Yogurt Time!

First off, let me jut say that the weather down here is soooo crazy! In the past month alone we were hit with the blizzard of the century, Super Storm Goliath, wildfires in certain parts of the state, along with wind storms with 60-70 mph gusts. Last week we had temperatures in the 50's and 60's with sun. This week it has been below freezing, spitting snow and rain and today it is sunny and warm at 75 degrees. I even went out and did some yard work in shorts while the boys played in the yard in short-sleeved shirts. My poor body doesn't know what to do: hibernate or welcome spring.

In the meantime, I have continued on my lovely diet and am continuing to feel better, just miss my milk and full fat foods :(

So yogurt making in the slow cooker! Super easy and delicious. I will say ahead of time that this yogurt does not have the same consistency as store bought, but I believe that it tastes much better. More yummy good for you stuff, less of the nasty stuff :) This is a recipe for vanilla yogurt. I am not a fan of plain yogurt, although now I am learning to use it to cook with, for eating I prefer the vanilla.

To start you need 8 cups (half a gallon) of, preferably, whole milk. Make sure to check that it isn't ultra-pasteurized because it will not work properly if that is the case. Pasteurized is fine if that is all you can get and a lot of people have access to raw milk; I do not and have to buy it from the store. Also, it would be good to start this about 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon because there are a couple of steps before you let it sit overnight that happen in 3 hour increments.

Milk ready to go!

I use a small 4 qt. crock pot for this recipe. Poor the milk in and turn to low for 2 hours 45 mins up to 3 hours. After the time turn it off and unplug it.

Yes that says Vodka. I make my own vanilla extract with bottom-shelf liquor and vanilla beans. 

Whisk in 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract (the more pure the better) and let it sit for 3 hours.

After 3 hours add in 1/2 cup of your yogurt (this can be either prior stuff you made or store bought as long as it has active live cultures in it!) whisk it in really well.

Wrap the entire crockpot in 1 to 2 beach towels and let it sit overnight, 8-12 hours.

In the morning, spoon the yogurt into a flour sack or cheese cloth lined colander that is sitting on top of a bowl. This will help drain the whey off of the yogurt and help to thicken it. If using a flour sack cloth, dampen it prior to using. I let my yogurt drain 4-6 hours in the fridge, but it is up to you how long you let it sit in the fridge draining.

Finished product! Yum!

Once it is drained off enough to your liking, scoop it out and put into a sealable tub and it's good to eat! Just remember to save 1/2 cup for the next batch of yogurt and you will end up with roughly half of what your started with at the beginning, about 4-5 cups.

This is what the whey looks like.

Also, the whey can be used in different recipes, just have to google uses for it :)

Hopefully you have no issues with this recipe, if you do, let me know and I will try to help work out what went wrong.

*Don't forget to click on an ad or two to help me out :)