I have been making yogurt for several years – I used the contents of a probiotic supplement capsule as my initial starter, and although the bacterial mix has probably changed over the years, I find it still makes a good, not too sour yogurt. I use UHT milk, preferably full cream (I have used skim milk, but this only works once the cultures are very active), pour it into a large stainless steel mug with my starter, and put it into a thermos cooker, supported by a few saucers, and pour in enough hot water to just reach the base of the mug.

This gives me good yogurt within 5-8 hours (8 hours when reactivating an old starter from the freezer, 5 once culture is fully active).

I used to use Paul’s Yogurt for my starter, as I find that produces one of the best textures, but the initial culturing time for that is quite long, sometimes up to 24 hours (which goes to show how much active bacteria is left in most commercial products).

Jezil