My husband and I are both sleeved and we spend a TON of money on greek yogurt. My fridge is always full of cups of Chobani and Fage. About a week ago I discovered that you can make yogurt at home, so last night I did! And it turned out PERFECT. You don't need any special equipment or machines. I used our dutch oven, but any heavy bottomed pot will do. The directions look long, but it pretty much makes itself once you've warmed up the milk. It is the definition of something that a lazy non-cook can make. I got the recipe from this website.

http://www.happysimpleliving.com/2011/03/06/make-your-own-homemade-greek-yogurt/

STUFF YOU NEED:

• 1/2 gallon of dairy milk (I used 2%, but you can use milk with any fat content. Pasteurized milk works perfectly, just be sure it's not ultra pasteurized.)
  
• 2.5 tablespoons of plain yogurt with live active cultures (This is your starter. It can be regular or greek yogurt and it can have any fat content. I used 0% Yoplait plain greek yogurt because it was the cheapest I could find with live active cultures.)
  
• Candy thermometer or cooking thermometer
  
• Cheesecloth (or a clean t-shirt, or pillowcase, or muslin)
  
• Heavy bottomed pot to heat the milk in (Or crock pot, or double boiler, or dutch oven, or even your microwave. Not even kidding)
  
• Towel
  
• Colander/strainer
  
• Oven
  

MAKING THE YOGURT:

• Turn on the light in your oven. This will make it just the right temperature for yogurt magic to happen.
  
• Put 2 tablespoons of milk into a bowl and mix in 2.5 tablespoons of your starter yogurt. Set it aside.
  
• Pour the rest of the milk into your pot and heat to 180-185 degrees fahrenheit. Stir constantly while heating to prevent your milk from scalding.
  
• Once milk reaches temperature, pour it into a glass or ceramic (not metal) dish and allow it to cool uncovered to 105-110 degrees. This step is why I used my dutch oven. It's enameled, so I didn't need to transfer the milk into another dish. It was perfect for incubating my yogurt.
  
• When your milk is at temperature, thoroughly stir in the starter that you set aside earlier.
  
• Put the lid on your dish, wrap it well in a towel, and stick it in your oven. Leave it in the oven with the oven light on for 8-12 hours.
  
• After 8 hours, stick a spoon in and check your yogurt. It will probably be set (mine was). There will be yellowish liquid on top, but that's just whey Protein. You can stir it in if you like thin yogurt or pour it off. At this point, you're done. Chill it in the fridge, and use it in any way that you you always enjoy yogurt. I love thick yogurt, so I'm going to do a couple of extra steps.
  

TURNING IT INTO GREEK-STYLE YOGURT:

• Refrigerate your yogurt for at least 2 hours. I didn't stir in or pour off the whey, I just stuck the whole pot in the fridge and let it chill overnight.
  
• Line your colander with 4 sheets of damp cheesecloth and set it into a bowl. The bowl will collect the whey that strains off the yogurt.
  
• Pour the chilled yogurt into your colander, cover with saran wrap or leave uncovered, and place it in your fridge to strain. Every hour or two, check on the consistency of your yogurt and pour off the whey that has collected in your bowl. Throw the whey away (hehe, whey away), use it to make bread, or even feed it to your dog (apparently they LOVE it).
  
• Once you're happy with the texture of the yogurt, dump it out of the cheesecloth and into a container with a tight lid (break out the good tupperware). Consume within 6 days.
  
• Save 3 tablespoons of your homemade yogurt to be the starter cultures for your next batch of yogurt.
  

I strained mine to a texture between Yoplait regular and Chobani greek, but I strained a little of it into yogurt cheese which was amazing. It had a silkiness that reminded me of Fage, but it was a bit thicker. Remember, the more you strain it, the less yogurt you'll have. A half gallon of milk makes about 32oz of thick greek yogurt. The flavor is more mild and less tangy than any plain yogurt I've ever had. I sweetened my first cup with a little Splenda and it was fantastic. If it stands up to that processed fake sugar, then I can't wait to try it with honey or agave nectar.

COSTS:

Milk - $3.59

Starter yogurt - $0.99 (on sale)

I had all of the other things that I needed in my kitchen already.

I made about 36oz of yogurt.

Best part!

Cost per serving:

Homemade - $0.77 per 6oz serving

Chobani - $1.59 per 6oz serving

Fage - $1.89 per 7oz serving

This is great! I may try this. Thank you for sharing.

I will definitely try this. Thanks!

Thanks for the recipe! Looks yummy!

I make Greek yogurt (also called Lebneh or Labneh by my Lebanese in-laws) by taking a 32 oz. container of nonfat plain yogurt and straining it overnight using either cheesecloth or a coffee filter in a colander. Pretty much like part 2 of your recipe. You can use any brand of plain yogurt, even the no name cheapy, just make sure gelatin is not listed in the ingredients or it won't set. You'll end up with about 16 oz of yummy Lebneh. I've never tried to make from scratch, thanks for sharing your recipe! Will have to give it a shot!

Great recipe! Did you get a chance to calculate the nutritional value of your homemade batch?

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Great recipe! Did you get a chance to calculate the nutritional value of your homemade batch?

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The nutritional information will vary based on the milk used (2% in my case). The values will be similar to commercial yogurt made with the same type of milk you use. When I was researching this project, the general consensus was that there's not a huge difference in the nutritional value of yogurt and the milk it's made from.

As far as strained, greek-style yogurt - densely packing it in that way increases your Protein per serving, but without greatly increasing your calories. This article is FABULOUS at explaining the difference between regular and strained yogurt, and the nutrition that you can expect from each: http://health.usnews...-more-healthful

A 6oz serving of 2% plain homemade yogurt will have roughly 120-130 calories and 9-15 grams of protein, depending on how well strained it is. Straining will also lower the carb count and the increased protein keeps you fuller longer.

Great question! I hope this helps!

I make Greek yogurt (also called Lebneh or Labneh by my Lebanese in-laws) by taking a 32 oz. container of nonfat plain yogurt and straining it overnight using either cheesecloth or a coffee filter in a colander. Pretty much like part 2 of your recipe. You can use any brand of plain yogurt, even the no name cheapy, just make sure Gelatin is not listed in the ingredients or it won't set. You'll end up with about 16 oz of yummy Lebneh. I've never tried to make from scratch, thanks for sharing your recipe! Will have to give it a shot!

That could be a good way to save some money also. I may try that! Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm so happy I found this post! Thank you!

The nutritional information will vary based on the milk used (2% in my case). The values will be similar to commercial yogurt made with the same type of milk you use. When I was researching this project' date=' the general consensus was that there's not a huge difference in the nutritional value of yogurt and the milk it's made from.

As far as strained, greek-style yogurt - densely packing it in that way increases your Protein per serving, but without greatly increasing your calories. This article is FABULOUS at explaining the difference between regular and strained yogurt, and the nutrition that you can expect from each: http://health.usnews...-more-healthful

A 6oz serving of 2% plain homemade yogurt will have roughly 120-130 calories and 9-15 grams of protein, depending on how well strained it is. Straining will also lower the carb count and the increased protein keeps you fuller longer.

Great question! I hope this helps!

Yes thank you!

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I love this I just might have to give it a try!