Instructions
Fill your pot with enough water to cover all of your tools, including the two jars on their sides. Once it’s boiling, carefully put in the spoon, jars (on their sides) and clip the thermometer to the side of the pot so the probe side is in the water.
Leave everything in the boiling water for 5 minutes, carefully drain the water (you may want some oven mitts) and set the sterilized equipment on a clean dish towel to dry.
Put your pot back on the stove, add the milk and turn the temperature on to medium heat. The milk needs to reach 180°, so make sure you use your thermometer to keep track.
Once the milk hits 180°, remove the pan from heat and turn off your stove.
Let the milk cool to 110° (this takes about 20-30 minutes for me, so don’t feel like you have to sit and stare at the thermometer until it cools down). Alternately, you could carefully place the pot in a sink full of cold water to speed the cooling process.
Once it’s cooled, measure out the ½ cup of plain yogurt and pour it into one of your jars. Add ¼ cup of the cooled milk to the starter and stir until they’re well-mixed. Adding the milk before it’s cooled enough may kill the cultures, which you don’t want to do.
Note: If you’re using a yogurt starter, it will come with instructions that will tell you when and how to add it to the milk.
Next, pour the milk/starter mixture into the pot and stir it all together. Pour the milk into the two quart jars and screw on your lids.