Have you been tired of ingesting all the ingredients that are unpronounceable? Or those that are just plain ridiculous to have in your yogurt? Or perhaps you have simply wondered if you could make your own goat milk yogurt? Well, search no more! This goat milk yogurt I make is so easy!
Homemade Yogurt is Cheap!
If you’ve been keeping up with us here on the Zion Family Homestead, you will have noticed a few posts about going organic. I’ve been going organic for years without even realizing it! Well, I’ve been saving money, is what I was actually trying to do. Making my own yogurt is AMAZINGLY cheap to do! Papa and I like to eat yogurt every day for breakfast. That means we’d be spending hundreds of dollars every year on yogurt. I can’t justify that cost. But luckily I don’t have to, I can make it myself!
First Forays
My first forays into yogurt making were undertaken with those old Salton yogurt makers. I bought mine from a Goodwill. It worked out for a couple of years just fine. I made soy yogurt, cow milk yogurt, I even tried using almond milk (only once, big time failure).
I have to admit, after we got the goats, I was super excited about making yogurt from our own goat’s milk! Those initial attempts didn’t work out too well, unfortunately. I thought about giving up, but every now and again, I’d give it another try.
But then… we really started dreaming about how to be prepared for no electricity. So I started searching for different ways to incubate my yogurt. I found this non electric yogurt maker on Amazon. Then I read the reviews.
And that got me to thinking…
Uh Oh… Lala Thinking?!
There has to be a cheaper way to do this. So, next I was off to the interwebs. When I’m interested in something, I tend to get… Focused is a nice word for it. A dear former co-worker suggested that term for my actions! And I found a couple of ideas. I could use thermoses and jars. And crock-pots. I could make my yogurt in a crock-pot! I LOVE my crock-pots (I have several)!
Goat Milk Yogurt in a Crock-pot
So while making some goat milk yogurt in a crock-pot wasn’t quite going off the grid, it was going to be cool, I thought! Now, making yogurt in a crock pot isn’t for the easily distracted. Or maybe it is… If you ARE easily distracted, make sure you set a timer. One that you carry with you at ALL times. It takes approximately 3 hours to heat the milk, and if you forget it, it will scald. Badly…. And then it takes about 3 hours to cool down. And if you cool it down too much you have to reheat it back up to the proper temperature.
Anyway, finally, after mixing everything all together, you place it in a slightly warmed oven (at least that’s what I like to do) to stay at the proper temperature.
Luckily I made those mistakes I am trying to save you from AFTER I made my first batch of goat milk yogurt. It was the best goat milk yogurt I made! Creamy, and, while not quite as thick as pasteurized cow milk makes, still MUCH better than my first few attempts using the old Salton. And it is consistently thick. I’m not sure what has changed. If it’s the slower heating time. Perhaps it’s the way it’s incubated, in a lighted oven, staying nice and toasty. But whatever the reason, this yogurt is so GOOD! I’m also so pleased that I’m able to make an organic goat milk yogurt that can help keep the headaches at bay.
A Couple of Tips for Making Goat Milk Yogurt
It is very important to make sure you have the goat milk at the proper temperature. You have to heat it to at least 180 degrees. And once you let it cool, if it’s too hot, it will kill the live cultures from the added yogurt. If you end up letting it cool too much, the cultures will not be able to multiply to make the wonderful probiotic filled yogurt.
It is also important to keep the milk at the 110-120 degrees so that the cultures can multiply. Using the oven to incubate it, be sure to have that towel wrapped around the crock, jar, or whatever it is you decide to use.
To get started you can purchase plain yogurt with live cultures and use it to get a new batch going. After that you can keep a batch going for months!
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- 1/2 gallon Milk Obviously, we use our farm fresh goat milk!
- 1/4 cup Yogurt with live cultures
Ingredients
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- Heat your milk to approximately 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from heat and let sit until it has cooled down to about 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove about a cup of the still warmed milk into a quart sized container.
- Add the old yogurt and mix very well.
- Pour back into the pan/crock and whisk it all together.
- Prepare the oven by turning it on and then turn back off after only 1 minute. Make sure you've placed all the shelves low inside it.
- Pour into large jars (I use a half gallon jar).
- Wrap a large towel around the jar and then place into the oven.
- Leave the oven light on and don't disturb for approximately 8 hours.
- You can take it out now, or leave it in longer for a tangier taste.
I have been using a closed cooler with a rack and heated water in the bottom (rack = empty egg cartons), and the innoculated cow milk in closed 1 cup mason jars on top of the rack. This has worked for cow milk yogurt, but failed (soupy) goat yogurt. I think I’ll try your process, and see if that works better.
Great, Betty, I hope it works for you! Please update with your progress 🙂
I want to make my yogurt with a yoggurt machine but with goats milk
I have a two door oven so i cannot stand tall jars in it. Can i use a different kind of container in the oven?
You certainly can. I have laid the jars down on their side before, when making the yogurt.
Have you tried adding any flavors, like vanilla?
I add any flavors AFTER the yogurt has been made.
Hi there, I am excited to try this recipe as my son consumes about a gallon of yogurt a month. I just had one small question. What would I cover the jars with. Would I use a regular lid or the towel? Thanks for your help. Happy holidays.
Thanks for your question. Use the regular lid!
Happy holidays to you, too!
how can you call this making goat milk yogurt if you add already processed yogurt to your goat milk. im confused. and i would like to know how to goat milk as a creamer for coffee ,and sour cream
thank you
You just need live cultures. I’ve found the easiest way to get those live cultures is to buy a small container of yogurt containing those live cultures for the first batch. Then every batch afterwards I use about 2-4 tablespoons from the current batch.
It is very difficult for us here on the homestead to get the cream. We purchased a hand crank machine that helped to separate the cream. Even that wasn’t very productive, we ended up just forgoing the process and have full fat milk.