Homemade Yogurt -- Minus the Gadgets!

No, you DON'T need a yogurt maker! You don't need a thermometer. Not even an oven! All you need is a pot, stove, wooden spoon (or chopsticks) and a big, fluffy towel. Yes! A towel!

Do this in the evening, at least an hour before going to bed. When you wake up in the morning, you'll have turned milk into yogurt! Yes! Like magic!

Not only will you save $, but you will also have easy access to preservative-, sugar- and gelatin-free yogurt that can be customized to your unique palate and used in SAVORY as well as sweet dishes!

Equipment
1 Big pot
Wooden spoon or wooden/bamboo chopstick(s)
Big, fluffy towel
Your good, ol' stove
1 big non-metallic container (such as a glass jar, earthenware dish or porcelain bowl...)

Ingredients
2 L whole milk (best quality you can get/afford)
1 container ( oz) of plain yogurt containing LIVE cultures (I used Wallaby because I'm partial to Australian-style yogurt but I hear Stoneyfield or any commercial yogurt, even with sweeteners and preservatives included, are good options)

Method

1. Place milk in pot and put over medium heat. Let the milk heat up, stirring occasionally to help spread the heat evenly and speed up the process. Your aim is to get the milk to foam at the edges and steam. You do NOT want it to boil. When there is a ring of foam around the edge of the pot, this means the milk is around 80 degrees Celcius and has been pasteurized. In other words, the bad bacteria will have been killed off, but the good bacteria (whose growth we want to promote) will still be alive and kicking. Turn off the heat to let the milk cool slightly. This first step takes 20-40 minutes, depending on how hot your flame is. You could do it even quicker (but will have to be much more watchful) if you start the heat at high and then turn it down to medium after a couple of minutes. Just make sure the milk never scorches, as this will certainly make your yogurt taste bad!
2. Let milk cool down to the low 40s Celcius. This should take about 10 minutes. To test, poke your finger in the milk. It should be nice and warm (not hot yet not lukewarm), a little warmer than body temperature or a baby's bath. Put one hand to your forehead (if you have a normal temperature) and dip a finger from the other hand in the milk to gauge the temperature.
3. When milk is nice and warm, add your yogurt and stir until evenly distributed. Don't overstir, as this may cool your milk too much. Keep your store yogurt container for later.
   
4. Now, put the lid on the pot. Wrap and bundle the pot up in the big, fluffy towel. My towel only wraps over my pot one and a half times, so I put something (like some bread) on top to weigh it down and keep the heat in. This creates an incubator that keeps your milk warm so the live cultures can reproduce. This is what your yogurt machine or oven would do. Leave it like that overnight and, voila, next morning, you got yogurt! Break out your store yogurt container and fill it with your homemade yogurt. This way, you don't have to go back to the store and buy more yogurt the next time you want to make it at home. Just keep your heirloom in the freezer (to best preserve the live cultures) until you want to use it the next time.
   
5. Put yogurt in non-metal container and store in fridge. When it has cooled down completely, it should have thickened even more and will be ready to enjoy! Serve with some honey, sugar or jam stirred in or use in savory recipes like tikka masala or tzatziki!