Thick and Creamy Homemade Yogurt
Homemade Yogurt has taken me a few tries to get right. Maybe it is because I am used to the thicker store bought junk, or because it requires exact temperatures and I do not tend to be an exact person unless someone twists my arm. Once I got the homemade yogurt thing down I was still disappointed. Sure this looks and smells like yogurt but the texture was more like keifer. I really wanted that thick, creamy yogurt you get at the store but I don’t want a bunch of additives!
There are plenty of recipes out there about how to make homemade yogurt and I have tried several. In the end I went back to the store, bought my favorite brand of organic Greek yogurt and stared at the tub. What was I doing wrong?
As I looked at the ingredients it jumped out at me. The second ingredient is cream. These other recipes don’t use cream. I am going to try cream! And BAM thick, creamy and delicious homemade yogurt! It still isn’t AS thick as the store bought Greek yogurt, but it is much thicker than any homemade yogurt recipe I have tried.
This recipe is made for a 1 quart mason jar. If you would like to make smaller batches feel free to decrease the ingredients accordingly.
- 2¾ C Whole milk from pasture raised grass fed cows
- ¾ C Cream
- ½ C Yogurt (From a previous batch or store bought organic plain yogurt. I like to use greek yogurt as a starter because it is naturally thicker)
- Kitchen Tools
- 1 quart mason jar
- Food Thermometer
- 1 Pot with water in it
- Oven or Cooler
- Hand Towel
- Rubber Band
- Add the milk and cream to the mason jar.
- Place the mason jar into the pot of water and warm the milk up to about 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the water is boiling line the cooler with a towel to protect the sides and insulate the yogurt. If you are using an oven heat the oven to 170 and turn off once the yogurt has cooled.
- Place the pot of water open into the cooler or oven and close the lid. This heats the container with the water and brings it to a good culturing temperature.
- Remove the yogurt from the water once it has reached 160 and let it cool to 110. This is very important. If the milk is too warm it will kill your culture bacteria and will not grow. IF the temperature is too low it will not be warm enough to culture.
- Add your ½ C yogurt and mix with a wood or plastic spoon.
- Place a lid on the yogurt, wrap in a hand towel with a rubber band around it, and place into the cooler.
- If you are using an oven turn the oven off when you add the yogurt starter and line the shelf with an old towel next to the pot of water. Close the oven quickly as it cools quickly. Cover the yogurt with the towel like you would otherwise and place it in the oven next to the hot water and fold the larger towel over everything being sure not to get the towel in the water.
- For both methods leave the yogurt in the close container for at least 8 hours and up to 24 for the yogurt to set. You can tell the yogurt is done when you can tip it and it barely moves down the side.
- Place in the refrigerator and enjoy!
My daughter was super picky about her yogurt texture after switching from the store bought greek yogurt to my home made, but once I switched to this thicker recipe she eats it right up!
She enjoys adding fruit, some paleo granola, honey, elderberry jam and other goodies to her yogurt. She also likes eating it with bacon.
Alas, I am unable to eat milk products at the moment, but when I reintroduce them I am excited to enjoy this delicious fermented yogurt full of healthy pro-biotics, healthy fat from healthy happy animals, and all the deliciousness of a nice thick creamy yogurt.
How do you like to make yogurt?
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Host Picks From Last Week’s Hop
What’s not to like about these beauties? I wish I could pick one of these macroons right out of the picture!
Fondue isn’t just at a fancy restaurant any more. Thanks to Cultured Palate you can make your own!
How does mac and cheese that is good for you sound? Real Food, Real Frugal has resurrected this comfort food with wholesome ingerdients.
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This post shared on: Meal Plan Monday, Make Your Own Monday
I make my yogurt using full fat milk and a small amount of the previous batch of yogurt. After heating and cooling the milk I mix it with the starter and put it in my dehydrator for 6 hours, I then leave it to stand for 24 hrs. Then I tip it into a fine plastic mesh sieve and strain off some of the whey and refrigerate it. This gives me a very thick ‘Greek style’ yogurt and plenty of whey for fermenting veggies. Sometimes I forget the yogurt is in the sieve and we end up with yogurt cheese !
Thanks for the idea! I have heard of running it through the seive but I was worried the yogurt wouldn’t go through, but it just clicked with me… you don’t want the yogurt to go through but the whey! Lol I guess baby brain stopped my comprehension until this very second. Thanks again!
This is why I love your blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this yogurt recipe! I cannot seem to make a good yogurt but this recipe looks so much easier, I can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks Lori! I am glad I could help!
Thanks so much for featuring my macrons! I wish I could send you some!
I wish you could send me some too! I want all of them now… As soon as I am off of my sugar detox I am making a big batch
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I’ve only made yogurt once & it was also liquid when it was finished. I am going to be moving this year, so I don’t want to perfect my yogurt now, only to have to redo it later. I will have to try your recipe, though!
I found your blog through Modern Alternative Kitchen!
Our family love yogurt and we usually consume store-bought yogurts. There are a lot of health benefits that we can get from eating yogurt, to make it a lot healthier it will be better to eat homemade ones. Thanks for sharing your recipe and we’ll try this soon.
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!