Homemade yogurt in a cooler

Rita in CapeTown

For my Jessica, Joy, and Anne, God's awesome girls in my life.




Homemade yogurt in a cooler




I cannot always be there, even though I wish I could be with all my heart so we could laugh and cook together.

Everyone who knows me, knows that I have digestive issues. One of the many things that i try to incorporate in my diet is homemade yogurt. I am not a big fan of store bought yogurt for a couple of reasons. I don't like the way they taste...too sugary. Most of the time the good bacteria that is suppose to be in there is just inactive. I have much better luck with making my own.Now, in all fairness, when i was in Capetown, I will say the have the dreamiest, tastiest yogurt I have ever tasted that is from the store. While i was there, the couple that we were staying with had a passion fruit tree. I had never tasted passion fruit before, and I just love it. It is absent from Florida stores. I miss that passion fruit and the yogurt with passion fruit in it.
 Now my yogurt is tart,but I like it that way. I have tried adding flavours after it is made, but mainly prefer to put a cup of it in my nutribullet with bananas, strawberries and cherries and make a shake. I really like this.

Ingredients and supplies for 1/2 gallon milk

4 sterile pint size mason jars with lids
1 cooler large enough to house the  jars
1 thermometer
1 stainless steel pot
1 pk yogurt starter ( i like to use yogourmet found in health food stores)


Start out with a good milk. Most of the time I use good quality raw milk. When i can't get my hands on it I use organic milk.  I start with a half gallon. If you have a large family you will need more to start with. I go through a  half gallon by myself in a week's time.

Pour the milk into your stainless steel pot big enough for the milk. Turn heat on medium and let the milk slowly come up to 180 degrees using a thermometer as your guide.  Make sure your thermometer is accurate.  It will take awhile. Steam will start to rise.When the temp gets near 160 start to watch it like a hawk because there is a fine line that you can cross and your milk will separate and curdle. You do not want this to happen.
 Remove from heat and set on protected counter to cool down to 110-114. At our house, which is in Florida, this will take anywhere from an hour and a half to 2 hours depending on the current temp of the season.

While the milk is cooling, after about an hour, heat about 2 quarts of water up on the stove and let it remain there covered until time to add to the cooler. Check the temp to make sure it is not too hot...You want it to be around 112.

As the yogurt temperature draws down to 114,  get a 2 pint measuring cup out. Pour about a cup of the milk into the measuring cup and add the packet of yogurt starter. Mix well until dissolved. Add the mixture back into the pot of milk. Check your pot of water to make sure it is at 112. If too hot and cool water a cup at a time.
Pour the milk into the jars and seal with lids not too tight.

Place 2 jars in cooler..pour some of the water into the cooler. Your goal is too fill with water only up to the lids..Do not submerge the whole jar in water. Add the other jars. You may have to take out some water or add depending on water level.
Close lid and cover cooler with a large towel to double insulate. After 6-10  hours open the lid up and pull out the jars. Wipe off excess water and check to make sure the yogurt has set by tilting the jar. If set, put in fridge for a couple of hours to complete the setting of the yogurt. Enjoy.




here is the original recipe I started from

http://yogurt-everyday.com/making-yogurt.html