Homemade yogurt
Milk is an integral part of our everyday lives. There are plenty of options in the market today based on people’s needs starting from organic, A2, lactose-free, raw milk, etc. Have you ever thought about what if you could have a categorized yogurt (A2, Organic, Lactose-free, Raw milk)? If your answer is yes and if you have not found many options for yogurt in the market, then this blog will be of great help. Homemade yogurts are very simple and economical options and can be used in a variety of recipes. Please visit ‘Nutrient-rich breakfast yogurt cup’ blog post of mine for a simple recipe with this homemade yogurt.
Before getting on to the recipe, let us know a little bit about what type of milk can be used for yogurt.
Should you choose pasteurized milk or raw milk?
Pasteurization is the process to boil the milk at about 161 ℉ and cooling it instantaneously to kill the bacteria present in it and eventually increasing its shelf life. Though it is said that pasteurizing milk makes it lose its enzymes and pro-biotic nutrients; the milk remains rich in vitamin A, Riboflavin, protein, and phosphorus.
On the other hand, ‘raw milk’ has rich digestive enzymes and pro-biotic nutrients but could have the potential presence of ‘salmonella bacteria’ which could cause intestinal and digestive tract issues. Cows generally get infected with these bacteria from the grass that they intake. Thus, to avoid all these potential issues on a human body from ‘raw milk’, pasteurization is performed. But if you have access to safe and good raw milk it is definitely a better option as the good bacteria is retained.
So, whatever be the choice of milk you can be certain that yogurt will be of the same nature. Having said that let us jump into the recipe.
Recipe for homemade yogurt
Ingredients
½ gallon whole milk
2 tablespoons yogurt (Greek Yogurt or any store-bought would help to begin with)
Boil milk (A2/Organic/Greek/Lactose-free/Raw milk) in a bowl on a stovetop to around 180℉. Now, this temperature is for pasteurized milk; For ‘raw milk’ maintains a temperature of 159–161℉ so the ‘good bacteria’ in the milk is retained.
Do not worry if you do not have a cooking thermometer, make sure to turn off the stove once milk makes bubbles & rises.
Once the level of milk rises up, turn off the stove. Let the milk cool down to around 98–101℉; you could also check the temperature of the milk with your fingertip and it should be at a bearable warmth, not too cold not too hot. Once the desired temperature of the milk is reached mix 2 tablespoons of the yogurt and stir/whisk it well and place it in the oven overnight with lights on. The consistency of yogurt should something like that in the below picture.
During winter have the oven preheated to 180 ° and then place the bowl; as a relatively warmer temperature is required for fermentation.
You can also try making yogurt in Instant Pot. It is basically the same process where the milk needs to be poured inside the pot with the ‘yogurt’ setting on. Once the milk is boiled, then the setting changes to ‘yogt’ mode. Once the milk cools down, add 2 tablespoons of yogurt and stir/whisk it well and leave the setting for 8 hrs. A thick yogurt should be ready the next day.
Enjoy homemade yogurt and let me know how you liked it.
