I love a cup of yogurt for breakfast, lunch or even a snack. When I was on a search for a good raw yogurt, I had a very hard time finding one. So, I decided to make my own. I can’t believe how easy it is to make your own fresh organic raw yogurt. I will say this up front. This recipe uses raw milk and that might be difficult for some of you to find. Visit your local chapter of The Weston A. Price Foundation to find a local farmer in your area who can provide raw milk for you. Raw cow’s or goat’s milk works great for this recipe.
Place 2 tablespoons of organic plain yogurt (full fat) in a clean glass pint size mason jar. Once you make your yogurt, you can use 2 tablespoons of your fresh raw yogurt in your next batch.
Next, you want to heat your raw milk to 105ºF-115ºF. This temperature is low enough that the nutrition and enzymes of the raw milk are not lost.
Once heated, remove from heat and stir in about 1/4 cup of milk into a mason jar with yogurt. Stir well. Add remaining milk and stir until all combined. Place the lid on the mason jar tightly. Wrap mason jar in a thick towel and place in the oven (the oven is not turned on, it is used as an incubator) and turn the light on to offer a little heat. Leave in oven for 24 hours.
After the 24 hours, your yogurt will look like this. Homemade yogurt is a lot thinner than store bought yogurt. This is a normal consistency. If you want it to be thicker you can strain your yogurt by simply draining the liquid out through cheesecloth or a fine mesh sifter/strainer. This liquid is the whey. Whey can be used as an acidic medium when soaking oats or grains.
Refrigerate your yogurt for 2-3 hours before serving and it will firm up slightly.
Now enjoy! Remember to save a few tablespoons for your next batch. If you want a quart of yogurt instead of a pint, just double the recipe.
How To Make A Pint Of Organic Raw Yogurt
Prep Time: 5 minutes- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 cups 1x
Category: breakfast, snack
Cuisine: american
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Pin RecipeDescription
Learn how to make your own raw yogurt, it really is super easy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw milk or raw goat’s milk
- 2 tbsp full-fat organic yogurt (one that has live active yogurt cultures in it)
Instructions
- See Post Above
Notes
Nutrition Info: Calories: 169.4 Fat: 9.3g Carbohydrates: 12.6g Protein: 10.2g
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
Recipe adapted from The Healthy Home Economist.
We do this (similar recipe) with a gallon of Organic Whole Milk to get a gal. of yogurt (family of 5)….it comes out yummy!! Wouldn’t waste the money on individual small containers anymore since this is sooooo easy!!! Love seeing these do it yourself recipes!!
When using organic whole milk Michelle (because I know someone will ask), do you only heat it to 105-115 F or do you heat it up to 185 F ?
Heat to 180-190 F then let cool to 115 F before adding yogurt. We’re not a fan of reduced fat milks, we believe it’s healthier…and actually good for our kids since they’re not eating all the other processed fats most kids today consume… The reduced-fat milk yogurt comes out really watery and straining becomes almost necessary. The liquid is the whey though so if readers do choose to strain their yogurt, don’t throw away the whey…it’s a good source of protein that can later be added back into fruit smoothies or other dishes/baked goods….
I assumed that your recipe would heat to 185…thanks for sharing. I am sure others will love to try this if they are unable to get a raw source of milk. The whey can also be used to soak oats in as an acidic medium. Thanks for all you information Michelle.
Growing up, friends of ours had a cow, milked by hand, and they shared that delicious raw milk with us…I loved it! We’ve just started working/homesteading a small piece of property but that’s our next step…to buy a miniature milking cow so we can have our own raw milk again (and know exactly where it’s coming from :D)…for now, we’re local organic!!
Thanks Halle, this is too easy not to try. I bought organic yogurt yesterday as a starter and was going to look for a recipe to make it with raw milk. Then your post was here…you are my time saver again!
Michelle, doesn’t heating the raw milk to 180-190 actually pasteurize the milk, thereby killing off much of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes?
@david matz Hey David, She is giving the example if someone wanted to use organic whole milk not raw milk…but yes you are right. Heating the milk to 180-190 actually does pasteurize the milk.
@hallecottis Thank you. Am a neophyte at this, and still do a lot of tweaking to get a thicker yogurt using a combination of raw milk and half and half. Needless to say, some hits and misses in the process. Also, would you recommend straining first then refrigerating, or conversely?
@david matz I would strain first and then refrigerate…and I strain mine for 3-4 hours and have very thick yogurt. It is delicious 🙂
@hallecottis Many thanks, Halle. Two final questions if you don’t mind: Do you use raw milk exclusively, or combine with half and half? I use a heating pad to maintain the culturing temp at between 105-112 for 8-10 hours. Does this defeat the purpose of simply wrapping and placing in the oven for 24 hours?
@david matz I use raw milk exclusively. Heating pad works or a towel works as well and placed in the oven. I have found that you need a good 24 hours to create a good yogurt. Hope this helps.
@hallecottis Thank you so much for the tips.
What if my oven light was turned off for about 7 hours and then turned back on. Would the yogurt still be good?
It should be fine. If it hasn’t set up, you might need to let it sit in a warm place for a few more hours to have it set.
How long does this yogurt last in the refrigerator?? Also can you freeze some for a later recipe?
Thanks,
Laurie
I have not had any success making raw milk yogurt. I tried for about a month. Different ways too. I have some yogurt starters that I got from Cultures for Health and I want to try your method, it seems much easier. Can I use the starter culture instead of Organic plain yogurt? Also, can I add agar agar or gelitin to make it thicker? Thanks
Yoli2k Yes you can use yogurt starters. I would just strain the yogurt if you want a thicker yogurt. Use a strainer bag or cheesecloth and let the whey drain out. It will be plenty thick!
Hello, thanks so much for getting back to me. I wanted to ask if it is okay if I use this Grass Fed plain Yogurt? It has the cream on top. If so, do I mix it before taking the 2TBS out?
Thanks again