If you’re vegan or don’t eat dairy, this article may not be of interest to you. But if you’re a yogurt lover or want to try making a tasty, simple food at home, read on. You will be amazed at how easy it is to make fresh yogurt on your own. I made my first batch two weeks ago, and just finished making my second batch earlier today.

Typically I don’t eat much dairy, but when I found out how easy it could be to make yogurt at home, I became interested. And since I’ve learned about raw foods and the power of enzymes, I try to make sure that the milk and cheese I consume is raw, so it makes sense for me to make raw yogurt. Probiotics and enzymes! Luckily I have a food coop that I shop at from which I can buy good raw whole milk.

Though I’ve thought for a long time how fun it would be to make yogurt, this article from Liz Clark and the Voyage of Swell is what made me realize how easy it is! (Btw, if you want to read some good stuff, check out her website. She is a surfer and environmentalist from north San Diego who left California in 2006 to sail around the world in her 40-foot sailboat … and is still going). So anyway, I thought if she can do it while spending a few weeks in port, so can I.

I won’t bother posting the exact process since you can find it anywhere online, but in addition to Liz’s site check out here and here. Trust me though, it’s easy. All it takes is fresh milk and then yogurt for the starter bacteria. Keep in mind that I am using raw milk and not typical pasturized milk, so maybe do a little research about the difference.

A few other notes: I used a 1 quart glass jar that I sterizlied prior to putting the warm milk into, just to be sure it didn’t have any nasty bacteria. I also used the good ol’ natural sun. First time around I was lucky that we were having a nice 80 degree winter day here in San Diego, but today it was only 65. Both times I set the jar on the concrete in the front of my house wrapped in a dark towel and it seemed to stay quite warm while in the sun. Lastly, because I was using raw milk I made sure not to heat over 110 degrees so I wouldn’t kill the enzymes.

If you have the time, I’d definitely recommend that you give yogurt making a shot. It’s straightforward, easy, and as long as you have 30 minutes and can wait a day for the final product, you will have a tasty treat that is also cheaper and less wasteful than the store bought equivalent.

Do you make any other foods at home? Let me know in the comments!

And stay tuned for my upcoming article where I talk about making raw chocolate.

###

First time reading?

• See more about me and Idealist Cafe
• Add Idealist Cafe to your feed reader
• Or maybe sign up to get free updates by email
• Liking Idealist Cafe on Facebook is a good option
• Catch more frequent and random updates on Twitter
• Just reading this article is cool too! :)

Originally posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 8:51 PM .