Activating The Culture: Mesophilic Yogurt
The first three batches of your yogurt need to be done back-to-back (one right after the previous batch, with no more than 24 hours between batches). Do not ignore this advice. We don’t want you losing cultures! Do not add probiotic capsules or powders during activation batches. We recommend that you don’t do it at all because it can and often does kill the culture over time, but definitely do not do it during activation.
If you are planning to make yogurt with raw milk, please refer to our raw milk yogurt guide. The raw milk guide does not give you all the information you need to make your yogurts properly, so come back here when you’re done over there. We recommend activating your yogurt cultures with pasteurized milk: this is 3 batches of yogurt. Your cultures have been dormant, so it’s gentlest to give the little guys a chance to wake up and thrive rather than forcing them to struggle through their jet lag.
Let's begin. Here's what you need:
One packet of our mesophilic yogurt culture. You can find a wide variety here.
1/2 cup milk
Glass jar
Rubber band
Breathable tight-weave cloth, such as coffee filters, or a snugly fitting lid are both effective options to maintain the proper conditions for fermentation. A cloth like a coffee filter allows for airflow while keeping out contaminants, essential for the fermentation process. Conversely, a well-fitting lid can provide a barrier to outside elements while still allowing gases to escape, ensuring a successful fermentation environment.
Activating The Culture
Empty half of the packet of starter culture into a clean jar. Put the rest in the freezer as your first backup culture! Backups matter.
Pour 1/2 cup pasteurized milk over cultures, stir well and let sit for a few minutes to re-hydrate. Alternatively, you can further crush the cultures prior to adding to the milk.
Stir thoroughly and put the lid on the jar.
Culture at room temperature between 70-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it thickens OR at the end of 48 hours (whichever comes first), place in refrigerator for 6 hours.
It’s OK if it’s still liquid. To finish activation, use 1/2 tablespoon of this batch to make your next batch, repeating the steps above. The consistency will improve over the next few batches.
Once your batch has set properly, take 2 samples to put in your freezer as backups. We’re serious about those backups. We have some yogurts we wouldn’t still be offering if we weren’t so diligent about backups.
Making Yogurt On The Regular
The ratio for mesophilic yogurt is 1 TBS of yogurt per cup of milk.
To make yogurt, pour 4 cups of milk into a glass jar. For creamier yogurt, heat and cool the milk or use UHT milk. Let the milk cool to room temperature before adding cultures.
Combine 4 tablespoons of fresh yogurt starter from your previous batch made within the last week.
Stir well and cover with a lid.
Let yogurt sit at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. It's ready when firm and separates from the jar when tilted slightly.
Refrigerate yogurt for six hours. This helps firm up the yogurt.
Remember to save some yogurt before you eat it for the next batch. Store it in a different container to ensure you have some left for the next batch, in case you end up consuming the entire jar.