Y’all Have Been Holding Out!

For my entire life, up until about three months ago, I had never made Greek yogurt.

Not once.

I think what has happened is that my children have grown up, and become independent human beings, and suddenly I have a lot more time on my hands. Apparently, I have decided to use that newfound time investigating all the things I could have been making from scratch for the last 30 years.

Enter homemade Greek yogurt.

And y’all.

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!?!?

Seriously. How have I made it this far in life without someone pulling me aside and saying, “Listen. You need to start making your own Greek yogurt.”

Because it is ridiculously simple. It is absolutely delicious. And once you make it yourself, you start looking at those little plastic containers at the grocery store thinking, Well, this is ridiculous!

I feel like y’all have been holding out on me, and frankly, I don't appreciate it.

So I am here to make sure I don't do the same thing to you. Homemade Greek yogurt is where it's at.

How This Whole Yogurt Thing Started

When I first started making yogurt a few months ago, I did it the more traditional way.

I put anywhere from a half gallon to a gallon of milk into a double boiler and slowly heated it to 185°F. Heating the milk changes the structure of the milk proteins and helps give homemade yogurt that wonderful thick texture.

For milk, I prefer Vitamin D whole milk. Could you use lower-fat milk? Absolutely. But I like my Greek yogurt to have a little body and substance to it. If I'm going to make Greek yogurt, I want Greek yogurt. Thick, creamy, substantial, stick-to-the-spoon yogurt. Whole milk gives me exactly that.

The problem with the traditional method? Even with a double boiler, milk requires attention.

You can't just put it on the stove, wander outside to water the garden, forget what you're doing, come back 45 minutes later and expect good things to have happened. Ask me how I know.

Once the milk reached 185°F, I took it off the heat and let it cool to about 110–115°F. That's when you add the starter.

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And here's another thing I didn't know before this little adventure: you don't have to order some fancy yogurt culture from a mysterious yogurt laboratory somewhere. I started with some leftover grocery store yogurt that I already had in the refrigerator.

That's it.

As long as your plain yogurt contains live active cultures, you've got yourself a starter.

For a gallon of milk, I generally use about ½ cup of yogurt. For a half gallon, about ¼ cup is plenty. I say about because I totally eyeball it. No technical measurements required for yogurt. 

Whisk it in thoroughly, and those little cultures get to work.

And here's one of my favorite parts about making yogurt: once you've made your first batch, you can save a little of your homemade yogurt to culture the next batch.

It's yogurt making yogurt. I don't know why that delights me as much as it does, but it does.

From there, I put everything into my Instant Pot on the yogurt setting and let it incubate for about eight hours.

And it worked beautifully.

But there was still one part of this process I didn't love.

There Had to Be an Easier Way

Standing over the stove. That's it. That's the part I wanted to eliminate.

Even with a double boiler, I've managed to get milk stuck to the bottom. And heating that much milk while repeatedly checking the temperature isn't difficult, exactly, but it does require you to stay nearby and pay attention.

And really, isn't half of homesteading figuring out how to make something from scratch while simultaneously figuring out how not to stand there and babysit it? So naturally, I started investigating.

And that's when I discovered people were making yogurt in their Crock-Pots. Excuse me?

You mean I can dump the milk into something, turn it on, and WALK AWAY?

Now you have my attention.

So I tried it. .

Crockpot Yogurt

The basic process couldn't be much simpler.

Pour ½ gallon to 1 gallon of whole milk into your slow cooker. Put the lid on, turn it to LOW, and leave it alone for approximately 2½ hours. Now, here's the important part: the goal isn't really 2½ hours. The goal is 185°F.

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Slow cookers vary, so especially the first time you do this, check the temperature. If your milk reaches 185°F sooner, great. If it needs a little more time, give it a little more time.

Once it reaches 185°F, turn the Crock-Pot OFF.

And walk away again.

See why I'm liking this method?

Let the milk cool to between 110–115°F. I found that's somewhere around another two hours, but again, trust your thermometer more than the clock.

Once it has cooled, whisk in your starter:

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Same routine as before. For a gallon of milk, I generally use about ½ cup of yogurt. For a half gallon, about ¼ cup is plenty.

I poured a little of the cooled milk into a jar with about ½ cup of yogurt I had saved from my last batch, put the lid on, and gave it a good shake. Then I poured the whole thing back into the Crock-Pot, gave it a good whisk to make sure everything was incorporated, and put the lid back on.

And now comes the part I love...

Leave it alone.

You want the milk to stay comfortably warm while those cultures go to work. Wrapping the Crock-Pot in a thick towel or blanket can help it hold onto that warmth.

Then let it incubate undisturbed for about 8–12 hours, or overnight. Night nite!

The longer it goes, the tangier it generally becomes.

Once it's finished, put it into the refrigerator and let it chill. At that point, you have homemade yogurt. But around here, we're not necessarily finished.

Because I Like My Greek Yogurt THICK

Somewhere along this yogurt journey, I bought myself an actual yogurt strainer. Who am I now?

Apparently I am a person who owns a yogurt strainer! And I love that thing.

If you like regular yogurt, you don't have to strain it at all.

If you want Greek yogurt, strain off some of the whey and it becomes thicker and more concentrated.

If you're like me and want really thick Greek yogurt, let it keep going.

And if you leave it in that strainer overnight?

Well. Now this is where things get interesting.

Eventually so much of the whey drains out that what remains has the consistency of cream cheese. At that point, you've essentially made something called yogurt cheese.

And y'all, it is wonderful!

It is thick enough to schmear on a bagel. Spread it on toast. Add herbs to it. Use it as a creamy spread. Use it to make a chip dip! Pretty much anywhere you would normally reach for cream cheese, there's a good chance yogurt cheese can step in.

And sometimes yogurt cheese isn't even the thing I'm most excited about.

Because underneath that strainer is something else.

Don't You DARE Throw Away That Whey

The liquid that drains out of yogurt is whey. And it is pure gold.

Recently, I had a half gallon of whole milk in the refrigerator that was getting a little short on date. Rather than risk letting perfectly good milk go to waste, I went ahead and turned the whole thing into yogurt.

I wanted some extra-thick yogurt anyway, so into the yogurt strainer it went.

I left it overnight. And then I forgot about it for another day. Whoops! 

By the time it was finished, I had this gorgeous yogurt cheese with the consistency of cream cheese.

But I also had right around one quart of whey.

That's not something I'm pouring down the drain. You can substitute whey for some of the water in bread dough. Add it to smoothies. Use it in soups. Cook rice or other grains in it. Add it to pancakes, muffins or biscuits. Give a little bit to your dogs to lap up. You can even dilute it into your watering can and water your garden with this stuff! Its healthy for people AND plants!

Don't you pour whey down the drain, put it in a jar in the refrigerator and start looking for ways to use it.

Around here, we're getting every last bit of mileage out of that milk.

You Decide When You're Done

Here's the fun part, you decide when you're done.

The difference between yogurt, Greek yogurt, and yogurt cheese isn't really about time, t's about how much whey you remove.

Don't strain it at all? You have yogurt.

Strain off some of the whey? Now you have thick, creamy Greek yogurt.

Keep going until most of the whey has drained away and it's thick enough to schmear on a bagel? Congratulations, you've made yogurt cheese.

There isn't some magical moment on the clock when one becomes the other. You simply keep straining until you've reached the consistency you want.

Apparently, even yogurt has a choose-your-own-adventure option. And I am here for it.

Endless Possibilities!

Once your yogurt is finished fermenting, you can do pretty much whatever you want with it.

Flavor with vanilla? Add vanilla. Honey? Absolutely. Fruit, homemade jam, granola, cinnamon, maple syrup? Have at it.

Keep some plain for cooking. Make some sweet for breakfast. Strain some for Greek yogurt. Strain some even longer for yogurt cheese.

Just remember to save a little plain unflavored yogurt with live cultures to start your next batch.

Because once you've got that first batch going, the yogurt can keep making more yogurt.

And Just Like That, I’m Hooked

There is something incredibly satisfying about taking something as ordinary as a gallon of milk and turning it into a staple food right in your own kitchen.

Is it revolutionary?

No.

People have been making yogurt for thousands of years. Which really just reinforces my original complaint. Where have I been?

Because I am absolutely willing to make things from scratch. I just don't necessarily want to stand there and watch them happen.

And seriously, y'all...

Next time you discover something this good, could somebody please tell me sooner?