Homemade Yogurt in a Dehydrator, Yes You Can!

My wife and I both enjoy yogurt (Greek style) most days. The problem is that yogurt can get a bit expensive to purchase, at least, the good stuff we prefer. As such, I figured I would try my hand at making yogurt again.

In the past–many years ago, in fact–I used to make yogurt using a yogurt maker such as this one. The problem is that I’m not sure what happened to it, but knowing me I probably gave it away to somebody when I lost interest or sold it in a garage sale. Anyway, I wasn’t about to purchase a new one these days as they can get quite expensive and, besides, where’s the fun in making yogurt if I have to rely on something designed for the task? 😉

So, I started searching the Net for how to make homemade yogurt and found a few interesting ideas some of which I’ll share in the near future. Today, however, it’s all about using my Excalibur dehydrator to make yogurt! What!? Yes, it is possible… I just did it. Here’s how, though, there are many variations and recommendations on the procedure…

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole milk. You might be able to use skim milk but I wasn’t sure when I was at the store.
• 1 tablespoon PLAIN yogurt culture. We like the “good stuff” such as The Greek Gods Greek Yogurt. Just be sure it has live and active cultures and isn’t some sort of yogurt knock-off; the yogurt I used has a handful of cultures. Also, it seems that more is not better in this case.
• 1 candy thermometer. You NEED this to be able to watch the temperatures closely. I’d imagine that over time you can get a feel for things but since yogurt cultures can be finicky about temperatures, it’s better to get it right.
• Wide-mouth quart mason jar. You can use a smaller pint jar given the ingredients listed (it will only fill half of the quart jars) so if you want fill the entire quart jar then double the milk and yogurt.
• Frozen fruit for flavoring.  This is optional but I don’t like plain yogurt so it’s a must for me.
• Sweetener. Another optional addition but, again, sweeter is better IMO. I used honey after the fact when I dished it up.
• Unflavored Gelatin (may or may not be needed). Used to thicken runny yogurt.

The process, step-by-step

Click on the following images to see better views if you like and follow along below:

1. Start by scalding the milk in a saucepan. You do so by heating it up to 180 degrees. Do NOT allow the milk to boil! You really do need to watch the temps closely and so a simple candy thermometer is a must here. While you can use the fancy electronic thermometers if you prefer, I’ve found the glass ones work fine here. Just be sure it can measure between about 100-200 degrees Fahrenheit and you’re in business. Why scald the milk? I have no idea. Anyway, since I used a quart mason jar and because I wasn’t quite sure if this was going to work, I choose to use two cups of milk rather than the (almost) four cups that I could have fit in the mason jar; in the future I’ll do four cups.
2. Once scalded, remove from heat and wait… and wait. You need the milk temperatures to be no more than 115 degrees Fahrenheit because higher temps will kill the yogurt cultures whereas temps less than 100 degrees won’t active them. I think I waited a good 10-15 minutes for the temps to get down to 115 degrees (preferably 110 degrees) and that was with stirring it off and on and even putting a small fan on it for a while. Yes, I’m THAT impatient.
3. After cooling, remove about 1/2 cup of milk (I wasn’t being real scientific here) and add about one tablespoon of yogurt starter to it, stir gently so as not to kill the precious yogurt starter, return the mixture to the larger pot of milk, then gently stir again. Why you have to remove some milk first and add the culture to it I don’t know. Also, I’ve seen recommendations that were “all over the map” as to how much yogurt to use per cup of milk. It seems to me that the average recommendation is about one-half to one tablespoon per cup of milk. I’ve also read that “less is more” when it comes to making yogurt and so I opted for less.
4. Now that everything is thoroughly mixed, pour the milk from the pan into the mason jar and put the lid and band on it. Now place the mason jar into the dehydrator (with the trays removed) and turn the dehydrator on to between 105-110 degrees. Leave it alone for anywhere from four to eight hours. I choose six just to be safe on either side. I should note that I also choose to turn the dehydrator ON about 5-10 minutes before placing the mason jar inside in an attempt to warm up the dehydrator. I’m not quite sure if it was worthwhile but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
5. (no photo) When the time is up, remove the mason jar and place it in the freezer for an hour then in the fridge for several hours or overnight. You place it in the freezer to help reduce the potential for “cottage cheese” consistency and then in the fridge to firm up. That’s it. The yogurt is made and you’re technically done. If you want to use this yogurt as a starter for next time then reserve some before adding anything to it.

A few notes:

• You can add fruit to the yogurt for taste, I did. I added about 3/4 cup (that’s a guess) of frozen mixed berries (after thawing) to about 1/2 cup (another guess) of yogurt in my blender and mixed it up a bit. Then I added that mixture back to the mason jar yogurt and gave it several good stirs. Honestly, I could have added more.
• The only other addition I would include is something to sweeten the yogurt a bit after having dished it up. I found honey works well for me but I happen to like honey in all sorts of things. I’d imagine Agave Nectar works well and maple syrup probably does too. Of course, it all depends on how you prefer your yogurt.
• Remember to reserve a tablespoon or two BEFORE adding any fruit or sweetener if you want to use it as the starter next time.
• If the yogurt is too runny try adding some gelatin or make use of it otherwise, such as in a smoothie. Try again a few times varying amount of yogurt used and incubation time. I know the first time I made this it was more like Kiefer, something akin to thick milk. I added a few gelatin packets to firm things up but it still wasn’t quite like the thick Greek-style I’m accustomed to.

A few precautions:

• It’s possible to get the milk both too hot and too cold for the yogurt culture. Between 100-115 degrees Fahrenheit is what you want with 110 degrees Fahrenheit being about the sweet spot.
• Try to use fresh yogurt since yogurt that is too old (let’s say a few weeks or longer) may not prove to be a good starter.
• Whole milk is preferred for some reason, though, I’ve read skim milk can be used if thickened with gelatin.

That’s it. How about your experiences with making homemade yogurt? I’d love to hear them!