overnight. It was pretty painless with a success rate of 100%. But, the result
was always mediocre, no matter the starter culture. (I didn't buy pro culture,
just made it from different brands of yogurt.) It was always pretty thin,
never creamy enough, never tart enough. The next step is of course to strain
out some of the whey and doctoring the milk fat. Out came the cheesecloth and
the bowls, and ... now I've done it. What was I going to do with the whey? The
counter was always littered with stuff, the cheesecloth had to be disinfected
and washed and hung dried. I got thicker yogurt, but it still didn't taste
great. It dawned on me one day that I was spending a lot of time and money
(organic milk, expensive yogurt starter) and putting up with a lot of
silliness to get an OK homemade product. I chucked it all. Now I buy the
European Style yogurt from Trader Joe's and their brand of plain Greek yogurt,
both at $3 a container. I love how those taste. I don't regret having tried to
make yogurt, and then quitting. That's been my experience and perspective, and
I'm in no way devaluing or deflating the experience of the folks here. I think
it's pretty awesome that people are still making their own food. My next dairy
misadventure: burrata.

------
fredley
There are machines that just do this process for you that work well, I have
one similar to this[0] and it's very easy to use.

0: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Digital-Yoghurt-Maker-
Jars/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Digital-Yoghurt-Maker-
Jars/dp/B07GB6V4JH/)

~~~
EL_Loco
The machine I have is so easy that I ended up getting two. I just pour a quart
of UHT milk in each one, don't bother boiling, add yogurt starter, turn on,
put great thick yogurt in the fridge 9 hours later.

------
bloopernova
My wife makes yoghurt in an Instant Pot, she uses lactose-free milk, full-fat
Fage yoghurt as a starter and I think some other ingredients. (I'll check and
update later)

End result is a Greek/Skyr like yoghurt that lasts both of us for more than a
week. It's so tasty!

~~~
dominotw
> she uses lactose-free milk

I am lactose intolerant but yogurt is fine for me. As I understand it lactose
in yogurt is easier to digest with the yogurt bacteria.

Curious do you have intolerance with regular milk yogurt?

~~~
jessaustin
I thought lactose was what yogurt bacteria ate?! How does this work?

~~~
bloopernova
Bacteria eat sugars, not just lactose. There's other sugars in milk.

------
malodyets
How I make yogurt:

Requires:

* a Digital temperature regulator * a non digital crockpot (mechanical on/off switch)

1\. Dump milk into gallon jar. 2\. Stir 1/2 C yogurt into milk. 3\. Put jar in
crockpot 4\. Pour water around jar 5\. Insert temp probe into water 6\. Plug
crockpot into temp regulator and temp regulator into wall 7\. Set temp
regulator at or below 115 deg F 8\. Cover with towel or apron to hold in heat
9\. Wait 12-36 hours to taste.

Total working time: 5 min. Total cost per gallon: < $2.00

You don’t have to pre boil the milk if you’re going to use a commercial
probiotic yogurt rather than chaining. That’s the biggest time and effort
saver: not having to watch a slowly heating pot of milk and preventing it from
boiling.

------
NullInvictus
If you don't want to spend 30+ minutes a pop sterilizing everything, you can
always go the homebrewer's route and pick up a bottle of Starsan, a food-grade
sanitizer.

A bottle lasts for quite some time, and if you make the solution with
distilled water, its shelf-life is quite a bit longer. When you want to
sanitize something, just throw the dilution into a spray bottle and spray down
your containers and wait for 30 seconds - no rinse needed.

Just a thought to save time for those who might be doing this often.

------
cmrdporcupine
I love making yogurt, and have tried it on and off since I first had fresh
homemade yogurt made by my Oma on my first trip to visit them in Germany back
in the 90s. Every day started out with fresh yogurt with muesli, and my mind
was blown. But here in Canada because of supply chain management price
controls on milk it's just not that cost effective compared to buying pre-made
yogurt. And there's not the same variety of fresh milk products available here
either.

------
evilelectron
How I do it:

    
    
      1. Heat 14oz of milk for 2 minutes in a 700W microwave
      2. Add 4oz of cold milk to a container
      3. Add 2 spoons of Yogurt (I use Pavel's full cream) to the cold milk and mix
      4. Pour the hot milk in the container and stir it
      5. Put away in a place where the temperature won't fluctuate much and container won't be disturbed for next 12-18 hour. 
         I use an oven for this with no per-heating or temperature control.

------
puranjay
Tip for making better yogurt: use a clay pot if you can find one. I can't tell
you why, but somehow it creates smoother, richer yogurt.

------
giardini
I have a gas stove whose oven has a pilot light, so the oven is always
slightly warm and suitable for culturing yogurt. Here's my recipe:

Put milk in a pot on stovetop on lowest heat, heat until its steaming (or to a
boil) then turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add some
yogurt, stir, put pot inside oven and leave overnight. Its all yogurt by
morning!

------
memco
I followed a recipe a few times and had decent success using store-bought as a
starter. It ends up taking a long time, cost about the same to make as buying
a 32oz tub and yielded about the same volume so I just buy it. Fun and easy
project to do yourself, but for me it isn't something I took enough interest
in to keep doing regularly.

------
_hardwaregeek
I use a sous vide machine to keep the yogurt at a consistent temperature. If
you're working with non dairy milks, that extra time can help a lot.

If you're looking for another good fermentation, kimchi is a great one.
There's nothing better than making kimchi fried rice or kimchijjigae with
homemade kimchi.

------
jkoudys
I do a lot of yoghurts at home. I find skim milk powder is really excellent
for thickening it up before you culture it. I also enjoy browning it a teensy
bit on the bottom of the pot - gives it a nice caramel flavour.

------
vinni2
I make yogurt pretty much following same steps. Unfortunately I only have
access to store bought yogurt as starter. It’s fine for a few times after that
it gets stringy. I have to find a good alternative.

------
specialbat
I use a $20 salton rice maker on warm (not cook) setting into which I put a 2
litre glass jar of ingredients brought to 90 degrees F beforehand. No
sterilizing. Takes about 10 hours

------
chadlavi
Poking around a little in that guy's repo... he actually seems to write that
entire blog as plain HTML files! I was really surprised, sort of expected it
to be gatsby or something

------
Avernar
I wish I could give it a try... I don't have a place of my own yet and no
access to a kitchen, but hey! It could be worse. I'll save the recipe for the
future though.

------
raducu
Is yogurt the next peanut butter&jelly or craft beer or avocado toast thing?

I've seen a few recipes for making yogurt on my hipster friends facebook feeds
recently and now this.

~~~
GloriousKoji
What was the peanut butter & jelly thing?

Fermenting in general has been gaining popularity over the past few years and
with shelter in place there's been a sudden spike in interest. I've see a lot
more content on making sourdough, yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha
popping up.

------
dj_gitmo
You can avoid burning the milk by keeping the milk moving with a large spoon.
Nesting the milk in a second pot of water seems overly complicated.

------
objektif
Has anyone tried using thermophilic starter to make yogurt? How does it
compare to using store bought yogurt as starter.

------
jeffreyrogers
Thanks for sharing. Will be giving this a try. Also, for the author, I like
the design of your site. Very easy to read.

------
avighnay
Walk into any Indian home for a free lesson, they make it every day for a few
thousand years now :-)

------
smnrchrds
How long does home-made yogurt remain active enough to be used as starter for
a new batch?

