In the forums, at PYP, we have been discussing homemade yogurt. I was intrigued because between my penchant for green smoothies and my husband’s addiction to greek style yogurt – we go through a lot of yogurt around here! I’ve tried some different methods and recipes and I’ve decided to share with you what has worked the best for me. I get a delicious thick consistency and have even made my own greek style!
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What you need: 1/2 gallon of pasteurized milk (any fat content); 1-1/3 C powdered milk (not fake milk like Morning Moo – real powdered milk); yogurt (make sure it says “live and active cultures” – you only need to purchase this the first time you buy your yogurt, after that you can use your own homemade yogurt!); a 4-5 Quart slow cooker.
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Advice: Start this process when you first wake up or at about 4-6pm. This process is very, very easy and very, very time consuming.

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Also – NEVER stir your yogurt, only scoop or fold, or it will break down and become thin.
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Process:

1. Combine the powdered milk into the milk, mixing well (I use my stick blender). The powdered milk adds milk solids to your yogurt giving it a thicker consistency than most homemade yogurt. I HIGHLY recommend it. Plus, it’s a great way to use your food storage!
2. Pour the milk into a 4-5 quart crockpot, cover and turn on low heat.
3. Leave it alone for 2.5 hours.
4. Unplug your crockpot.
5. Leave it alone for 3 hours.
6. Uncover the milk and skim off any skin. Scoop 2 C of warm milk into a bowl and whisk with 1/2 C yogurt. For my starter I used Greek Gods traditional plain greek style yogurt.
7. Pour the milk/yogurt back into the other milk and cover your slow cooker.
8. Wrap the entire slow cooker crin a fluffy towel and let it sit on your counter for 8 hours.
9. Unwrap. Scoop yogurt into clean containers and refrigerate.

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That’s it. If you follow the measurements exactly and use the proper size slow cooker this method should work for you. If you change amounts or use a smaller or larger crockpot your heat will vary and it may not work. I cannot believe how easy and INEXPENSIVE this is. I will never buy store bought yogurt again. To flavor it – just stir in some jam or homemade syrup (I combine 1 C sugar, 1 C water, bring it to a boil and then add 1 C of mashed fruit and let it simmer for about 10 minutes). Delicious!!

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GREEK STYLE

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As I said – my husband loves his greek style yogurt. To turn your yogurt into greek style yogurt, simply put a cotton dish towel (smooth, not terry cloth style) over a colander over a bowl. Scoop yogurt into the cloth, fold the sides of the cloth over the top and weight with a zip top bag of water. Let it sit over the bowl for 4 hours. Voila, greek style yogurt! This makes a great substitute for sour cream! If you leave it sitting for 8 hours you get yogurt cheese – which is very similar to and can be used as a substitute for cream cheese.

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Many of the methods I ended up using came from this blog post. You should check it out. She even has videos!

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I have decided to share my secret recipe for my homemade all-purpose cleaner. I got it years ago from a friend and have adapted it to make it as simple as possible. She always called it “appliance cleaner” because it works so well to cut the grease on stove-tops, etc. I use it for nearly every surface in my home.
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What I do: I take my spray bottle and put rubbing alcohol in the bottom (about 1/2 C or so – I don’t measure it, just eyeball about that much) and then add water until it’s almost full. I get ammonia (non-sudsing) and put a cap full or two into the spray bottle and then add a squirt of dish soap (not dishwasher detergent, just dish soap).
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Yep, that’s really all there is to it and you will NEVER go back to normal expensive cleaners again. I use it every day.
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*Note: Make sure to never combine ammonia products such as this one with bleach. Do not spray this on something recently bleached, do not squirt dish soap with bleach into this bottle – if there even IS dish soap with bleach… Anyhow, don’t mix bleach with ammonia ever. 🙂