2 Methods for Making Homemade Yogurt (+ Frozen Yogurt Recipe)

About a year ago I wrote a post about trying the famous crockpot yogurt recipe. I made several batches that way, but found that with each batch my yogurt was runnier and I just wasn’t enjoying it. So, I tried a few other methods and I am finally ready to share with you 2 yogurt methods that have been working for me.

Making homemade yogurt is very frugal, plus you know exactly what is in your yogurt. The money savings coupled with the healthfulness of homemade yogurt makes it worth the effort to make it yourself.

The first thing you will need is a crockpot and some milk. I have been using a gallon of milk at a time, but you could use as little as one quart. The recipe I am sharing makes 1 gallon of yogurt.

Ingredients:

1 Gallon of Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt*
1 Cup Powdered Milk

*If using store bought yogurt make sure it says something about “active cultures” on the packaging. You can also use homemade yogurt.

1. Pour 1 gallon of milk into a crockpot and turn it on high.

2. Heat the milk until it reaches a temperature of 185 degrees. It took 3 hours for my crockpot to get the milk to that temperature.

3. Cool the milk to a temperature of 115 degrees. It took 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach that temperature.

4. In a bowl or measuring cup, take 1 cup of the milk and mix in 1/2 cup of yogurt (store-bought or from a previous homemade batch) and 1 cup of powdered milk. Gently swirl this mixture into the crockpot but don’t stir too much. If there is a skim on the top of the milk in the crockpot, remove it before adding the yogurt mixture.

5. Put the lid on the crockpot, wrap towels around it, and place it into your oven but do not turn the oven on. Leave the crockpot in the oven for 8-10 hours.

You should now have yogurt. The yogurt should be around 90 degrees. Put the yogurt into containers and store in the refrigerator.

What if you want to make a smaller amount of yogurt? For 1/2 gallon of yogurt you would need to use 1/2 gallon of milk, 1/4 cup of yogurt, and 1/2 cup of powdered milk. For 1 quart of yogurt you would need to use 1 quart of milk, 1/8 cup of yogurt, and 1/4 cup powdered milk.

I have also successfully made yogurt in quart canning jars.

1. Pour milk into the jars (You can do just one at a time.) and put them into a pan of water. Heat the pan until the temperature in the jars reaches 185 degrees, just like with the crockpot method.

2. Remove the jars from the water and set them on the counter to cool to a temperature of 115 degrees.

3. Remove any skim that has formed and add 1/8 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup powdered milk per quart jar.

4. Put caps on the jars and wrap towels around them. Place in the oven for 8-10 hours. If you are making more than one jar you could put them all into a crockpot and wrap the whole thing with towels.

Alternatively, I have used a heating pad set on low to keep one jar warm. I did check the temperature with that method because I didn’t want the jars to be too hot. I have even heard of people using a cooler to keep jars of yogurt warm for incubation.

During the incubation process the goal is to keep the yogurt around 90-100 degrees. If you want to check on your yogurt during the 8-10 hour process to check the temperature you can. However, don’t leave it uncovered for long or you could drop the temperature too low. I did not check on my yogurt and it was just fine.

If you find that after refrigeration you have liquid at the top of your yogurt that is what is called whey. You can remove this before eating the yogurt. However, don’t throw the whey out because you can use it in smoothies or other recipes.

You can obviously eat your yogurt as is, or you can add in fruit or other flavorings of your choice. Another way to use your homemade yogurt is to turn it into frozen yogurt. Would you like to know how you can make your own without an ice cream maker? Here’s the recipe.

Frozen Yogurt
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Quart Plain Yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
  • ¾ to 1 Cup Sugar
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients and place in a shallow bowl or a pan with sides.
  2. Place in the freezer.
  3. Stir with a spoon every hour until frozen.
  4. Serve or put frozen yogurt into a lidded container and return to the freezer until ready to serve.
Notes
It took 4 hours in my freezer for the yogurt to be frozen to an ice cream like consistency.

Please let me know if you have any homemade yogurt making questions or if you need anything clarified.

  • Sara

    Thanks for posting this. Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to try it for myself :)

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      You’re welcome, Sara! Be brave. You can do it. :)

  • Rachel E.

    You don’t know how thrilled I am to see this post! Wow! Who knew it was that easy, right? I will definitely be doing this. Have you mixed in fruit or flavoring? My family loves yogurt, except me. I gag on it. But that’s neither here or there.

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Thanks, Rachel! :) Yes, I have added in fruit. Sometimes I have even added in homemade jam or jelly. I prefer to eat it with fruit. Sorry you don’t like yogurt. Maybe you will grow to like it if you make it yourself.

  • http://twitter.com/ContentedAtHome Judy

    Love this post, Jackie! So thorough and detailed, which I really, really need! :-)

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      You’re welcome, Judy. I write posts like this because I need detailed instructions, too. This way, I won’t forget what I did. :)

  • Heidi-l-c

    This looks good! Do you know how long the yogurt stays good in the fridge for?

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Thanks! I would try to use the yogurt within 2 weeks of making it. Be sure to save some to make a new batch.

  • Natalie

    Could you use plain Greek Yogurt?

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Yes, you can use Greek yogurt to make this. Just be sure that whatever yogurt you use has live active cultures.

  • Breanne

    Can you use plain greek yogurt? And also, is there any danger of making your own yogurt? I always thought that milk had to be kept cold in order to be considered “safe”. I would love to try this though! We LOVE yogurt here!

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Yes, you can use plain Greek yogurt. I don’t think that there is any danger in making yogurt. I would recommend using very clean utensils, measuring cups, and jars or crock pots. Other than that there shouldn’t be a problem.

      Yes, you should keep milk cold, but since you are making yogurt you want the milk to culture. This is why you heat the milk to 185 degrees before incubating it. The heating process gets rid of any bad bacteria first.

      If you give it a try be sure to let me know how it goes. It really is easy. :)

  • Cmoss517

    where do you get the plastic canning jar lids?

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      I got the lids pictured at Walmart in the canning supply section, but I am sure they sell them online, too. An alternative that is free is to use peanut butter jar lids. Many brands are a good fit for canning jars.

  • Cablevins

    Hi - this was really interesting. We eat a ton of yogurt around here so I was very curious to read your post. Can you enlighten me about the cultures in the end product - the acidopholus, and such? How does that work in the homemade? Thanks so much.

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      The way it works is that you are using yogurt that already has live cultures in it, the yogurt that is added during the process outlined above. The cultures in the yogurt blend with the milk and while the homemade yogurt is incubating I believe new cultures are being formed. This is how the homemade yogurt goes from warm milk to nice, thick yogurt at the end of the process. I hope this answers your question.

      • Cablevins

        Thanks - I just might have to give this a whirl!

        • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

          Let me know if you do.

  • Mcafeefam

    What can you do to raise the temperature if it drops below 90?
    I have mine in the oven right now wrapped in towels. And the thermometer (the kind with a long cord) says 94 and it still has 4 hrs left.

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      How many hours has it been since you started it? What does the temp say now? Are you doing the crock pot method? If it gets below 90 give it a stir and see how thick it is. It may be just fine. If it gets any lower than that you could turn your crock pot on low or warm just until it gets a little above 90 again. Let me know if you need more help.

      • Mcafeefam

        Ive been doing the crockpot method and It’s been 8 hrs. I just checked it and it is really runny and the temp was at 87. I put it in low to raise the temp so I guess it will take a couple more hours. Thanks for your help! This is my first time making yogurt. :)

        • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

          Hmm. I have never had a problem with it getting too low or being runny. How did it end up? Don’t throw it out even if it is runny. You can use it in smoothies as the liquid. What kind of yogurt did you add to the milk? Did you use the powdered milk?

          • Mcafeefam

            It ended up turning out pretty good! It took the full 10 hours though. It was still on the thin side but that might be due to the yogurt I used as the starter. I used White Mountain Bulgarian yogurt from Whole Foods which is pretty runny anyways. And yes I did use powdered milk.
            Thanks for your help! I will making this on a regular basis for sure. With 8 kids it can get pretty expensive buying enough yogurt for them to eat everyday.
            Thanks again!

          • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

            I’m glad to hear that it worked. I am guessing it was your yogurt that you used as a starter. One thing you can do is strain (Like through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer) some of your homemade yogurt to make it thicker. Then you will have a nice and thick starter for your next batch. You wouldn’t need to strain much. Plus, you can use the liquid you strain off for other things like smoothies and more.

            I have 5 kids, so I understand how expensive feeding a large brood can be. I’m glad this is one way you can save some money. :) Take care.

  • Mindy Capello

    thanks for the recipe. I’ve been doing the crockpot method on my own and sometimes it comes out runny. I haven’t tried checking the temp though… do you do this with out the lid on the whole time? I was keeping the lid on my crock pot. I am not using powdered milk but like I said some times it works great and sometimes it runny.

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      I think this method definitely helps with the runny factor. I do put the lid on when the crock pot is on, but take it off when I am trying to cool it back down. When I put it in the oven with the towels I put the lid back on. Let me know if you have any other questions.

  • wayne

    Thanks for the recipie,it works well . I did convert your measurements to litres and ml’s and degrees C instead of degrees F. Australia went decimal about thirty years ago. Delicious

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Thanks, Wayne! I’m glad you like the recipe and that it worked for you. I’m in the states so I hadn’t thought of converting it. Glad you figured it out. :)