I recently made my own yogurt for the first time. I couldn’t believe how easy it was and how wonderful it tasted!
There were a couple of reasons that I decided to try this. First – to save money!! Homemade yogurt is typically cheaper. I know there are times when you can actually get yogurt for free and I have done it quite often. However, I found that my family didn’t really like the varieties I was able to get for free. So, I went back to buying the types that we liked, but even with a sale and double coupon I was paying .25 to .35 per 6 oz cup. I was easily spending $4 or more per week on yogurt!! With that same amount of money, I can now make 30% more yogurt.
The second reason I decided to make my own yogurt was so that I could control the ingredients. When I read the label of popular yogurts they were full of things I either couldn’t pronounce or was trying to remove from my family’s diet (e.g. high fructose corn syrup).
I was so happy to find an easy way to make yogurt in my crockpot!! It required 2 ingredients: milk and a starter yogurt with active cultures. This really couldn’t have been easier!! The result was a little over 40 ounces of plain yogurt that cost approximately $1.45 or .036 per ounce. My next batch will be even cheaper as I can use my own yogurt as a starter!
I used skim milk and was really happy with the consistency. We tend to like a creamier yogurt — not too thick. If you like yours thicker, there are a lot of suggestions here. My son tasted the plain yogurt and made quite the face! So, I added some mashed bananas and vanilla and he loved it!! I had some with home made jam mixed in — heaven!! I’m planning on trying some honey as a sweetener as well. The possibilities are truly endless.
