Making yogurt at home is very simple. No need for yogurt makers, thermometers or complicated equipment. I don´t claim that this yogurt is Greek, as the milk I´m using is from Spanish cows (hopefully!) but the taste is the same creamy taste and texture is thick and gorgeous.
Are you ready? Ok, then this is what you´ll need.
- Fresh Milk – I used two litres, but you can make any quantity you like. I also used semi skimmed, but you can use whole or skimmed if you prefer.
- 1 small carton of live yogurt for your first batch
- A saucepan with a lid
- A hand whisk
- A thermos flask big enough for your quantity of milk (optional)
- A sieve
- A piece of clean cloth for straining (I used a clean handkerchief – perfect size for my sieve!)
- A little patience
Start by heating your milk until small bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and whisk in your carton of yogurt.
That´s it for now! You have several options at your fingertips to get this milk to do its magic and turn into yogurt.
As it´s hot here at the moment, I put a lid on my pot and sit it in the sun for about five hours.
You can put a lid on the pot and leave it in a very, very low oven for up to 12 hours – check on it after about 5 hours to see how it´s doing. You can even leave it overnight.
Put it into a warmed thermos flask and leave overnight.
When you´ve done this and waited patiently, your yogurt will have formed and will look like this.
Yogurt with some watery liquid surrounding it. You could just whisk it all together and eat it as it is, it´s pretty delicious already.
To make it into Greek style yogurt you will need to strain it. Set your sieve over a deep bowl or pot, line with clean muslin (or whatever), pour the yogurt in and leave to strain in the fridge.
I left mine overnight.
When the time is up, you are left with quite a large amount of liquid which can be used in cooking or given to your chickens!
and a lovely bowl of super thick and creamy yogurt (give it a beat to loosen it all up, then keep chilled).
If you keep back two or three tablespoons, you´ve got your starter for the next batch.
What you do with your delicious yogurt now is only limited by your imagination….!
Chica Andaluza 
Oh that does look fabulous and I bet your chickens enjoy the liquid too. Can’t say I have made my own yoghurt before – sad really, but there are (at home) so many wonderful varieties available at Woolworths. I hang my head in shame.
🙂 Mandy
It´s so creamy and lovely! I didn´t used to make it that often, but until about a year ago, pretty much all the yogurt sold here had sweetener in it which I don´t like. It´s also hard to get fresh milk 😦 as it´s mainly UHT, so when I do a “big shop” I load up! Is Woolworths a supermarket where you are then? In the UK it used to be a shop that sold DVDs, household goods and pick n mix sweeties (yum) until it went out of business a couple of years ago…
I also battled terribly to source fresh milk here on the island – I cannot wait to have it available all over again when we get home. Just 3 more sleeps until we fly off the island. 😀 Our Woolworths is if I am not mistaken is associated with your (British) Marks and Spencer.
It´s funny about the milk – I´m not a milk drinker, but when I use it I do like to have fresh. So…Woolworths is like M&S, you lucky things! 3 more sleeps…..you must be so excited! Best of luck with the trip.
I can get good cow milk at the farmers’ markets and sometimes even goat milk. Goat milk yogurt is awfully good… or sheep if you have friends who raise them. Not so much sheep in Texas, but lots of goats — they like the heat. And, if you strain a Greek-style yogurt even longer it moves toward a boursin… creamy, spreadable, and so good. mmmm!
Good point Rachel. We can get goats milk here if one of the goatherds is feeling generous – have usually made a curd cheese with it, but never thought to make yogurt. Will give this a go next time and will leave some to strain for longer to get a cream cheese liked you said. How exciting!
Hmm, how hot is too hot? It’s in the 90s here. Upper 90s. So mid 30s in Celsius. Looks great.
It was about 30 degrees (so 90 ish) when I made it. Any hotter though and I think you can kill all the happy bacteria 😦 so I would just leave it in the slightly cooler house and let it do it´s thing more slowly. It is so much nicer than the shop stuff we get here which is full of artificial sweeteners (yuk!).
Hi Tanya, This looks great! Its a bit manic here to say the least with stuff that l cannot share on here at the moment so patience will have to wait, but, l will have a go at this. I will keep up with my blog but sorry if l don’t comment so much. Have a great weekend with your friends. Trevor.
Hi Trevor, I appreciate your taking the time to comment, especially if all is a bit manic for you. Hhope all is ok at your end. Take care, Tanya
This looks great! It’s years since I’ve made yoghurt, but I must try again sometime since you’ve reminded me I can just leave it to work in the heat here. In Wales I had to put it in the airing cupboard! We can buy Greek yoghurt in supermarkets here, though, so there’s not the same incentive you have. Those ones with sweeteners added are disgusting, aren’t they?
When I was in the UK I used to use the airing cupboard too! Yuk to sweeteners, but if you can get nice yogurt locally you´re lucky!
Hi Chica. Impressive! Looks delicious. Beats going on a 2 hour round trip to buy some! One question. How long, when made, will this keep in the fridge?
Florence x
Not sure as we usually eat it quite quickly, but would think about a week. Will have to do a trial and taste it daily!
That looks incredible! Lovely with a bit of organic honey.
Now you´re talking….organic honey, delicious!
This looks incredible, it will be my first try at making my own yogurt, you make it sound easy….RaeDi
And it really is that easy, give it a go!
I’ve seen a few recipes now for homemade yogurt. I’m going to have to give it a go. I’m searching for a slow cooker recipe for it….it’s how I roll.
Great post!
I made strawberry freezer jam today, your yogurt plus my strawberry jam=a darn good fruity yogurt.
Oh yes, sounds wonderful. Or your jam on the overnight oatmeal bread…..!
My mum makes home made greek yogurt and it tastes better than anything you can buy..
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe
It really is so different and sooooo much better! Had some for breakfast this morning with pear, apple and melon and it was wonderful.
home made youghurt is such a comfort!
The very best! Off to have a look at your blog, thanks for visiting!
I am addicted to greek yoghurt, so I am thrilled to see this recipe! I’ve made yoghurt in a thermos before, but didn’t know that straining it through a cloth made it so thick and creamy. Thanks for the tips.
I like my yoghurt with a spoon or two of home-made lemon curd stirred in….I have a wonderful microwave lemon curd recipe which is so quick and delicious, I can indulge often!! 🙂
I like the idea of yogurt with lemon curd…and making it in a microwave sounds great. Is the recipe on your blog? If not, please do put it up!!
Help my milk hasn’t yoghurted yet, it’s been in the sun for 4 hours. I’m going to put it in the oven for a bit. When you say very low, do you mean 50 C?
Oh dear! I´m surprised with this heat….yes, put it in a low oven for a few hours, maybe a little higher though, say 80 degree so that it mimics the outside temperature.
Do e-mail me later if you´re still having problems. It was an “active” yogurt you used wasn´t it to start it off? Good luck, Tanya