Making homemade yogurt in your yogurt maker is easy, quick and fun. There are countless ways to flavor your yogurt and customize it to your tastes. First you will need to make a delicious plain yogurt. After it's done, then you can add your favorite toppings.
Here is a list of the ingredients and tools you will need for one of the best yogurt maker recipes:
Saucepan
Thermometer
Yogurt maker (pre-heated)
4 cups of fresh 2% milk ( preferably Organic)
1/3 cup of powdered milk (optional, makes yogurt thicker and yogurt ferments quicker)
½ cup of organic yogurt or 1 pkg of yogurt starter
First, you'll need to slowly heat the milk in the saucepan on the stove over medium heat. If you are using powdered milk, you can add it to your milk at this point. It is important for the milk not to boil, so use your thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. Once the temp reaches 170 degrees, remove the saucepan from the stove and allow the milk to cool to around 110 degrees.
If using a package of yogurt starter, pour it into the milk and stir to make sure it is distributed evenly.
If you are using existing yogurt as your starter, mix a small amount of milk and the yogurt in a cup. This helps to break up the yogurt and make it easier to blend with the remaining milk. So go ahead and add the starter/milk combination to the rest of the milk.
Once the starter has been added you can pour the milk into your pre-heated yogurt maker. Leave in the yogurt maker for 6 to 12 hours and then place it in your refrigerator. The longer you leave it in the yogurt maker, the more tart it will be.
This yogurt maker recipe makes one quart of delicious, creamy yogurt. When you are ready to eat it, you can add your favorite fruits, preserves, honey, maple or granola. Or you can have it plain!
Enjoy!
