Homemade Greek Yogurt

Our family was going broke on greek yogurt. So I decided to try making it myself. I have done it three times now and must say it is incredibly easy. The yogurt tastes great but I am not sure how cost effective it really is. It all depends on how much you pay for your milk. I have been using organic non-hemoginized whole milk which costs about $8.50 at the co-op. It makes about two and a half quarts of yogurt. From the whey I have made ricotta(ish) cheese. I get about two cups of cheese. Yogurt cheese tastes a little different. It has a sour taste. You either love it or hate it. So far it has been a hit. I am going to cook a quiche with mine tonight. We will see.

I used a half of gallon of milk and a half cup of plain organic yogurt.
(I think you can use less yogurt. More is not always better in this case.)

I then heated the milk slowly up to 180 degrees using a
candy thermometer.  I then took it off the heat and let it sit
till it reached about 110 degrees. I skimmed off the top foam layer
and later mixed that with my whey. I then added my yogurt and stirred.

The yogurt needs to stay at about 100 degrees for 12 hours. Most crock
pots and ovens do not go this low. I have found that simply putting on my
oven light is enough to keep the yogurt warm enough.

Once the 12 hours is up strain the yogurt to separate the whey.
A mesh strainer would work best. I just did not have one.

More straining. 

Chilled and served with some maple syrup!

Nika enjoyed. Also notice it makes a great sour cream.

Avi enjoyed.

I then boiled the whey down till it was well curdled. I let it cool first
 and then filtered with a cloth coffee filter. Cheese cloth would work better.
The left over whey is wonderful in pancakes!

Finished cheese.