Make Your Own Yogurtby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 22 Feb 2008 07:57 AM Yesterday's blog on saving money on butter sparked a great discussion. In it, I learned that you can make your own butter using a breadmaker. I had never heard of this technique before. This is one of the reasons I really love being a part of Families.com, because the members here are so clever and kind. That said, I thought it might be interesting to explore another homemade dairy product: yogurt. From the research that I have done, making your own yogurt is easy and very cost effective. Doing it yourself also ensures that there are no artificial preservatives, sweeteners or colors. Did you know that the red color in at least one brand of yogurt comes from a type of ground up beetle? I am not kidding you on this one, it is well documented. That is what is considered a "natural" coloring. To sweeten your homemade yogurt, you can add your own fruit, honey or granola, or use it plain in many recipes. Here is the most promising way that I found to make your own yogurt. I haven't yet tried it myself, so if you do, please let me know how it turns out. Boil 1/2 gallon of milk (I am assuming whole milk for whole fat yogurt, 2 percent for low fat yogurt). Allow it to sit in a cool place to cool off. When the milk is lukewarm, add one tablespoon of plain yogurt. Many people recommend Dannon. It is important that you don't substitute fruit or flavored yogurts. Stir your mixture and cover it. Allow it to sit on top of the stove or counter overnight. The next day, you will have your yogurt! Add your fruit, etc. Refrigerate the yogurt and enjoy. This sounds like a fun thing to do, doesn't it? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: How Much Does It Cost to Eat at Home? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments jonesx6 (1606) 22 Feb 2008 11:14 AMOh now this sounds good. We go through at least 4 quarts of yogurt a week. Wow! That's a lot!! lol I'd like to try this once my milk thaws out. Thanks for the tip! Laura  tat2edldy (10) 29 Feb 2008 09:41 AMI have mad homemade yogurt for the past 10 yrs and my recipe is similar to yours. I make it by the gallon and use whole milk but any type will work. Heat milk up to 185 degrees using a candy thermometer. Cool to 110 degrees (I often will sit the pan in cold water to help this along) Add a couple heaping tablespoons of yogurt to the milk and stir well. Sometimes i just put in the whole small container of store bought yogurt and in a pinch have used fruit flavored and it still works. Place the milk yogurt mixture in whatever type of container you wish to store it in, even plastic works. Place in your oven on the lowest temp setting possible. Just till the light clicks on in an electric oven or just use the heat from the piloit light in a gas oven. Leave in overnight and taaaadaaaaaa in the morning you will have yogurt. Community Tags Food, frugal, make your own, thrifty, yogurt Discuss this article
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