Several ladies at my homeschooling group were talking about how they make their own yogurt at home. After getting brief instructions I thought this might be something that I could try. I figured what could be better than a snack, science lesson and money saving opportunity all rolled up in one!! My girls were so excited at the mere thought that they could make yogurt. I did a little research on Google and found a very helpful
post on crock-pot yogurt.
1. I put 8 cups of milk into the crock-pot and cooked on LOW for 3 hours
2. Meant to turn off crock-pot and let milk set for 3 hours. Instead I turned it to Keep Warm and left it for closer to 5 hrs
3. Unplugged crock-pot.
4.Removed a cup or two of the milk and placed in a bowl. Then whisked in a cup or so of Activa (you should be able to use any live culture yogurt). The girls were doing the measurements so it was a little hit and miss. Then added the mixture back to the crock-pot.
5. Tucked the girls and the crock-pot in for the night and went to bed.
6. About 10 hours later we unwrapped the crock-pot and peaked inside.
The milk Had turned into yogurt over night!
7. Drain excess liquid. I have to work on this a little. The more liquid you remove the firmer the yogurt will be.
8. Remove a cup of yogurt and store in fridge for use as a starter next time.
You could stop at this point and have homemade yogurt. The girls and I decided to add Gelatin for flavor and hopefully a little thicker texture.
9. Add one large package of Jello. We used Cherry!
10. Stir and place in fridge to set.
The best part of the whole thing was when my girls ate it. They said it was the best yogurt ever!!
This is going to save us a lot of money as well as probably be much healthier.
The cost break down:
8 cups of Milk 1.76
Activa 1.59 (will not need next time)
A half gallon of yogurt total cost
3.52
This is at least half the cost it would be in the grocery store. Now that I have a starter it will cost less than 2 dollars next week!!
