Make Your Own Yogurt Using Two Ingredients

You can make your own yogurt so you don't have to buy it from the store and the yogurt I make is made only using two ingredients and those are milk and couple of tablespoons of existing yogurt which contains the culture of yogurt.

The culture is basically the bacteria that converts lactose in milk into lactic acid converting milk into yogurt. First add milk to a deep saucepan and you can add as much milk as the amount of yogurt you want to make. Set the heat to medium and let the milk boil. Make sure you keep an eye on the milk so it reaches the boiling point but does not boil over.

After boiling the milk, let it cool down for 30 to 45 minutes until it is warm to touch. The milk will create a fine layer of fat on top. You can skim it back so that you don't actually put it into your yogurt. You can if you want to however, according to my preference, it's not very pleasant to eat.

The best way to test the temperature of the yogurt is to put some on your wrist. If it's lukewarm to touch, it's ready to make yogurt. It is very important to have the milk at lukewarm temperature when adding the culture. If the milk is too hot, the bacteria in the culture will die and you won't get any yogurt. If the milk is too cold, the bacteria in the culture will not be able to multiply and the yogurt will not be made.

Add two tablespoons of existing yogurt in the container of your choice. This contains the culture needed to make the yogurt. Then add milk to your container, cover the container, and then add the container in a warm area or an area that actually retains heat such as an oven and then close the oven. Don't actually turn on the oven, just keep the milk in the oven to retain the heat.

The best temperature to make yogurt is between 108F to 112F. However, we don't need to make things too complicated, just keep the milk at lukewarm temperature, put it in the oven and the yogurt will set in six hours.

After six hours, open the oven and check the yogurt. The yogurt is set and become like a gel and is not liquid anymore. Refrigerate the yogurt and it will be best for a week and can last up to two weeks. Keep using couple of tablespoons of the same yogurt to start a new batch. I have my yogurt going for four years now.

This is how easy it is to make your own yogurt and this process makes one of the sweetest yogurt. If you keep your yogurt out too long, more than eight hours the bacteria will keep multiplying and your yogurt will turn sour. Less than six hours, the yogurt will not set. So between six and eight hours is the right time to make the sweetest yogurt.