I've started making homemade yogurt. I could almost kick myself for not doing this sooner. We eat a lot of yogurt at our house. The day often begins with a smoothie and I can eat tons of the stuff with just a little honey or jam mixed in. We're also big fans of using it to accompany various Indian dishes we make -- dahl, aloo gobi and chana masala, to name a few. While I'm on the subject, I love this cookbook for simple and tasty Indian dishes. Perhaps we'll be having some homemade Indian food tonight. Sounds good.
Anyway, back to this topic of this homemade yogurt. I made a GIANT jar for less than it costs to buy one large container at the store. And it's good. Really good. And it was super easy. I used my slow cooker, believe it or not!
Here's how I made mine:
1/2 gallon of whole milk
1/2 cup of yogurt with *live cultures. (yep, you have to start with a little of the store-bought stuff, and the live cultures part is important. however, after the first batch is made you can just save a 1/2 cup for the next batch)
Pour the milk into a slow cooker set on low and let it warm for 2 1/2 hours
Unplug the slow cooker and let the milk cool with the cover on for 3 hours
After 3 hours is up, remove a couple of cups of warm milk and mix in 1/2 cup of yogurt, stirring it together well
Pour that mixture back into your slow cooker
Put the lid back on and cover the entire slow cooker with a towel. *make sure it's unplugged
Let it sit for 8 hours and you will have yogurt, a big jar of delicous, homemade yogurt
Although I haven't done it yet, I'm fairly sure you can strain it through a clean cotton towel placed over a sieve if you wish you to have thicker, greek style yogurt.
Enjoy!