Making yogurt

I know that you don’t need a yogurt maker to make yogurt at home, but when my mother-in-law asked what I would like for my birthday I knew that little yogurt maker I had seen would be the perfect gift. So that’s what I got.

My first attempt was a complete fail! I followed the instructions that came with the machine but the end result was more like a drinking yogurt, very runny, but I did manage to use it in smoothies and cooking.
So I decided to see what others were doing by searching the web. I soon released that I needed to heat my milk before adding the yogurt culture. I also learned that adding some powdered milk will help it get thicker.

This is what I did:
Heat 1 litre of milk with 1/4 cup powdered milk mixed in, to about 85 degrees Celsius (180-185 degrees Fahrenheit). Apparently the longer you hold it at this temp the thicker the yogurt will be due to the water evapouration.
Allow the milk to cool to about 45 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit)
Mix some of this cooled milk with 2 tablespoons of plain store bought yogurt that contains live cultures (I have found that almost all of them contain these cultures, just check the tub).
Now add your yogurt mix to the cooled milk.
Pour the milk into your yogurt maker and set the number of hours you would like it to culture. The longer it goes the thicker, but tarter it will get. I found about 8-10 hours works well.

I was blown away by the results after following the correct instructions. My yogurt was so thick, thicker than greek yogurt. And it tasted just as great as the store bought stuff…no, better!

Yes, that is my yogurt tub standing on its side without anything falling out, it was just that thick

For my next batches I just save a couple tablespoons from the last batch for the started yogurt.
I must admit my second batch was not quite this think, but still as thick as greek yogurt.
Next step is making my own muesli!