Facing The Rise in Dairy Prices

If you don’t make your own yogurt, you might want to start, now. It is SO EASY you won’t believe it. Homemade yogurt not only makes itself in a crock pot, but also, it is a great replacement for buttermilk and sour cream in baking recipes, and it’s just plain delicious with anything.

And, we’re about to face rising prices in dairy products. Apparently, because of the drought, feed prices are rising so the resulting dairy products produced are becoming more expensive.

For the cost of a half-gallon of milk, you get twice as much yogurt as you get in one large container. This will pay for that $20 crockpot in no time.

Do not waste your money on an expensive crockpot. (Please re-read that last sentence!) In my experience, the cheap ones you get at Rite Aid and such are the most reliable. And, when Cook's Illustrated did a test, they still liked the original crock-pot brand (albeit a more expensive, souped-up one) better than other, fancier brands.

A few years ago, I got this recipe from a blog that seems to have disappeared. I’m re-publishing the pictures here because they’re so homey and cute. [If this is your blog, please comment so that I can replace this with links to you instead!]

This recipe has been going around the Internet for years. Some people add sugar, I don’t think it needs it. Also, some of the blogs say you can’t use ultra-pasteurized milk. That is just bull. It has no effect on the thickness of the yogurt. If you use whole milk you will have thicker yogurt, if you use lower fat milk, you will have thinner yogurt. Period. That’s why Stonyfield adds thickeners to their low-fat plain yogurt! (That said, if you have a different experience, I'd like to hear about it.)

A note about ultra-pasteurized dairy:  It’s less processed and tastes more like the dairy products our grandparents imbibed than the current pasteurized stuff. That’s because ultra pasteurization takes seconds, while normal pasteurization takes a while as they bring the milk to a boil and then cool, then boil again. (FYI, the latter process is also how they make glue. Draw your own conclusions as to what that means for your body.) The result of normal pasteurization is you have less of the cow-ey taste and more of a “white” flavor. I prefer the old-fashioned cow taste, myself, so I use ultra-pasteurized cream and milk in my recipes.

Also, since I always use Stonyfield whole milk and for my starter, I spring for a container of Stonyfield low-fat plain yogurt, the result is, my yogurt tastes like Stonyfield yogurt! My favorite!

Crock Pot Yogurt

8 cups (half-gallon) of whole or 2% or 1% milk (I use Stonyfield whole milk, NOT omega-3)

1/2 cup live/active culture plain yogurt as a starter (I use Stonyfield low-fat plain yogurt)

Thick bath towel

4-quart crockpot

1. Plug in crockpot and turn to low. Add entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for two and a half hours.

Unplug after two and a half hours

2. Unplug crockpot, leave the cover on and let sit for three hours. While it sits, measure one half cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt into a medium mixing bowl and cover it so it can sit and become room temperature for the next step.

3. When three hours have passed, scoop out two cups of the warmish milk and put into the bowl with the half cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Whisk the two together well. Then dump the bowl’s contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Cover with a towel and let sit for at least nine hours

4. Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation. Let it sit for at least nine hours or as long as 13-14 hours (I prefer 14 hours when using Stonyfield whole milk). Do not leave for much more than 14 hours, or there will be a difference in quality, although it will still taste like yogurt and work fine in your recipes.

5. After 14 hours, the yogurt will be ready. Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Will thicken further as it sits in fridge. 

Time-wise, if I start the process at Noon the prior day, unplug at 2:30 pm, let sit until 5:30 pm, it’s ready at 7:30 am the next morning.

You can save a half cup as a starter to make a new batch. We always eat it all up before we realize we need more yogurt, though.