Yogurt 1st Attempt

Small Container Results

I tried making my own yogurt for the first time this past weekend. Below is my log on the endeavor:

Ingredients:
Milk:

• Amount: 1/2 Gallon
• Brand: Costco's Kirtland whole milk. 
• Other facts: Homogenized, no rBST, Pasteurized, with Vitamin D3 added

Yogurt Starter:

• Amount: 1/2 Cup
• Brand: Old Home All Natural Plain Yogurt (Local MN yogurt)
• Ingredients: Cultured pasteurized grade A milk & Nonfat milk
• Other Facts: Live & Active cultures (Acidophilus & Bifidus)

Equipment:

• Digital Thermometer
• Plastic Gladware (sterilized the best I could) I used one large 7 cup container and five 1/2 cup containers.
• Stainless steel pots

Incubator Used:

• Cooler. There are many options I've learned, of which I can write about later. For this round I kept it simple.

Steps & Notes:

I followed the directions of Professor David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D. My measurements and temperatures went something like this.

1. Heat Milk: I warmed the milk to ~ 188 degrees Fahrenheit. I did this very slowly. I have an electric stove top and I set it to about 5 out of 10. I didn't want to burn the milk or boil it. This gave me time to think and prepare as it warmed up. It did take a little while, maybe 20 minutes.
2. Cool Milk: You want the temperature to come down to ~ 128 degrees Fahrenheit. I removed my milk from the heat right after it reached 188 degrees and let it cool standing alone. This was going too slow, so I filled up the sink with cold water and dipped the pot in the water. This cooled it off a little too much so I had to re-heat a bit.
3. Stir in Starter: I stirred in my 1/2 cup of starter right into the pot when the temperature was at ~130 degrees Fahrenheit, probably on the hot side. Some people recommend mixing it into a smaller portion of milk, then adding it to the overall batch. I stirred it in pretty well, but when I poured it out, there seemed to be a lot of undissolved yogurt starter still. 
4.  Pour into containers: Not much to note here. Some yogurt starter didn't seem to be mixed in all the way. It might have been from some burning, as there seemed to be a little milk sticking to the bottom of the pot.
5. Incubate: As mentioned I used a cooler with Hot water. It is recommended to fill with water to just below the rim of the containers. I had different sized containers and did some experimenting. The large 7 cup container had water to just below the lid. I put one small container in the water, I think it was floating/submerged. The other four were not in water at all, just sitting on top of the larger container.
6. Timing note: The time you are to let the yogurt sit varies. From the different recipes I've read appears to be a function of how warm the environment is and the ratio of yogurt starter to milk. Dr. Fankhauser suggests 3 hours for this ratio and incubation method. I finished around 8:30pm and wasn't awake at 11:30pm so it ended up sitting until about 3:30am. I'm not sure what difference the time makes.

Results:

Large Container Results

• It worked! The yogurt 'gelled' pretty well.
• Taste: Mild tartness
• Consistency: Delicate. A little fragile. It wasn't as smooth as I would like and you could describe parts as somewhat curdlely (not in a bad way).
• Rating: 3 1/2 start out of 5

Possible Improvements:

• Try using glass containers that seal better. (Most people recommend these, I still haven't found any yet)
• Mix in some powdered milk w/milk before heating. This is supposed to thicken the consistency more
• Try a different incubator method.
• Mix starter better
• Try just 3 hours.