Homemade Vanilla Yogurt

When I started making cuts from my grocery bill, yogurts were one item that stuck around.  Homemade yogurt was far from my mind.  I’m not a big fan of yogurt in general, but Hubs and the kids eat them with lunch.  The kids preferred the name brand, and I was easily able to get them for $0.50 per cup or less.  Sometimes I got them as low as $0.39 per cup.  So I continued to buy them.  The thing is, even at $0.39 per cup, that’s nearly $12 of yogurts to get everyone through a week.  I had to start finding a new way.

At Hubs’ request, I started buying a quart of vanilla yogurt at $4 per quart.  It helped reduce what we spent each week.  Then the kids would start eating from Hubs’ yogurt stash, and I’d wind up buying 2 quarts per week.  I had a light bulb moment.  I starting looking up how to make our own yogurt.

I was really skeptical at first, because I’ve heard how hard it is, how time consuming it can be, and how it doesn’t turn out like the stuff in the store you’re used to.  My fear of screwing up a batch kept me from doing it for a while actually.

After a few tries I’ve learned a few things:

• Homemade yogurt NOT as hard as you’d think.  I haven’t screwed it up yet {and that’s saying something because I’ve forgotten I had it heating in the crock pot and Lady Bug and I got lost in the garden}.
• It does take a long time from start to finish, BUT the majority of it is hands off time.  I start it at 2 pm that way I’m adding in the starter around bedtime, and the yogurt is ready to go at 6 am when I’m packing lunches.
• You can use Lactaid, but it’ll come out really, really sweet.  I then tried it with regular milk, and my kids have handled it just fine so far, including Lady Bug who can’t even drink Lactaid.  Bonus in that a half gallon of milk is $1.45 cheaper than a half gallon of Lactaid.
• You can leave out the ClearJel and strain the yogurt in cheesecloth if you like a thicker yogurt.  I don’t like to do that for a few reasons.  1} Who has that kind of time?  2}  I know how well I operate cheesecloth for canning recipes.  Can we say cleanup in aisle 9?  3} I want to get my money’s worth from the milk, so I’d rather have a large, thick batch of yogurt than a smaller batch as well as some milk.  And finally, 4} I don’t mind a thickener in my yogurt; take a look at Stoneyfield’s ingredients.  Yes, pectin is there.

The best part of all is that it’s really hard to screw up.  I’ve done some doozies with this, and it still comes out edible!

So how does it stack up?

A half gallon of milk yields 2 quarts and 2 cups of yogurt for me.  It’s enough for a week worth of yogurt between 4 people, and starter for the following week.  The only thing I have to buy is the milk; all other ingredients I have on hand.  A half gallon of whole milk costs $1.84.  To have a week worth of yogurt in the store bought quarts, I’d have to pay $7.58.  That’s a $5.74 savings, or 76%!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 half gallon whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons ClearJel*
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 6-8 ounces vanilla starter {I just used a cup of Stoneyfield Vanilla Yogurt since that’s what I was buying by the quart at the time}

DIRECTIONS

1. Spray slow cooker liner with cooking spray.
2. Pour milk into the slow cooker.  Heat on low for 2 hours 45 minutes.
3. When time is up, combine sugar and ClearJel* in a separate bowl.  Whisk sugar mixture and vanilla into heated milk.
4. Cover, and let it sit for 3 hours.
5. When time is up, using a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together 1 cup of the milk mixture and the yogurt starter.  Pour this mixture into the slow cooker and whisk together.  Cover, and wrap the slow cooker with two kitchen towels.  {I like to use a smaller one for the top and a larger one for around the sides.}  Let sit, undisturbed in a warm place for 8 – 12 hours.
6. When the time is up, transfer your yogurt into food safe containers and store in the fridge.  I love using empty mason jars.

Notes:

• Spraying the liner with cooking spray may be an entirely optional step.  I do this because I know my crockpot, and if I skip this step, it’s a huge mess for me later on.
• I use ClearJel because I have it on hand from canning apples this summer.  It’s just corn starch that’s safe for higher temperatures that happen in the canner.  I’ve used corn starch with excellent results as well.  I plan on trying with Arrowroot Powder in the future.  The trick is to combine it with the sugar to make sure it doesn’t clump.

Have you tried making your own yogurt?  Will you give it a try now that you know how easy it is?