How to Make Homemade Yoghurt

When all of my children lived at home when they were younger, I always made my own yogurt. They grew up and flew the next and somewhere between that and house moves I lost my yogurt maker and it was forgotten. So I’m really excited to revisit this fermentation process.

Yogurt is cheap, easy and fabulous to make at home, and I’m going to take you step by step through the process. As with all and any fermentation processes, it takes time and planning but it’s definitely worth the effort.

I have purchased a yogurt maker similar to the one I had years ago but this one is a bit of an upgrade as it has two inner containers and a strainer which is really useful. I bought this one second hand on Vinted, you will often see them in charity shops. But to be honest they are not very expensive.

I am using the Lakeland Multi yogurt and soft cheese maker.

So how do you make yogurt? I usually make 2 pints at a time and I like to use full fat milk, but you don’t have to, you can use skimmed and semi. I prefer full fat as I like to make Greek yogurt and it makes it thick and creamy.

You will need milk of your choice

Tbsp of plain yogurt

If you have not made yogurt before you will need to buy plain yogurt. Once you start making your own yogurt, you simply save a tablespoon from the last batch and use that. If you're having a break from making yogurt you simply freeze your tablespoons of yogurt until you need it, then let it thaw and you're ready to go.

Measure your milk and put it in a saucepan. Bring the milk to boil this just kills off any unwanted bacteria that pasteurisation may have missed. Leave the milk to cool. Once the milk has cooled you are ready to go. Be aware, if the milk isn’t cool enough your yogurt will not work because it will inactivate the bacteria needed to make the yogurt . Approx 108 to 112 ( 42c) Fahrenheit, if you have a thermometer then use that to be sure.

Pour the milk into the yogurt maker container and add you tablespoon of yogurt, give it a gentle stir, pop the lid on and set the timer.

The Lakeland yogurt maker has to settings C-1 for yogurt and automatically sets the temperature 42c and an 8 hour timer. So put the lid on, set the timer and wait!

Once the yogurt is ready, lift it out and you will see it has separated. That’s fine. Just mix and you will have wonderful fresh yogurt ready to use! If, like me, you enjoy Greek yogurt ( thicker) you will need to tip the yogurt through a strainer. There is one provided with the Lakeland yogurt maker and it comes with two containers, so this makes it really easy. Put the strainer provided in the second container, pour the yogurt in and pop the lid on and put it in the fridge to strain. If you don’t have a yogurt maker with a strainer you can use a sieve and a bowl.

The longer you leave it the thicker the finished yogurt. When you lift the strained yogurt you will find the whey at the bottom of the container. But don’t discard it straight away. Check your yogurt, if it’s a little two thick for you , you can add some on the whey back in and stir until you have the consistency desired. You can use the whey for other things or drink it or just discard it. It’s really up to you.

Store your yogurt in an airtight container in the fridge it’s ready to use. The yogurt will keep up to two weeks, but don’t forget to keep some for your next batch!

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