Bring Culture to Your Autumn with Crock-Pot Yogurt

I’ve sometimes thought it would be fun to be a food blogger. You know, experiment with recipes all day and shoot stunning photos that everyone drools over. I tried it for about a week and quickly realized it’s a ton of work. Plus, I don’t know that much about cooking.

What I do know is marketing. And healthy food. And a simple, artistic way of life. I’m really proud to promote my work for the upcoming Fermentation Fest because the festival embodies so many things for which I stand. Like the sponsors say in their event guide (which Adunate designed, by the way), Fermentation Fest is “a live culture convergence where farmers, artists, chefs, poets, cheesemakers, canners and eaters converge to celebrate food, farming and fermentation.” All done in the beautiful hills of Sauk County, Wis., in October, the most colorful month of the year. Do try to make it!

So, to give you a foretaste of Fermentation Fest and to satiate my desire to be a food blogger, here’s a recipe for homemade yogurt. It’s easy-peasy and a good first step to bringing healthier, homemade food into your diet.

Homemade Yogurt in a Crock-Pot

Serves 8-16

Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon milk, preferably organic (I use whole milk, but you can use others as well)
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt with live-active cultures (store-bought Greek yogurt is good)
  or
  1/4 teaspoon freeze-dried yogurt culture

Instructions

1. Pour milk into your crock-pot and heat at a medium temperature to 180° F (depending on your crock-pot, this takes 30-90 minutes)
2. Turn crock-pot off and allow milk to cool to 110° F (30-60 minutes)
3. While waiting for yogurt to cool, measure out the yogurt culture  and bring to room temperature
4. When milk reaches 110° F, add yogurt culture and whisk until fully blended
5. Cover crock-pot with lid and wrap completely in towels (someday I’m going to make myself a quilted mini-sleeping bag for this:-)
6. Leave it undisturbed for 6-8 hours  in quiet location. The longer you let it ferment, the tangier it will be. Sometimes I’ve accidentally let mine go for more than 12 hours and it’s still good, just a bit “wow” on the tang.
7. After fermenting, refrigerate for at least four hours to allow it to fully set.
8. Serve with fruit and granola. Enjoy and be healthy!

Last Note:  Save at least 1/4 cup of your homemade yogurt to make your next batch!

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