Making homemade yogurt from the powdered milk in your food storage: Powdered milk food storage recipes
So, this is much easier than you may think and even more delicious! Most people think you can’t use powdered milk from your food storage but the truth is you can! (Be sure it is REAL POWDERED MILK and not a milk drink like Morning Moo’s you are trying to use. Alternative Milk Drinks WILL NOT work.) Also, make sure you check out my short video on one of my favorite ways to use the homemade yogurt-in a delicious and healthy yogurt parfait!
How to make food storage yogurt with powdered milk:
What you’ll need for food storage yogurt with powdered milk:
- 2-quarts pasteurized milk (cream, whole, low fat, or skim) — for food storage purposes, we’ll use powdered milk. For non-instant milk you’ll need, 1 1/2 c. dry milk powder and 2 quarts water. If you’re using instant milk you’ll need, 3 c. dry milk powder and 2 quarts water (or whatever your milk’s specific instructions are for making 2 quarts of milk).
- Additional nonfat dry milk powder (for extra milk proteins) — Use 2/3-cup powder when using non-instant powdered milk (if you used a skim milk-otherwise use 1/3-cup), or use 1 1/3-cup powder when using instant powdered milk (or 2/3 if you didn’t use skim milk above). The higher the milk solids the firmer the yogurt
- Commercial, unflavored, cultured yogurt — Use 1/2-cup. Be sure the product label indicates that it contains a live culture. Also note the content of the culture. L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus are required in yogurt, but some manufacturers may in addition add L. acidophilus and/or B. bifidum. The latter two are used for slight variations in flavor, but more commonly for health reasons attributed to these organisms. All culture variations will make a successful yogurt. I like the Mountain High Yoghurt as my starter.
- (Optional) 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar or honey.
Instructions for your food storage yogurt:
- Mix your powdered milk (all of it-both the milk to make the initial 2 quarts of milk and the additional milk).
- In a 4-5 qt. slow cooker, place milk and sugar or honey, if you are using it, cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
- After the 2 1/2 hours, unplug the slow cooker and let it sit for 3 hours.
- After the 3 hours, remove 2 cups of milk (you may notice a skin of sorts on your milk in the slow cooker, go ahead and remove that with a spoon and discard) and stir in the 1/2 cup of yogurt in a separate bowl. Add the yogurt mixture to the remaining milk and stir. (If you want to check your milk temperature, you can use a candy thermometer and make sure it’s between 112 and 117 degrees F. Put the lid back on the slow cooker and wrap in a large and thick bath towel and let sit (unplugged) for an additional 8 hours.
- After the 8 hours, unwrap and uncover the slow cooker. SCOOP (DO NOT STIR) the yogurt into clean containers and refrigerate – chill before serving.
(This recipe was adapted from National Center for Home Preservation and the method of cooking the slow cooker was approved by the man who wrote that article…as long as it doesn’t curdle-if yours curdles throw it out!)
How to make a delicious and healthy yogurt parfait from your food storage yogurt:
If you want to make your own delicious granola, you can see THIS POST.
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