homemade banana Greek yogurt, yum yum yum!

It's been a while since I made yogurt.  I just haven't felt that well lately and it seemed like too much trouble.  Well, I finally finished a batch and I am so glad I did because it is so yummy!  My cat likes it too, she is licking the empty bowl now.  Silly cat.  Are cats supposed to like bananas?

I made Greek yogurt, and added sugar free banana cream pudding mix, mashed banana and some Splenda.  And ate it with a little Cool Whip free on top.  Dessert!

Is it hard to make yogurt?  It's thick like Greek yogurt?  Or more like the Icelandic Skyr yogurt (high protein like Greek but texturally like Dannon)?

Sounds so good - I am always looking for new things to try to make (if  you don't mind sharing).

It's not that hard, no.  It takes a while, but most of the time you don't actually have to do anything to it.  It took me a few tries to get my technique worked out.  You can make it as thick as you like.

You heat some milk in a pan over medium heat.  You need to stir it occasionally and you need a candy thermometer to make sure you heat it to 180 degrees and no hotter.  That's the most difficult part, and it's not that hard to do, just kind of boring 'cause you have to stay near the stove to make sure you don't heat it too much.

Then take it off the stove and let if cool for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, put about two tablespoons of plain yogurt in the bottom of a glass canning jar.  Or several glass jars, however much yogurt you want to make. 

Pour the milk into the jars.  I use a ladle; I did try just pouring it out of the pan and ending up making a mess.  Put the lids on the jars and shake them well.  You should not see any streaks of yogurt on the bottom of the jars.  Then take the lids back off.

Now you need to keep the jars warm, but not too warm, for about four hours.  I fill my crockpot partway with water and turn it on low.  That keeps it at about 115 degrees (I checked with my thermometer).  I know people that put the jars in a dehydrator set at 110 degrees.  I've heard a couple people say they sit the jars on a heating pad.  So you'll have to figure out what works best for you.

After four hours, put the lids on the jars and put them in the fridge.  Leave them alone for at least eight hours.

Then you can stir it up and eat it, but if you want it to be thick like Greek yogurt you need to strain it.  Line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth and sit it on top of a bowl.  Dump the yogurt in, and sit in the fridge for a couple hours until it's as thick as you want it.

Then add whatever you want to flavor it.

Thanks for sharing, Kelly!   I have everything I need but the jars - I am going to try it soon! 

I ordered some canning jars from Amazon.  I found them for a pretty good price and ordered enough that I got free shipping.  You may not want a dozen jars, though.  I use them for other stuff, too, besides making yogurt.

You could also reuse other glass jars.  I save the glass jars I buy stuff like applesauce and spaghetti sauce in, and those would work fine.

My local food store has the jars - I bought a bunch a year or so ago when I belonged to the local co-op and we got so many apples and pears I didnt' know what to do with them all, so I made apple-pear butter!  We didn't much like the other fall/winter fruits, so they gave us tons of apples and pears!

I actually have Amazon prime through April 8 - I am not getting it again (it's like $80, but you get free 2-day and $3.99 overnight) because I don't really buy much from Amazon anymore - and what I have been buying isn't eligible for prime.  So I am dropping it.  

I love homemade yogurt, but I make mine in the crockpot. Haven't made it in a while. I really need to make another batch this payday. The banana sounds great and i've got banana protein powder and banana sugar free syrup I should use up. Great idea Kelly!!! Thanks.

Now i'm gonna go to sleep tonite and wish I had banana yogurt...lol.

Have no comments about homemade yogurt but to let you know my cats not only eat bananas but things like potato peels, green pepper and coffecake -- so your's probably isn't as "silly' as mine.