Day 99- Making Yogurt!

I have been making my own yogurt for several months now and I thought I would post about how it is done and the benefits!
Several months ago, I bought a Dash Yogurt Maker (though I've seen recipes for simply doing it in the crock pot).




Making plain, yummy yogurt is fairly simple with the yogurt maker. You simply bring 5 cups of milk up to 180 degrees on the stove and let it cool to 100ish degrees. (if you don't want to heat it, the yogurt just comes out runnier). Then you stir in 3 T of yogurt (preferably plain, but I have even used gogurt). You pour the mixture into the 7 jars and let it go for 8-12 hours (depending on the fat percentage in your milk). I usually have 2%, which is 10 hours. After that, I pour off a tiny bit of whey that separates from the yogurt, then stir up the jars and put them in the fridge. Voila! Fresh, plain yogurt!
Alan and I both enjoy eating yogurt with granola or other cereal. I've also recently been experimenting with just walnuts, a bit of honey, and fresh fruit.




The yogurt tastes great, though has a slightly grainier texture than store bought yogurt. You can make your own Greek yogurt by straining the yogurt once it is prepared. I like the Dash system because it gives you individual cups, which makes it easier to portion and take with you to lunch at work. I do wish I had another set of jars so that I could make another batch of yogurt before the previous batch is all gone. Eating plain yogurt took me a little getting used to, since I had been eating sugary, flavored yogurt for so long. I am really enjoying it now and think that the other stuff is too sweet. I like that the yogurt has no added preservatives, thickeners, or sugar. And, it's definitely cheaper than buying all the individual Greek yogurts we were purchasing at $1 each. My estimate is that each batch of 7 costs about $1! It just depends on the price of milk and whether you have to buy a starter or if you already have some yogurt to use. And that's the scoop on yogurt making!