Want to Make Your Own Yogurt?

If you have stayed with us at the Tucker House Inn, then you have tried our yogurt at breakfast. Many a guest has asked us to share our yogurt recipe. Our yogurt is thick, rich, creamy, and has a natural sweetness to it. It’s the perfect vacation treat because you feel like you’re really indulging but with a little less guilt! Yogurt is good for you, right?

We thought it was about time we shared our secrets with you! Susan, our self-proclaimed “dairy fairy”, has mastered the art of creating our one of a kind yogurt. Anna Maria originally developed this recipe 2 years ago. It has withstood the test of time and continues to be a crowd pleaser!

San Juan Island Inn Collection Greek Style Yogurt Recipe

Yields about 2 quarts of yogurt and 1 1/3 quarts of whey

Supplies

Large, heavy bottom pot

Thermometer

Slow cooker* or a yogurt incubator

Large bowl

Strainer

Cheese cloth

*Only use a slow cooker that has a very low warming temperature. You will need to keep your yogurt at a consistent temperature.

Ingredients

2 quarts whole milk

1 quart cream

1 1/3 cups of yogurt*

*You can either choose your favorite full fat yogurt from the store or start from scratch with a starter culture. We used Real Yogurt’s Bulgarian style starter culture. Just follow the instructions for your first batch and then use that as your starter yogurt for this recipe.

Method

• Choose your favorite yogurt – full fat. If you want to start all the way from scratch, purchase a yogurt starter and follow the instructions on it.
• Heat your milk and cream in a large pot over low to medium-low until it boils. This will take about 20 minutes so don’t feel the need to hover over it until it gets closer to its boiling point. It will look frothy and foamy. Wait until the milk level begins to rise – that’s when you know it’s really boiling. You can whisk it periodically if you’d like to, but it’s not necessary.
• Place the entire pot in the refrigerator. Or you can transfer it to another bowl to heat up the cooling process.
• Periodically check the temperature. Once it is at about 110-115 degrees, remove it from the refrigerator.
• Vigorously whisk in your yogurt culture. If you want a really smooth consistency, blend it with an immersion blender.
• Pour your mixture into your slow cooker or yogurt incubator. We let ours sit for about 6 hours in our slow cookers. You will want to play around with time for your own. If your slow cooker or yogurt incubator is keeping your yogurt at a consistent 110 degree temperature, then the longer you let it sit, the more tart it will be. I recommend tasting it each hour after about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, while you wait, prepare your bowl, strainer, and cheese cloth. You will want to put your strainer in your bowl. Be sure there is enough space in between the two for all of your whey. Cut enough cheese cloth so you can fold it in two and place it in your strainer.
• Once you have reached your desired flavor, turn off your slow cooker or incubator. Using a spatula, pour the entire contents of your bowl into your cheese cloth covered strainer.

The best part is that you can adjust everything to suit your own tastes!

• Place in the refrigerator. We typically let ours strain over night. The longer you let it strain, the thicker and sweeter it will become.
• Once you have reached your desired texture, lift the cheese cloth out of the strainer. Invert it into a storage container. Then enjoy! Discard yogurt after 1 week.

There Ya Have It!

Now our yogurt recipe is out in the world! And maybe, if you ask nice enough when you stay with us at the Tucker House Inn, we’ll let you take home some of our yogurt for your starter. Okay okay, you don’t actually have to ask that nicely. Heck, we’ll even show you firsthand how we make it!