Homemade Yogurt in Mason Jars

By SamU

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from foodinjars.com

Preparation

Step 1

The first step is to heat the milk to 190-200 degrees F. You can use any milk you’d like. I made this batch using six cups of whole, un-homogenized milk (because it’s not homogenized, the cream will rise to the top, leaving me with a gorgeous, rich upper layer).

Once it reaches that temperature (take care not to let it boil), you want to cool the milk down to 120 degrees F. I do this by filling my sink with cold water and placing the pot in. The water helps reduce the temperature quite rapidly, so don’t walk away during this step.

Once it has cooled to 120 degrees F, whisk two tablespoons of yogurt into the milk. Over the years, I’ve tried using various amounts of yogurt to start my batches and I’ve actually found that the smaller amounts work better than larger amounts. A tablespoon for every 3-4 cups of milk just seems to work perfectly.

There was also a time during which I stirred some dry milk into each batch of yogurt I made. I’d heard it made for a thicker yogurt. In the end, I decided it had no discernable positive impact on the finished product and, if anything, left me with lumpy yogurt.

Once you’ve stirred the yogurt in, pour the inoculated milk into your jars. You’ll see that my jars aren’t entirely full. There’s no reason why you can’t fill them up to the top. I just didn’t have enough milk in the fridge to make a full batch. However, I filled the jars evenly because I wanted to ensure that they’d process at the same rate.

A note about the starter yogurt you use: Make sure to use a yogurt that you like. There are a number of different yogurt bacterias out there and they all turn out slightly different yogurts. Splurge on the starter in order to make something you’re happy with.

Place your filled jars into the cooler and add hot tap water until they’re submerged, but not floating. You want the water to be around 120-125 degrees F. I’ve found that this is exactly how hot my hottest tap water is, so I use that. Makes life easy, too.

When the time is up, remove the jars from the cooler and place them in the fridge. Use your homemade yogurt like you would any other kind of yogurt. If you’re interested in transforming your yogurt into a thicker product (along the lines of greek yogurt), all you do is strain it. Well Preserved has

For those of you who regularly make yogurt, do you have any tips to share?

I now use Little Miss Cruciferous’ method in a soft sided cooler that fits 6 quart canning jars perfectly and bought a better thermometer. I use whole milk (it’s actually 4%!) heat to 180F, cool to 105F, whisk in starter, pour into jars, fill other jars with boiling water, make it before bed, and come next morning I have 3 quarts of firm yogurt.

I used a single serving of plain Dannon yogurt as my starter, and I now just use some of last week’s batch to make this weeks batch.

My BIL’s father, a central European immigrant, just puts a pitcher of milk on the counter, whisks in some starter, and 2 days later he has yogurt he puts back into the fridge. (*!*)

I’m so glad you found a method that works for you! I imagine that your BIL’s father uses a different starter culture. There are some varieties that will turn into yogurt at room temperature. Two days seems like a long time, though. That might make me nervous.

I usually turn a plastic storage box on its side, wrap my containers in a towel and put them in it with a space heater aimed at them from about 12 inches away (usually overnight)

The hot water method in a cooler works for me, and I have a cold house. But, in addition to the hot water bath I also wrap my cooler in a Bulgarian Wool blanket. I suppose you could use any wool blanket, but the Bulgarians often wrap their yogurt in wool to incubate, so I use my Bulgarian blanket around my cooler. Works every time.

I make yogurt about once a month in a big, 1/2 gallon jar that fits the white plastic lids. It just about holds a half gallon of milk, which works out because we don’t really drink much milk. I heat the milk in a double boiler (mixing bowl over a stock pot) to prevent scorching. I use a small cooler filled with hot tap water to maintain the temperature over night.

I’ve found that the peak temperature you bring the milk up to has a huge effect on the thickness of the final product. Below 175 F the proteins don’t denature enough- the yogurt comes out runny. Still good in a smoothie or lassi though. One batch I made got up to 195F came out really chunky and was almost inedible. I generally try to hit 180 F. This seems to give optimum texture using whole milk and Chobani as a starter. I often whisk in a packet of dry, nonfat milk. It definitely makes the yogurt thicker. I add the starter at about 115-120F. I find that I need a fresh starter after every fourth batch.

They’re made by Ball, so most places that carry canning products will have them. They range in price quite a bit. I’ve seen a box of 8 of them go for as little as $3 and as much as $16.

The cooler method works great for me. I have been using a heating pad in the bottom of the cooler instead of hot water to maintain a temperature between 95 – 110 F. On sunny days I take advantage of the free energy by setting the cooler on the deck where it will get sun for the 8 to 12 hours needed for the culture to do its thing. We like our yogurt on the thick side, so I make one gallon batches in a large pot that gets strained to remove about three pints of whey, then transfer into pint jars. The whey goes into bread dough, compost, or dog food, but never wasted.

Oh, I’m so glad my method is working out for you, Marisa! I make a gallon of yogurt almost every week using this recipe and I’ve been doing it for about 4 years now.

To make a thicker product in a way that uses up the whey, I sometimes stir in dry steel-cut oats and let them absorb whey and enzymes. They break down a little, as they would during cooking, but they stay more toothsome than rolled oats would.

It’s a different sort of food than plain yogurt, but it makes for a more balanced portable snack, in my experience.

I’m a cyclical yogurt maker, too. Over the years, I’ve found that powdered probiotics from a natural foods store are a great way to culture yogurt, as the bacterial potency and strain are guaranteed…and it spares you the irony of having to buy yogurt to make yogurt. I currently use Solaray Multidophilus, which contains

I’ve found it nearly impossible to keep up with a vegetable garden, or learn to sew, or even do more than one canning project a year. However, yogurt making is so quick and easy even I can keep up with it. I make a quart of yogurt in a mason jar a couple of times a week. My three-year old and I consume most of it. I use a super-simple method: heat until there are bubbles around the edges of the milk in the pan and it is steaming a good amount, hold for a few minutes, cool to 110 degrees, poor into mason jar, mix in a spoonful of yogurt from previous batch, cover and let rest in the oven with pilot light overnight. Stove is so old it doesn’t have a light inside. Also, I turn the oven on low for about 2 minutes to warm it up before putting milk+yogurt mixture in.

I got curdled bits too when I started making yogurt. I used to let it cool on the stove and never stirred it. I find that if you stir it often as it heats, and again when it cools (I now cool in a cold water bath), then there are no curdles.

I loved this method. It worked beautifully for me. The only place I went wrong is in how long I strained it in order to end up with something closer to “Greek” yogurt. The time range suggested in the linked to article was much too long. After the minimum time suggested I had something along the lines of cream cheese – which will be put to good use.

Thiz is fantastic! I make Greek yogurt at home regularly and find that my half pint jars filled to 6 ounces are perfect. I’m in the camp that adds powdered milk to each batch to thicken it rather than straining afterwards and the end result is comparable to Fage brand Greek yogurt in ready to grab sized servings. I also let mine sit in my cooler for about 15 hourts to get that nice and tart flavor. Agoes so perfectly with a drizzle of honey or some fresh berries. I have one jar marked as starter, to remind myself not to use up the whole thing, but to save part of it for the next batch.

I want to try to make yogurt but I don’t want to have to drain it in order to get the consistency of Greek yogurt. How much powdered milk do you add to your yogurt and at which step? Thank for the help

Quick question…can you freeze the starter yogurt so you will have some for the next time you make a batch (I read this on another blog)?

LDB, yes, I freeze my starter and the three batches I’ve made with thawed starter have come out fine. Just try to make sure the freezing process is as quick as possible–cool it off in the fridge first, and then put it in the coldest part of your freezer.

I made my first batch of yogurt Saturday and it is simply amazing. I never knew how easy it really is to make. This will definitely not be the only batch I make because we eat so much yogurt around our house. I am curious though, to know how long the yogurt will stay fresh in the refrigerator. Any thoughts? Thanks so much and keep blogging! You are a treasure on the net…

I finally worked up the courage to try making yogurt tonight. Thanks for making it seem so easy! I have mine resting in a warmed oven (Once it was preheated to the lowest temperature I turned it off and opened the door until it came to 120, then put the jars in and closed the door). I actually used Greek honey flavored yogurt as my starter. I read a few other comments on other sites that said they had success with this, so fingers crossed.

When my husband has cow’s milk it really messes him up, but he can eat yogurt made from cow’s milk and it actually helps him with his digestion. The yogurt making process actually eats up the lactose and of course the probiotics helps in digestion. If you really want to make soy yogurt you need to buy cultures designed specifically for soy and other alternative milks.

[...] wrote the canning cookbook that has sparked this obsession. The specific yogurt recipe can be found here. Pretty much, take a half gallon of milk (any kind, fat free or whole), heat it up to 190 degrees, [...]

A tip…I have a double oven so in the winter I put the yogurt in the upper oven with the light on and put the lower oven on to 200. No need to keep it on all day, but periodically to warm it up..and if you forget…won’t be overheated.

I also start with everything warm…jars, starter at room temp, oven preheated..

[...] you don’t have a nifty yogurt maker, you can use your oven or a cooler or even a thermos – just warm up the interior of the thermos with some hot water, pour in [...]

[...] Food in Jars–how to use cooler to make yogurt [...]

[...] been using this method to make our yogurt.  I’ve found that using 6 cups of reduced fat milk (2%) and 3 tablespoons of [...]

I am also an on-again-off-again yogurt maker. Today I am on again. I have a Revel 18- quart Roaster Oven with three inserts in the top that are perfect for making yogurt. I put hot water (2″) in the bottom of the oven and turn it to 150 degrees before I start heating up my milk. After cooling down the milk and adding the starter, I divide the mixture between the three inserts, turn off the oven and put the lid back on. I cover the whole oven with a thick towel or blanket and let it set overnight. In the morning–voila! Perfect yogurt!

I forgot to mention to remove the metal inserts while the oven is heating up so they won’t be too hot for the cultured milk.

I tried this with 2% and poured it into half-pint jars, which happens to be the perfect serving size for my family. I forgot about the yogurt until right before I went to bed, but it was perfect when I pulled it all out of the cooler! This is my new go-to yogurt recipe.

Thanks. This worked great. I did two small changes. To make this yogurt SCD, I culture for 24 hours, checking to make sure the temperature is correct, by heating up the surrounding water jars as needed. It makes a lactose free yogurt. I also have a small cooler that fits in a larger cooler and will hold the temperature overnight.

I too get addicted to yogurt for a couple weeks and then just stop for some reason. I am now at that point where I am pro yogurt! I just had a question – How long does the yogurt keep in the fridge for? Thanks again.

[...] tutorial is derived from one I found several months back about how to culture your own dairy yogurt. I gave it a try with soymilk, figuring the type of milk couldn’t make THAT much of a [...]

My husband makes our yogurt using an 80 oz margarine tub and powdered milk. He simply heats just over 4 cups of water in the micro for 4 min., adds 3-4 cups of milk powder, adds 1/3 cup no-cal sweetener, adds yogurt culture from previous batch, adjusts the temp with ice cubes to 115 or so, and puts the lid on with a probe thermometer stuck through a small hole he drilled in the lid. He puts a heating pad in our Playmate cooler with a clay “bread warmer” on top and a beach towel on top of that. He puts the tub in the cooler and wraps the towel around the container. He sets the heating pad on low with thermometer alarm set at 117. When the alarm goes off a couple hours later, he turns off the heat and lets it sit for another 5-7 hours, puts it in the frig, and the next morning we have wonderful yogurt. Easy as pie! Blessings and good eats!

However, I understand that it must be a certain “type” of powdered milk —Would you mind telling us the brand and ‘type’ of powdered milk that you use? Are there any other adjustments to the process one must make when using this method?

Hey! Ive been making yogurt every week for awhile. The best method I know to incubate it is two heat some water very hot, about tea making hot, and out it into one half gallon mason jar, or two quart mason jars. Then put it on a suitable table or counter where it can stay for seven hours, and arrange the yogurt jars around it so they are touching. Then put a heavy wool blanket over them, and tuck them in nicely. Maybe two blankets if you are unsure yours will insulate enough. This has never failed me, and is the way people would incubate yogurt before electric ovens and plastic coolers existed. Water is great for holding temperature!

I make yogurt all the time. I can’t justify buying all those little plastic containers. I buy whatever yogurt I want, Chobani, other greek yogurt, whatever… for my starter. I can’t just waste the leftovers from the large container, so I freeze the remainder (after I’ve made a batch) in ice cube trays and them freeze the cubes for another fresh start. After they are frozen, I pop them out of the trays and store the cubes in a zipper type freezer bag. Works great!

After reading this I’m going to try to make some. My kids love those drinkable yougurts like DanActive. How long do you let it sit for it to be drinkable? Thanks.

Jenny, I’ve never tried to make a drinkable version, so I really don’t know.

One could simply add milk to existing yogurt until it reaches the desired consistency OR shorten the incubation time from (in my case) two hours to one. Just be sure to keep the thinner yogurt cool else it will eventually thicken.

1) Place four quart ball jars with “inoculated milk” into the pot

4) Place a thermometer in a hole in the colander that’s near the center of the jars.

[...] on the internet for making homemade yogurt. Here are a few I like: Kitchen Stewardship and Food In Jars.  I have a yogurt maker already because I felt so guilty constantly throwing those little plastic [...]

I made it yesterday with the heating pad method. I used one of those large tin cans that Christmas gift popcorn comes in. Put my jar of yogurt-y milk in the center, wrapped a couple of towels around the jar in case the heating pad had any hot spots, then wrapped the heating pad around that. Tucked in the whole thing with a couple of thick beach towels. It worked! I’m going to experiment with a few of the other “keep warm” methods here because I want to “set it and forget it” (like, overnight, or while I’m at work) but I’m paranoid about leaving a heating pad on and (God forbid) causing a house fire. (I know, I know….) I like the one involving 110 degree water inside a couple of picnic coolers!

How to make Yogurt

I finally made yogurt for the first time and knew I wanted them made & stored in jars so your blog was the first place I wanted to go to. I watched other methods but yours were easy to understand and great photos. I made granola many times and it seemed perfect to have homemade yogurt now. I love having a “Homemade Pantry” and just makes me want to say “I will never buy yogurt again”!:-)

One jar came out runny but the other two were thick so I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t mix in the plain yogurt enough before pouring in the jars. I’ll use it for smoothies.:-)

Of all the methods I found on line, this was the most straightforward and it worked! My variation was that I poured the milk into the mason jar and set the jar into the pot of water to heat it (like a double boiler) and it worked great. My yogurt could be thicker, but it’s perfect for making lassi and it tastes really good. Using a cooler with hot water was a brilliant idea. No additional energy needed, like with a heating pad or leaving the oven lit. I am so happy with the result! Thanks for a brilliant tutorial.

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