Introduction: How to Make Yogurt in Glass Jars

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About: Hi, I'm Éva from Hungary. I love baking, cooking, and gardening, not to mention the perfect combination: cooking using fruits and veggies from our garden. I often experiment with new ingredients and try to use…

Hello,

Today I'll show you how to make yogurt in glass jars. Actually it's very simple: you need two ingredients and there are two numbers to remember. Since I started making our own yogurt we have considerably less plastic waste, so it's good for the environment and also for your purse. Also, it's refreshingly delicious!

Let's get started!

Step 1: You'll Need

Ingredients:

  • 2 liters full fat milk
  • 1/2 cup natural plain yogurt (live culture)

Tools:

  • 3 glass jars (approximately 0.7 liter volume each)
  • sous vide stick
  • plastic container / large pot (either one is OK, provided that it is high enough to clip the sous vide stick on)
  • pot
  • candy thermometer

Last, but not least the two numbers to remember are 82 Celsius (or 180 F) and 43 Celsius (or 109 F).

Step 2: Heat the Milk

Pour the milk into a pot and heat it slowly (low-medium heat) to avoid burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot until it reaches 82 Celsius / 180 Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat.

Step 3: Let It Cool

Set it aside and let it cool to 43 Celsius / 109 Fahrenheit. You can speed up the process by putting the pot into the sink filled with ice-cold water.

Step 4: Add Yogurt

When the temperature of the milk decreases to 43 C/109 F stir in the yogurt. Yogurt acts as a starter, bacteria in the yogurt will ferment lactose that is milk sugar into lactic acid. Try to dissolve the yogurt by stirring for 1-2 minutes, but do not worry if you notice a few smaller lumps of yogurt while pouring.

Tip: safe solution for absolutely lumpless mixture is to pour some (approximately same amount as yogurt) milk into the yogurt first, combine and then add the whole thing to the rest of the milk.

Step 5: Can and Keep Warm

Pour the mixture into the glass jars, fasten the lids and place the jars in warm water. I prefer to make sure that the lids are above water level to prevent leakage into the jars. Clip the sous vide stick to the side of the container and set it to 43 C/109 F. Cover the container so that heat would not escape and incubate for three - four hours.

Step 6: Chill and Eat

Yogurt is ready when it's solid (a little trembling in the middle is OK) when you shake the jar.

Chill it and keep it in the fridge.

(Morning granola bowl with figs nuts and honey in the photo.)