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Two bowls of yogurt on a white linen napkin
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Easy Gut Healing Homemade Yogurt

Wanting to learn how to make the best homemade yogurt?  This recipe is foolproof, and will become a staple in your refrigerator and your gut!
Calories 81kcal
Author Lena Bissonette

Ingredients

  • ½ gallon of milk
  • ½ cup of probiotic-rich yogurt

Instructions

  • Heat the milk. Pour the milk into the pot and set the stove to medium to medium-high heat. Gently stir the milk while you are heating it to prevent the bottom from scorching. Don't let the milk boil over, just warm it up to about 180-200 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Let the milk cool. Let it cool until it is warm to touch, about 105-115 degrees Farenheit. 
  • Add one cup of warm milk to the yogurt mixture, and mix thoroughly. Whisk the mixture until the yogurt will be fully dissolved in the milk and the mixture gets smooth.
  • Pour the yogurt/milk mixture into the remaining milk. Keep on gently whisking the mixture.
  • Cover the whole pot with the lid and place it in the oven. Turn your oven on and set it to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit, just enough to warm the milk.
  • Let the yogurt set. Four hours would be enough to let your yogurt set, though you can also let it set overnight. This will depend on your desired consistency. The longer it sets, the thicker and more tart it will be; just keep on checking the yogurt every four hours.

Notes

  • You can keep on whisking your homemade yogurt if you want it to be a more consistent creamy mixture. If you notice any liquid formation on the surface, you can also whisk it back into the yogurt.
  • The Instant Pot automates a lot of this process, so if you don't think you have the time to put into making yogurt, I highly recommend that you try it the Instant Pot way!
  • It's normal for the milk to develop a "skin" on top of it as it sits and cools... yes, it's gross.  No, it's not ruined.  Just leave it and you can toss it when it's done cooling.
  • Choosing to use raw milk will yield you a much more nutrient-dense yogurt, but will be less thick than the ultra-pasteurized milk you can get in stores.  It's still delicious though!
  • The yogurt will often thicken to a cream-cheese consistency, with lumps. These stir out very easily, and are completely normal.
  • You can use probiotics instead of a yogurt starter, but how much you need will depend on the probiotic. Starting with 4 capsules per 1/2 gallon of milk is a good place to start, and you can adjust for future batches.
  • If the yogurt is still really liquidy after the 12-24 hour setting process, there's  a good chance that the probiotics were bad. (This happened to me once).  Since the milk still smelled fresh (not spoiled), I just started the process over again and added a different probiotic when it was time.  The yogurt turned out fine the second time around!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 81kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 9mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 200IU | Calcium: 130mg