Adventures in Yogurt Making

Since I can barely get off the couch due to the muscle soreness that has taken over my body from two days of Insanity, I figure I'll give you a blog post about one of my favorite things: yogurt!  I LOVE yogurt, and eat it almost every day.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to yogurt.  I don't like the kinds that that contain a ton of unrecognizable ingredients and artificial sweeteners.  So, I tend to stick to plain yogurt that I sweeten myself with maple syrup and/or jam.  I also love Greek yogurt and buy a lot of Chobani.  But, my favorite kind of yogurt is homemade yogurt.

Unfortunately, it's tough to make homemade yogurt out of organic store-bought milk because most organic milk is ultra pasteurized.  This process breaks down the protein in the milk which ruins it for yogurt making.  So, I haven't been making much yogurt lately, but that has finally changed!

For a long time, I was able to get farm fresh milk from a local farm, which I used to make homemade yogurt.  I made at least one batch a week.  Then, I stopped being able to get the milk, so I stopped making yogurt...until this week.  I finally found a fabulous local farm that sells farm fresh milk, and this past Saturday I picked up my first batch of milk.

I brought the kids with me, and they had tons of fun exploring the farm and meeting the two beautiful jersey cows that will be providing them with their weekly milk.



I came home Saturday and immediately went to the store to buy some new yogurt cultures.  Sunday night, I made my first batch of homemade yogurt in over a year.  I have a yogurt maker, so it's really easy for me to whip up a batch of yogurt.

First, you bring the milk to a boil.  Then you remove it from the heat and let it cool until it reaches about 105 - 1120 degrees F.  Once the milk has cooled, you add the yogurt cultures, or some yogurt, and mix it all together.  The cultured milk is added to the jars and it sits for about 10 hours in the yogurt maker while it is transformed from milk into creamy deliciousness.

Look at all those jars waiting to become yogurt!

Wow!  I can't believe how much I missed this stuff.  I have been eating it every day since I made it and I can't get enough of it.  It's so full of good probiotics and I feel good knowing where the milk came from.