Homemade Yogurt with Kefir Starter

5 from 4 votes

A thick, mild yogurt made with kefir as the starter, so there's no separate yogurt culture or freeze-dried packet to keep on hand. The warm incubation lets the heat-loving bacteria in your kefir set the milk into a smooth, spoonable yogurt, without the fizz or sharp bite of a kefir drink. Adapted from The Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher, the whole thing comes down to handling the milk well: cook it slowly, cool it to the right temperature, and keep it warm while it sets. It works with raw or pasteurized milk.

Prep Time2

Incubation Time1

Total Time1 2

Course: Cheesemaking

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings, makes about 3 quarts

Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

1 gallon Whole milk pasteurized or raw, preferably unhomogenized
3/4 cup active kefir 180 mL, prepared the day before, or yogurt (1/4 cup per quart jar)

Instructions

Slowly warm the milk to 185°F (85°C) over medium heat. Stir the milk as it warms.
Cook the milk at 185°F for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Stir it nonstop. The longer the milk is cooked, the thicker the yogurt will be.
Cool the milk to 110°F (43°C): Take the pot of milk off the heat, and stir it until the temperature falls to that point. Don't add the culture before it cools to 110 F or you may kill the culture.
Add 1/4 cup (60 mL) of kefir to each quart jar (3/4 cup total for 3 jars). Pour an equal splash of cooled milk into each jar and stir, then fill the jars with the remaining milk.
Cap the jars loosely and move them to your warm incubation spot.
Incubate at 100-110°F. Start checking at 12 hours, then every few hours until set, typically 12 to 24 hours (up to 36 with a slow culture).

Notes

Milk Choice: This method works with raw or pasteurized milk, but raw milk will produce a true raw milk yogurt if the kefir is also made with raw milk. For the thickest texture, use whole milk, and avoid ultra-pasteurized milk, which doesn’t culture well.

Kefir Starter: You can use milk kefir grains or kefir made from them as the starter culture. Be sure the kefir is active and recently cultured—older kefir may not ferment the yogurt as effectively. This recipe makes 3 quart jars. Add 1/4 cup of kefir to each jar (3/4 cup total). Adding more tends to make the yogurt thin, foamy, or sharply tart, so less is better.

Texture Tips: Don’t rush the cooking stage. Holding the milk at 185°F for at least 30 minutes helps concentrate it and denature the proteins for a thicker yogurt. Stir constantly while heating and cooling to prevent a skin from forming.

Incubation: Keep the inoculated milk between 100–110°F for best results. A cooler or insulated container works well, or you can use an oven with the light on. If the temperature drops too low, the yeasts wake up and the batch can turn fizzy instead of setting.

Flavor Profile: Yogurt made with kefir tends to have a milder flavor and less tang than traditional yogurt, with a smooth, rich mouthfeel. If you prefer a sharper taste, allow it to ferment a bit longer before chilling.

Nutrition