It is always healthier to make something at home and yogurt is not an exception! To make your own yogurt is so easy when you know the necessary tips, and it just needs time. However, people don’t bother making their yogurt these days, they just buy it from grocery. Women don’t think of making yogurt until they are pregnant or have a baby. I was very lucky as a child because I don’t remember a single time when mom bought it from grocery. Actually, it wasn’t that common about 20 years ago in Turkey, so moms would always make yogurt at home. Mom didn’t give up making yogurt even after markets started to sell it. As a lifetime learner in kitchen, I absolutely owe her a lot. I’ve been making yogurt since she taught me how. Before taking about the tips, I want to share a tradition we had when packaged yogurt wasn’t yet on the market. To make yogurt, you need a starter (a little yogurt to mix with milk). I remember moms send their children to a neighbor to ask for the starter when they ran out of yogurt. As a child I did it too, but not very often as my mom was such a wise woman that she would always save a little yogurt to use as a starter before we finished it up. Moms would give their children an empty tea glass (little one) and send them to a neighbor. They would use that small tea glass meaning that they needed just little. They would ring their neighbor’s door and say “Mom asks if you could borrow a little yogurt as a starter?” giving the empty glass. And the neighbor would glady take the glass and fill it with yogurt. Nice tradition, isn’t it? Maybe it still lives in small places.
We need some tips to reach perfection!
- Don’t take milk from stove just when it boils. Keep boiling it for about 15 minutes to have thicker yogurt.
- To understand whether milk reaches the right temperature, use your finger if you don’t have a thermometer. dip your finger into hot milk, if your finger can bear its heat inside for some seonds (not more), it’s ok. It mustn’t be too hot or less hot than necessary. If it is too hot, you will get a sourish yogurt and if it doesn’t reach the right heat, it takes longer time to get the result.
- Wait the milk-yogurt at the warmest place of your home. Take the pot with hot milk to this place and wait it here to reach the right temperature. It warms this place at the same time, which is a necessary step for thick yogurt.
- Put a thick blanket or under the pot (one of your pullowers will work just fine for this, its arms can hug the pot to protect it from cold). And then mix it with the starter in the way explained above. You can pour it into jars at this step if you like.
- Put the lid on the pot, but don’t cover it completely as your milk-yogurt needs some air inside. You can even use a suitable colander instead of its lid. This will help evaporation and yogurt will not be watery.
- Then cover the pot with another blanket very well. Don’t forget we must protect it from cold.
- Wait it about 3 hours in summer when it is very hot, and at least 6 hours in Winter. Check it after this given time and if it is still not thick enough, keep waiting for some more hours.
- Uncover it completely and wait it for 1 or 2 hours even without the lid.
- Gently place it refrigerator and wait it there for a day to have a better result.
- You can place paper towel on the surface of yogurt if it’s still so watery. These will absorb excessive water in it. You can throw the paper towel away and put a new one each time you take yogurt from the pot.
So how can we make perfect homemade yogurt?
Homemade Yogurt
Homemade yogurt is the best!
Ingredients
- 1 liter milk
- 1 tbsp yogurt, as a starter
Instructions
- Basicly boil milk in a pot.
- After taking it from stove, let it reach the right temperature (about 45 C).
- Put 1 tbsp yogurt in a small bowl. Mix it with a few ladles of hot milk until smooth and pour it into hot milk. Mix well.
- Take the pot to a warm place. Cover the pot with a thick blanket to protect it from cold.
- Wait it for 6 hours, uncover it wait for about an hour and then put it into refrigerator.
- Wait it there for about at least 6 hours (24 hours is the best) and then you can enjoy this delicious homemade yogurt.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 bowls
Hi! I have some very thick (Greek) strained yogurt that I purchased at a farmer’s market. Can I use that as a starter, or should I use regular yogurt? Thanks!
Hi Rebekah! Yes, you can use it as a starter.
Can this be done with soy or coconut milk and yogurt the same way?
Great recipe!
I left the starter in the freezer and now that I am ready to make a new batch I noticed the starter has lost its yogurt consistency, it is more liquid, like milk.
Will it still work?
Thanks for your input!
I freeze a little bit of yogurt often… so I make sure I have some starter just in case someone uses the last bit in the refrigerator. Yes, it work fine.
Hi Carlotta! I’ve never tried freezing yogurt. Great idea to keep it as a starter! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the recipe! I have been living in Turkey for two years now (I’m from the Netherlands) and am now in the process of making home-made yoghurt for the first time. Now I am waiting for the milk to cool down. I wasn’t sure what to do with the layer on the surface of the hot milk. My guess was to remove it, or would you suggest to leave it there? I can’t wait to taste the result!
Oh that’s nice! Which city are you living in? Isn’t it a great feeling to make your own yogurt? If you want to make low fat yogurt, it’s good to remove that layer on the surface of milk. You can leave it there if you want it full-fat. Hope you love your first homemade yogurt. Feel free to ask any questions you have.
Hi Zerrin,
Thanks for your reply! Maybe I should leave the layer there next time then, because I like it creamy 🙂 It is very nice to make it indeed. It’s difficult to be patient though, I feel like checking it every half an hour!
I live in Izmir by the way. Next year I might spend some months in your city, Eskisehir, as part of my phd research. I have never been there, but look forward to explore a new city in Turkey.
Yes, the hardest part for me, when making yogurt is to wait for hours! But I know I must leave it alone.
I’ve been to Izmir a few times. It’s a very nice city to live in. Are you going to come to Eskisehir? It’s great news! I’m sure you will love my city. The energy of thousands of university students always makes this city active. It just lacks sea. Let me know when you come. Would love to help you explore Eskisehir!
Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
I also run a food blog and will be featuring your recipe this afternoon.
My mom ALWAYS had a bowl covered in a blue, white and pink towel on the counter with the next batch of yogurt going. We loved it so much as children. I’m embarrassed to say that I have yet to make it myself. I need to do this. Thank you for the instructions and the nudge!
Zerrin, I cannot tell you how long I have waited for someone to tell me how to make my own yoghurt. Thank you!! 🙂 I’ve asked so many people and they just say, ‘Oh, it’s easy, I’ll ask my mum’ but then they never actually tell me how to do it. Maybe they want to keep it a secret. 🙂 I can’t wait to make this and I’ll let you know how we get one with it. Excited now.
Julia
I definitely need to start making my own yogurt! We go through so much of it and I’m sure it would be so much better homemade!
I have been making lots of cheese at home over the last month….but need to try yogurt. Thanks!
I always have homemade yogurt in the fridge. Once you made your own, you never go back. And it just gets thicker and thicker as you use your own starter from the last batch each time. I love it.
🙂
Valerie
Homemade yogurt is so good and quite easy to make!