Comments on: Monday Q&A-Homemade Yogurt Questions

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:00:17 +0000

Yep, you can! But you won’t need as much water…just add enough to bring the water level at least 3/4 up the sides of the jars. Or, you could always just use two of the quart jars.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:36:51 +0000

I want to make a 1/2 batch – can I use pint jars instead a quart jars? If I use pint jars,how long should it stay in the cooler? Also, does the water come just below the lid or are the jars submerged? Thanks!!!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:58:37 +0000

Yep, that’s totally normal! It’s whey, and you do not have to eat it. It’s pretty nutritious, so you could save it to throw into smoothies if you wanted. Some people also use the whey when they bake.

By: mindy sue

mindy sue — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:29:45 +0000

Just curious, when your yougurt sits in the fridge awhile, does it form a liquid on top of it? If so, do you stir that into your yogurt, or pour it out of the jar? My yogurt is always real thick to start with, but then once I stir the liquid in, it gets runny and I’m not a fan of that… I didn’t know if the liquid was essential to keep in the yogurt for flavor or nutrients or anything like that?

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:05:40 +0000

I don’t imagine yogurt would freeze very well. Is your yogurt actually going bad? I’ve kept unopened jars for up to a month and they’ve been fine. Also, you could try making a half batch (just use a half gallon of milk). And yes, smoothies are GREAT for using up yogurt!

By: Rena

Rena — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:09:24 +0000

I love making homemade yogurt but sometimes it ends up being too much and I hate throwing it out! Most of the time my 18 month old gobbles it up with me but sometimes some doesn’t get eaten. We just got a blender so I think I will try using the extra in smoothies but my big question is: Can you freeze yogurt? And then thaw it out later? I think maybe you could but I was wondering if you had any experience with this.
P.S. I adore your blog!!!!!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:58:10 +0000

I usually heat mine over medium heat, and it takes around 15 minutes. And yes, you can definitely use raw milk!

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:39:46 +0000

Hi, In your instructions, it doesn’t give an approximation on how quickly to heat the yogurt to 185-195. I was nervous about the milk scorching, and set my stove to 3, then 4, then 5 after 4 hours of cooking! And I only ended up with 3 quarts worth – I think because I took so long to heat it up that quite a bit of it must have evaporated. I read the other comments and noticed that someone else ended up with less than what they started with as well, but they didn’t say how quickly they heated the milk. I’m definitely going to try this again, and see what happens when it is heated quickly.

Have you ever used whole raw milk to make yogurt? We’re going to get a milk cow soon, and I wondered if the process is going to be the same.

Thanks a bunch!

By: Victoria (@caffeinevictory)

Victoria (@caffeinevictory) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:24:14 +0000

I did use a thermometer and closely monitored the temperature. I used greek yogurt as a starter so maybe I’ll try using a thinner starter next time and see how that works out. Thanks for the tips!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:50:56 +0000

That’s so odd…when I make my yogurt, I get a gallon of yogurt from a gallon of milk. But then again, I’m not straining mine to be like Greek yogurt.

Something is going wrong if you’ve got a bunch of whey to pour off right away. Is your thermometer working properly? Did you carefully follow the temperature instructions? Did you use a good starter? (I’ve heard Greek yogurt doesn’t mix in very well, so try using Dannon or Yoplait regular yogurt).