homemade yogurt

seriously, its the best thing ever! and its a pinch to make. there is no reason to buy that sugar-laden, solid, stirred, unstirred, fruit on the bottom, non-food crap. real, homemade yogurt is amazing and so good for you. add a sliced banana, a dollop of jam, strawberries or granola - breakfast doesn't get any better.

you can make it one of two ways: you can use either store bought yogurt as your culture or you can buy a powdered yogurt culture from the grocery store. either one works great, but if you are starting with real yogurt you'll have to make sure that its plain, and i mean plain. not vanilla and it has to have active bacterial culture in it, otherwise, its a no go. the first couple batches are going to be a little different then you're probably used to. it might be runny, or have an almost slimy texture. the culture just has to work it self out and after a couple batches it will be wonderful.

heat 1 liter of milk to between 108-112 degrees F, add 2 T yogurt and stir to combine. pour it into a clean container with a lid. wrap it well with a towel and place in a warm spot to incubate for 8-hours (overnight). when the time is up put it in the fridge, cool and enjoy!

if you are using unpasteurized milk, you'll have to heat it up to 180 degrees F to pasteurize it. then cool it to 110ish and then add your starter. if you are using a powered yogurt starter, there will be directions on the package, mine says to only incubate for 4 hours.