Super-Easy Raw Milk Yogurt

I’ve been making raw milk yogurt the usual way: pour a couple quarts of raw milk into a large double-boiler saucepan (I’ve been using my waterless cookware), stand there forever waiting for it to heat to 110 degrees, take out a little warm milk, put in a little yogurt, stir it up, pour mixture into jars, add a little more yogurt, mix up, let sit in warm place for eight to twelve hours.

But recently, I learned about clabbered milk. You simply pour raw milk into a jar, seal the jar and let it sit for 24-48 hours. The probiotics in the raw milk naturally culture the milk.

So I tried that, having caused my kefir grains to go bad and not wanting to invest in more since I never know when my local source of raw milk will run out. The first batch was terrible, then I used a little of that first batch to help culture the second batch, which turned out pretty good.

Still, I like the taste of yogurt better. So I wondered: what if, instead of heating the milk on the stove first, I simply put a couple tablespoons of yogurt into a quart of raw milk, sealed it, and set it in my dehydrator to warm it? Why shouldn’t that produce yogurt?

So that’s exactly what I did. I left the jar in my dehydrator at about 110 degrees for eight hours, and voila! out came yogurt! I still have to use energy, which you don’t have to with clabbered milk or kefir, but I used a lot less and didn’t have to waste half my morning (so it seems) waiting for the milk to warm up to just the perfect temperature.

Delicious, and so easy!