Homemade Plain Yogurt

Cooking has never felt more like a science experiment than in the process of making homemade yogurt. As someone who works in a research lab, I can say that there are many parallels between growing up bacterial culture in a flask of LB broth and "growing" yogurt by inoculating milk with a yogurt starter. Now that I have whet your appetite with this comparison, I'll continue to describe the remarkably easy process of making plain yogurt at home that anyone can follow.

Disclaimer: This was my first time making yogurt at home and though successful, there are a few things that I would adjust next time I make it. Check out the end of this post for more resources! 

What you'll need: 

- a large pot that fits multiple jars

- smaller saucepan that can hold at least 1 quart of milk

- milk (I used 1 quart of whole milk from Whole Foods ($1.19). If this is your first time making yogurt, I'd suggest starting with this amount.) 

- glass jars with lids (clean jam jars would work fine) 

- thermometer 

- yogurt starter (I used store-bought Stonyfield's organic 0% plain yogurt at 5/$3) 

Note the six live active yogurt and probiotic cultures listed on the back of the Stonyfield cup - S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. These guys are the key players that we're trying to make happy in this recipe.