Hot rice cereal with Quail Springs goat yogurt, homemade granola, jam and tahini.

Culturing your own yogurt is not only simple, but also biologically, economically and ecologically satisfying…

• It tastes better than store bought yogurt.
• It’s good for you (no preservatives, sugar etc..) Homemade yogurt is a healthy source of protein, calcium, magnesium, and other essential vitamins, whose active bacterial cultures are said to aid in digestion.
• It’s less expensive. You can make yogurt in your own home for a fraction of the cost of the typical store-bought type and it requires no special equipment (other than a thermometer).
• There’s no packaging waste.

You will need:

1 gallon of milk
2-3 Tbs of plain yogurt as a starter, or alternatively freeze-dried yogurt starter culture
1 pot (with a lid) that can hold 1 gallon of milk
1 Metal spoon
1 Dial thermometer

How to do it:

1. Pour milk into pot.
2. Heat the milk to 185F till it starts to bubble around the edge of the pot.
3. Turn off heat and put the pot with the milk in a cool place. You now want it to reach 110F, so that the yogurt cultures can start to reproduce themselves. If you want to speed up the process you can place the pot of milk in a cold water bath.
4. When it has reached 110F you can gently stir 2-3 tablespoons of starter yogurt, or, alternatively, your freeze dried starter culture into the milk.
5. At this stage I pour the inoculated milk (milk + starter) into 2 half gallon mason jars, but, if you like, you can let your yogurt culture in the pot.
6. Now create a cozy nook for your yogurt to culture. For example: We wrap blankets around the mason jars and place them in a large cooler with a hot water bottle. Making sure the jars are not directly touching the hot water bottle, so that the yogurt doesn’t get too hot.
7. Wait for 4-6 hours and then place yogurt in fridge for approx. another 12 hours. The longer you leave it, the thicker and more tart the resulting yogurt. Enjoy!