Ingredient list

A guest post by Danielle, The Frugal Lawyer

Making Homemade Greek Yogurt

Around the holidays, I was finishing some last minute shopping at Tuesday Morning and I saw a Yogurt Maker for $29.99.  Since I try to limit my sugar intake and use agave nectar syrup whenever possible, I bought it as a gift for myself.  I assumed I would make my own yogurt with agave nectar.  When I made my first batch of yogurt, shortly into 2010, I learned that my husband was quickly becoming addicted to the plain yogurt.  I was thrilled with this turn of events for a few reasons.  My husband’s former favorite yogurt was our grocery store’s generic fruit on the bottom brand.

Until recently, they were using high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar.  Awful.  My husband and stepkids ate tons of this stuff.  High in calories and sugar.  I also hated how much waste it produced that we couldn’t recycle.  My husband isn’t on the green bandwagon, but I am.  (Yes, I will dig something out of the trash and put it into the recycling bins in the pantry.)  Hearing that he liked the homemade yogurt was very happy news indeed.

The plain yogurt recipe in the recipe book that came with my yogurt maker is so simple to make.  I need milk, dry milk and starter yogurt.  (Note:  I could use starter yogurt from the previous batch, but my husband tends to eat it faster than I can save it, so I buy a larger container of plain yogurt and we can reuse the containers for storage.)

homemade yogurt ingredients

First, I heat 4 3/4 cups of milk to 185 degrees.  (Note:  After I ruined three of my husband’s thermometer’s after the holidays by putting them in the dishwasher, I bought him this fancy one from Kohl’s.  I think it is the greatest digital thermometer ever.)

After it heats to 185 degrees, it must be cooled to 110 degrees.  I am impatient, so I use an ice bath.

ice bath

After it reaches 110 degrees, I ladle it into the containers that come with the yogurt maker and they go into the machine for ten hours.

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Yogurt Machine In Action

After ten hours they get their lids and go into the fridge for another three hours.  If we are making Greek yogurt we take the yogurt out of the fridge immediately.  It is still a bit soupy, with a lot of whey.

Fresh yogurt

A strainer with some cheesecloth is placed over a bowl and the draining begins.

Straining the yogurt

After it’s done, the yogurt is very thick.

My husband still likes fruit on the bottom, even though he said it is extremely hard to mix with the Greek yogurt.  We use reduced sugar preserves from Trader Joe’s (his favorite), frozen fruit, and other fruit preserves.

Fruit to be added if desired

Fruit goes into the mason jar, then the yogurt.

From this batch, we got five jars.

The Finished Product-Yum!

Yes, he already had one by the time I took the picture.  Compared to the cost of Greek style yogurt at the store, I think it is cheaper, although I am not sure by how much.

If we do not make Greek yogurt, we let the yogurt stay in the fridge for at least 12 hours, sometimes up to 24 hours.  This usually reduces the “soupy” quality that you see in the photo above.  Then we get about 9 jars when the fruit and preserves are added.  This is my husband’s favorite treat now.  If he craves sweets, this is what he goes for.  This has so much less sugar than the yogurt that he was eating from the grocery store, particularly when we use the reduced sugar preserves.

Oddly, I still haven’t made myself a batch with agave nectar syrup.  One of these days…..

Danielle, The Frugal Lawyer