Greek Yogurt

A sweet lady named Paula (codename: Romaine) has a blog called "Salad In A Jar," and she has a popular post detailing how to make Greek yogurt at home. I followed her instructions and have been making my own yogurt for the past couple of months. It's super easy and waaaaaay cheaper than buying yogurt. In fact, the batch I just made the other day was created with a half-gallon of milk I purchased for only $0.99. I got about a quart of yogurt for a buck!

Paula uses skim milk to make her yogurt, but since we drink 2%, that's what I use.

After scalding the milk, cooling it slightly, and adding the starter, I cover the bowl in plastic wrap and set it on a heating pad turned to "low" for about 11 hours. I check the temperature periodically with my Fluke infrared thermometer to make sure it hovers around the 100º mark. If it gets a little warm, I just pull back the towel and plastic wrap for a bit.


Overnight is about right, and by morning the yogurt is ready for straining. I gently pour off whatever whey I can, and then briefly strain scoops of yogurt in a very fine mesh strainer. The yogurt pictured here looks lumpy for some reason, but it's not.


My new interest in canning has provided me with some spare glass Mason jars, so that's how I store my yogurt since glass keeps odors out.


See the post below for a tasty way to eat this kind of yogurt. You can also use it in recipes, in place of sour cream, or in a fruit smoothie.