3 tablespoons plain yogurt, either handmade or bought, or yogurt starter powder, as directed on the container.
optional:
Jam, honey, dulce de leche, molasses, fresh or dried fruit, garlic, herbs, and other flavors.
Methods To Make Yogurt At Home
Start by sanitizing and cleaning all of your tools, equipment, and workspace. The dishwasher may be used to disinfect most serving pieces and storage containers (some machines have a sanitized setting). A different option is to sanitize everything with hot water.
Prepare an ice bath by adding ice to a big basin or sink.
Add the milk to a heavy, sizable saucepan, and then secure a candy thermometer to it. The milk should be heated in a moderately-sized saucepan until it reaches a temperature of at least 180°F or boils. Stir the milk occasionally to avoid a skin from developing and to ensure that it doesn’t scald or boil over. Alternately, you may microwave the milk in 2- to 3-minute intervals until it reaches 180° or begins to boil by placing it in a sizable microwave-safe bowl or a big glass measuring cup with a spout (for simple pouring).
When the milk reaches 110°F to 115°F, remove it from the heat. Place the saucepan in the prepared ice bath, stirring the milk occasionally, to hasten the chilling process. (Return the milk to the heat if the temperature falls too low.)
Stir together 1 cup of warm milk and the yogurt in a separate dish if you’re using yogurt as a starting culture. The remaining heated milk should be added to the yogurt-milk combination, and it should be thoroughly combined. Don’t stir too quickly.
Add the recommended quantity of powdered yogurt culture to the heated milk according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Whisk the mixture until all of the powdered culture is mixed. Don’t stir too quickly.
If using a thermos, first warm the interior with hot tap water. Pour or ladle the mixture into the yogurt maker containers or another incubator, and incubate at 110°F to 115°F for 5 to 10 hours, depending on the flavor and consistency you want. Longer incubation times result in thicker, tarter yogurt. While the yogurt is incubating, do not disturb it.
Yogurt should be covered and chilled for two to three hours. (If you incubated the yogurt in a thermos, move the chilled yogurt to a non-insulated container to allow the temperature to fall.) Just before serving, stir any flavorings into the yogurt. (After incubation, spoon the yogurt into a colander lined with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Let it drain, covered, in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight. The yogurt’s drained whey should be discarded or saved for another purpose.)
Yogurt may be kept in closed glass, ceramic, or plastic containers in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, although the flavor is at its peak in the first week. Yogurt gets tarter as it gets older. Simply whisk the whey back into the yogurt before serving if extra whey separates out.
