Food Processing

May 2016
FP-01

Making Yogurt at Home

Jian Yang, Ph.D., Extension Specialist of Food Science
College of Natural & Applied Sciences, University of Guam

What is Yogurt? Health Benefits from Probiotics

Yogurt is a semi-solid sourish food prepared through Yogurt is a natual probiotic product providing good,
the fermentation of milk by adding lactic acid bacteria, live bacteria. The health benefits of probiotics include
normally Lactobacillus bulgarius and Streptococcus improving lactose digestion, preventing gastrointes-
thermophilius. Lactic acid produced during the fer- tinal disorders, enhancing the immune system pre-
mentation preserves the milk from spoilage and patho- venting H. Pylori infection, preventing osteoporosis
gen growth. Yogurt was developed and consumed in (calcium, vitamin D), reducing constipation, improving
the Middle East as early as 2000 BC. nutrient absorption, and/or reducing blood choles-
terol. Probiotic cultures added in yogurt often con-
tain Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei,
and Bifidobacteria; some probiotic yogurt may have
more than ten probiotic strains. Consumption of an
adequate amount (108-1010 cfu/day) and a variety of
strains of probiotics is critical for health benefits. One
tablespoon of fresh yogurt can meet the recommended
daily amount of probiotics for health benefits.

Fig. 1. Homemade yogurt.

Yogurt Products
Nowadays, based on the texture, yogurt products are
classified as solid-set, stirred, and drinking. Solid-set
yogurt is a firm yogurt made in a container with-
out disturbing, often containing fruit on the bottom.
Stirred yogurt is a mixture of yogurt with fruit prepa- Fig. 2. Probiotics.
ration without the solid-set texture. Drinking yogurt is
a mixture of yogurt with milk, fruit juice, syrups, and Yogurt Consumption
flavors. In the market, yogurt products are also catego- The yearly average consumption of yogurt in the world
rized as plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, fruit yogurt, and is from 25 to 275 cups/person (125 g/cup, 8 oz/cup).
frozen yogurt. At home, you can use yogurt to prepare People in the U.S. consume about 70 cups of yogurt
yogurt parfait, yogurt smoothie, yogurt cocktail, or each year. People spend about 7.6% of their total snack
yogurt dips. budget on yogurt. The consumption of yogurt in the
U.S. has increased continuously since 2000.
Published by the College of Natural & Applied Sciences (CNAS), University of Guam, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Dr. Lee S.
Yudin, Director/Dean. University of Guam, CNAS, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam 96923. Copyright 2016. For reproduction and use permission, contact CNAS-
Media.events@gmail.com, (671) 735-2000. The University of Guam is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing programs and services to the
people of Guam without regard to race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and
court record, sexual orientation, or status as a covered veteran. Find CNAS publications at CNAS-RE.uog.edu.
UOG-CNAS Making Yogurt at Home FP-01

Why Make Yogurt at Home example, adding nonfat-milk-solid can increase the
There are many commercial yogurt products on the protein content to firm texture of set yogurt. Adding
market; why do we need to make yogurt at home? Be- stabilizers enhance the milk’s water-binding abil-
cause fresh home-made yogurt can: (1) provide a high ity, improving the texture of yogurt. Adding sugars,
number of probiotics; (2) avoid or control unnecessary flavors, and colors can improve the taste, flavor, and
ingredients, such as sugar, fat, sweeteners, artificial appearance.
colorants, flavoring, and stabilizers; (3) provide fresh
and clean taste with controllable sourness and sweet-
ness; and (4) save money - about half price of commer-
cial yogurt. In addition, making yogurt provides you a
fun food experience.

Tools and Ingredients for Making Yogurt

Tools Ingredients
A yogurt maker Milk - use either whole, reduced,
or an incubator is or non-fat pasteurized fresh milk
required to maintain or UHT milk;
temperature at Milk powder (optional) - add
110°F for lactic acid either nonfat or whole dry milk to Fig. 3. Mixing ingredients and culture with milk.
bacteria to ferment increase the milk solids for firm-
milk to yogurt. texture yogurt.
Jars, cups, or Cultures - Lactobacillus bulgaricus Pasteurization: Pasteurization is a step to kill patho-
containers with lids and Streptococcus thermophiles gens and spoilage microorganisms (vegetative cells)
for yogurt. are the two main starter cultures for food safety and quality. For yogurt, the heat during
that US law requires for all pasteurization also denatures milk proteins (changes
“yogurts”. Either freeze-dried
cultures or previous batches of
protein structures) to enhance protein-water-binding
commercial or home-made yogurt capacity, promoting gelation and improving the firm-
can be used as starter cultures. ness of yogurt. To kill vegetative microorganisms and
A saucepan, Stabilizers - improve the yogurt denature the milk protein, pasteurization of milk for
measuring cups texture, including gelatin, pectin, yogurt requires a temperature at 185°F (85°C) for 30
and spoons, mixing agar, guar gum, tapioca starch, minutes or at 203°F (95°C) for 10-20 minutes. Without
bowl, and whisk for and modified corn starch.
adding and mixing
this heat-treatment, yogurt made directly from com-
ingredients. mercial pasteurized-milk will have a soft texture.
A thermometer and Others - improve the flavor of
a timer for checking yogurt, including sweeteners
temperature (sugar, honey, maple, or maple
and time during syrup), fruit (tropical fruits, berries,
pasteurization and or jams), and flavors or extracts
incubation. (vanillin).

Procedures to Make Yogurt

The procedures to make yogurt include adjustment,
pasteurization, cooling, inoculation, incubation, and
refrigeration.

Adjustment: Although commercial fresh milk can be

used directly for making yogurt, you can also adjust
the milk composition to meet your desired milk solids
content or needs in sensory quality of yogurt. For
Fig. 4. Pasteurizing milk.

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Cooling: After pasteurization, milk must be cooled to Practice to Make Plain Yogurt
107-110°F (41-43°C) for the fermentation of lactic acid Procedure Application
bacteria. Otherwise, the high temperature of the milk 1. Add milk powder Completely dissolve non-fat or
will kill the starter cultures added during inoculation. into fresh milk and mix whole milk powder (about 3%
them well. milk by weight) in a portion of
Inoculation: After cooling, a mixture of Streptococ- milk (a half-cup) and mix it well.
cus thermophiles and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, with 2. Heat (pasteurize) Add milk in a saucepan, heat
or without other probiotic organisms, should be added the milk to 203°F and stir milk constantly to avoid
(95°C) for 10-20 min. scorching, and check the tem-
to the pasteurized milk. You can use either commer- perature with a thermometer.
cial freeze-dried cultures or fresh yogurt (commercial
3. Cool the pasteur- Place saucepan in cold water
or self-made) as starter cultures. If using the commer- ized milk to 107-110°F immediately, stir the milk, and
cial culture powders, follow the manufacture’s instruc- (41-43°C) with cold check the temperature with a
tion. If using fresh yogurt, add about 3-5% by weight. water. thermometer. Change the water
if needed.
Incubation: After inoculation, pour the inoculated 4. Add starter culture If commercial starter culture is
milk in clean and sanitized jars or containers and in the cooled milk and used, first dissolve the starter
mix them well. culture with some milk then mix
then place them in a yogurt maker or an incubator at it with the rest of milk. If com-
110°F (43°C) to ferment for 6-12 hours. The fermenta- mercial or home-made fresh
tion time depends on the temperature of the incuba- yogurt is used, first dissolve
tor, the size of jars and containers, and the activity of yogurt (3-5% milk by weight) in a
starter cultures. During the fermentation, the starter half-cup of milk then strain and
mix the mixture with the rest of
cultures use lactose (milk sugar) to produce lactic acid. the milk.
The lactic acid decreases the pH of milk below 4.6,
5. Place the inoculated Use cleaned and sanitized glass
forming yogurt-like texture. In addition, cultures also milk in jars or contain- jars or food-grade plastic con-
produce the characteristic flavors of yogurt, inhibit the ers and close them tainers and lids.
growth of spoilage and harmful bacteria, and produce with lids.
polysaccharide materials increasing the thickness and 6. Incubate the milk Use a yogurt maker or a temper-
stability of the yogurt gel. in yogurt maker or ature-controllable incubator. The
an incubator at 110°F incubation time depends on the
(43°C) for 6-12 hours. incubation system and the size
of jar or container.
7. Check the quality Determine the end of incubation
of yogurt to stop the by checking the texture, taste,
incubation. and flavor of yogurt.
8. Cool and store the Consume the yogurt within 2-3
yogurt in refrigerator weeks.
at 40°F (4°C).

Following the above procedures, you will make a plain

Fig. 5. Yogurt maker and supplies. yogurt with good quality and a thick texture. If you would
like to simplify the procedures and save time, you can make
Refrigeration: After incubation, check the quality of yogurt with a relative thin texture using the following modi-
yogurt. If the texture, taste, and flavor of yogurt meet fied procedures: (1) use new opened and fresh commercial
your quality criteria, place the covered yogurt in the pasteurized milk; (2) omit procedures 1, 2, and 3; (3) warm
refrigerator (40°F, 4°C) to stop the process of fermen- milk to 110°F (43°C); and (4) follow the same procedures
4-8. The reason that you could omit pasteurization is be-
tation. Yogurt stored in refrigerator will have a shelf- cause the commercial pasteurized milk is free of vegetative
life of 2-3 weeks. During prolonged storage, yogurt pathogens and spoilage bacteria.
can be spoiled by molds, yeasts, and slow-growing
bacteria.

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Making Fruit and Drinking Yogurt texture, and fresh, clean, and acidic taste. Stirred yo-
To make fruit yogurt, you can simply add fruit on the gurt has a smooth, glossy, and thick texture and fresh,
bottom of a cup then pour the inoculated yogurt on clean, and acidic taste. Drinking yogurt has a refresh-
top and then follow the procedures of making plain ing mouthfeel and a low level of solids with various
yogurt. Or you can blend fruit with the plain yogurt to thick or thin textures.
make a stirred-fruit yogurt. To make drinking yogurt,
you can mix the plain yogurt with fruit or fruit juice, Troubleshooting Yogurt
syrup or honey, and/or other flavor mixes. Defects Cause of defect
Fail to coagulate The incubation temperature is too
after incubation for hot or too cold; use a thermometer
8-10 hours. to check and control the
temperature at 110°F; the quality
starter culture is poor; or the milk is
too hot when adding the starter.
Bad or undesirable Start culture may be contaminated;
taste. incubation of yogurt is too long;
milk is scorched while heating; or
jars or containers may not be clean
Excessive whey Incubation of yogurt is too long; or
separation. yogurt is agitated while it is setting.

Fig. 6. Yogurt parfait made with plain yogurt. Food Safety Practice for Making Yogurt
To make yogurt safely, following these steps: practice
Making Greek Yogurt and Enjoying Yogurt in good personal hygiene; use soap and warm running
Different Ways water to wash your hands and bandage cuts and burns
You can easily make Greek yogurt with plain yogurt. on hands before handling food; avoid cross-contami-
Place fresh-prepared yogurt in a strainer or a cheese nation; clean and sanitize equipment and utensils, rinse
cloth bag and drain it in a refrigerator for 4-12 hours. well, and air dry. Ingredients added to yogurt should
You will obtain a thick and creamy delicious Greek be of good quality and uncontaminated. Discard
yogurt. In addition, you can also use plain yogurt to batches that fail to set properly and discard any yogurt
make frozen yogurt, yogurt parfait, yogurt smoothie, samples with visible signs of microbial growth or any
yogurt cocktail, and yogurt dips. odors other than the acidity of fresh yogurt.

Desirable Sensory Properties References

Plain set-yogurt has desirable sensory properties, Anonymous. 2015. Yogurt - a Where Healthy Food
including a smooth appearance, firm and cuttable Starts guide. Cultures for Health. http://theprohealth-
shop.com/resources/Learn_to_Make_Yogurt_eBook.
pdf.

Nummer, B.A. 2002. Fermenting yogurt at home.

National Center for Home Food Preservation. http://
nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/yogurt.
html.

Owers, I. 2013. How to make Greek and natural

yogurt. Planet Gyrus Publications, Sunderland UK
Publisher.

Fig. 7. Evaluating yogurt with various recipes.