"WhansaMi" > wrote in message
...
> >If you do a Google search on yogurt making, you will find a lot of
> >information. For basic yogurt, I put the milk in a stockpot and heat it
to
> >just under a boil. When the temperature has decrease to between 100F and
> >110F, I add a small carton (1 cup) of commercially available yogurt that
> >specifies that it has live, active culture (Dannon, plain). You need to
> >maintain the temperature in this range for about 3 hours. You can do
this
> >in an oven or you can put it in a picnic cooler with hot water added to
> >about half way up the sides of the container. I find that it is best to
> >portion out the yogurt into serving sizes or into quarts before
incubating
> >it. For more firm yogurt, add non-fat dry milk power - about one cup per
> >quart of liquid milk. If you want to sweeten it, add the sugar before
you
> >incubate it. I use inexpensive, clear disposable cups and add a bit of
> >fruit puree or jam to the bottom, ladle in the culture, and incubate them
on
> >sheet pans with the oven set to 110F.
>
> Okay, I gotta ask. Yogurt isn't expensive. The yogurt I made back in my
old
> "Birkenstock days" didn't taste appreciably different than the stuff I got
at
> the store. (Maybe I didn't do it right?)
>
> Given this, why would anyone go to the trouble of making yogurt?

Yogurt goes for about 50 cents for an 8 oz. cup, on sale, where I shop.
That comes out to $8/gallon. I can often buy milk, 3 gallons for $5. I
only make yogurt when milk is very inexpensive. I also make it, as someone
pointed out, because I can. I seldom buy bread or any other baked good. I
make my own pasta, chicken stock, soup, many other basic items. I think it
is a win-win situation. They cost less, the quality is better than what you
find at the supermarket, and it cuts down on the inventory I keep in the
pantry. I know what goes into the food and how old it is. In the case of
yogurt, there is very little hands on time to make it and I don't use any
special equipment. Of course, I understand that many people don't have the
time or desire to do this and for them it makes more sense to buy yogurt.