How hot should I set my electric oven when making homemade yogurt?

Question

When making homemade yogurt, they say you have to incubate it for 6 to 8 hours. Most people with gas stoves and ovens will put it in the oven and the pilot light will incubate it. I have an electric stove/oven. What temperature should I set my electric oven for so I can incubate the yogurt?

Answer 1

There are various ways and places to incubate homemade yogurt, but *leaving on* a home oven is not one of them.
The lowest temperature that a home oven can usually achieve is about 200 or a little less, and since the best temp for incubating yogurt is about 115 degrees (or somewhere between 110-120), that would be way too hot and would just kill the little beasties doing the fermenting.

Some people may *pre-heat* their electric ovens though, then when they cool to the proper temp, put in their yogurt (perhaps wrapped in something that's insulating) and close the door tightly, but that wouldn't be "leaving the oven on" ...even leaving the door partly open all that time with the heat on would probably be too hot.

Most people who make their own yogurt have to go through a process of experimentation (using a thermometer) in order to find some kind of set-up that works for them and which keeps the yogurt at the proper temp during incubation (you'll also need to get the milk and culture to that temperature too before beginning the incubation period).
Different people use different methods and equipment though (for example, heating pads, crockpots, real thermoses... and/or wrapping with blankets, putting in a box or picnic cooler, etc., etc.).

But some people use an inexpensive "yogurt maker"...I do myself.
You can buy a Salton yogurt maker, for example, (mine makes about 1 quart/liter at a time --the Salton YM9 which is quite popular) for about $15 through amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B00004SUHY/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/103-2894701-8260643?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=1055398
Its page at amazon also has a lot of good info about making yogurt in general within the 238 "Reader Reviews" at the bottom of that page:

You can also find lots of ways to incubate yogurt online, as well as ways to choose and/or prepare the ingredients, with a search like this one:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=homemade+yogurt

P.S.
4 hrs. is basically the minimum time to ferment yogurt (at the proper temperature) to get a "firm" yogurt --though homemade yogrut is never as firm as most store-bought because it doesn't contain the extra stabilizers and fillers they use, etc.... but you can always make it into "yogurt cheese" too.
I like to ferment mine only for 4 hrs because the longer it ferments (up to 24 hrs max), the more sour it becomes (the 24-hr method is good for those who have Crohn's Disease or colitis, though because it does get rid of every bit of lactose... just 4 hrs. is long enough to get rid of enough of it that lactose-intolerant folks can eat it though)
(Btw, yogurt will continue fermenting at cooler temps, even in the frig, but will just go a lot slower.)


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Just let it sit on the bench in your kitchen, the heat will kill the bacteria and the yogurt won't set if you put it in the oven.

Answer 3

if employing liquid milk constantly scald the milk. this kills any bacteria which would be in the milk. bacteria, different than what's in the starter yogurt will wreck the yogurt. in case you do not desire to attend to the milk, use dry milk and heat water. a million c. water to a million/2 c. powdered milk. in case you like a thicker yogurt, upload a %. of unflavored gelatin to the water till now mixing with the milk. while chilly, the gelatin will harden and the yogurt would be thicker than without. undergo in innovations, in no way flavor the yogurt till now it somewhat is thoroughly chilly, or you will in no way eat yogurt back.