Homemade Yogurt

Cool, creamy, refreshing yogurt!

I think when someone commits to a family cow, one of the first images that they conjure up is homemade yogurt. At least I know this was true to me. It’s a great way to use up large amounts of milk and have a healthy snack for your family. I blend mine with honey power and vanilla, then add fresh fruit. Then if its not all getting eaten, the yogurt can be used for baking, pancakes, or even beauty products!

Do I have to have a cow?

So, a big misconception about making homemade yogurt is that you have to have a cow or a plethora raw milk in some compacity. That is far from the truth! Homemade yogurt can be made with store bought pasteurized and homogenized milk. So, if you’re wanting the added benefits of an additive free yogurt, you can definitely do it yourself without a cow.

Yummy Yogurt Options

I seriously think that yogurt is one of the most versatile things we make ourselves. There are optional choices that can be made from the first step, the milk. You can use fat free, 1%, 2%, whole and any variation of raw milk. One step that we choose to make is adding the 4TBS of powdered milk to each batch to help with the thickness. A tablespoon of gelatin is an option an option as well.

The next options come into play with incubating times. I incubate mine for about 8 hours. However, on your first go around, I’d start checking thickness and tasting at 4 hours and then every two hours after that to make sure that it doesn’t get too sour. After the milk has been chilled and the whey has been drained, the yogurt can be drained for added thickness by lining a colander with cheese cloth and letting set in the sink for about an hour. Stir occasionally to make sure you’re removing trapped whey.

Here is the fun step! Flavoring.

I like to use 3 TBS of honey powder and 3 TBS of vanilla. But, on my gosh, the sky is the limit. Raw honey, sugar, organic sugar, powdered sugar, or stevia with vanilla is awesome. I like using jam or preserves, especially if I messed up a batch and it’s a little runny. Nothing can beat plain old fresh fruit though!

Yogurt Flops (when its messed up)

Sometimes its just too thin, too sour, or not flavored right. Don’t worry, its not a total loss. This yogurt can be used to smoothies or baking. I often will feed an older batch to the dogs or pigs because it is so packed in protein. If it hasn’t been sweetened yet, it could be used as a beauty product, like this DIY Cleansing Lotion.

My kids’ all time favorite is yogurt pancakes. I replace the milk or water in any pancake recipe, plus a little extra to get amazingly thick pancakes that are packed with protein!

Check out this video to see how its done!