Say *YES to YOGURT* in Azure Canning Co Jars!

I stand by my claim that there are hundreds of creative uses around your home and homestead for our Azure Canning Company jars. They are so versatile! When it’s no longer canning season and you have some empty jars on hand, make yogurt in them! 

Yogurt is a winning choice if you’re looking to add more probiotics to your diet or searching for a high protein breakfast idea. We used to buy several quarts of yogurt each week, but making our own allows us to use our own preferred milk, omit ingredients we don’t like, and avoid tossing plastic containers in the recycling. It’s simple, healthy, and inexpensive to make your own!

Let’s get started. 

What You Need (Equipment):

•  4 quart-sized Azure Canning Co. jars (NF010)

• Thermometer (optional, but handy)  

• Cooler

• Stockpot or canner, deep enough to hold four quart jars  

• Jar lifter (HA082)

Ingredients: 

• 1 gallon milk

• 8 Tbsp plain yogurt containing live cultures (not flavored or sweetened) (DP080)

Instructions: 

1. Clean your jars and lids in hot, soapy water or run through dishwasher.

   
   

2. Pour milk into jars, leaving 2 inches headspace at the top of the jar.

   
   

   

   
   

3. Set jars in your stockpot and fill the pot with water to a depth that reaches ¾ of the way up the sides of the canning jars. Do not add any water to the canning jars! 

   
   

4. Carefully transfer the pot/canner to stovetop and bring water to a boil. 

   
   

5. Simmer until milk in the jars reaches a temperature of 180 °F or until a thin skin forms on the top of the milk. 

   
   

6. Using the jar lifter, carefully remove jars from the boiling water bath, and set them on the counter (placing a clean, dry towel on the counter is a good idea). Loosely cover with lids. Allow the jars to sit for about an hour, then stir, and test temperature. 

   
   

   

   
   

7. Once the milk temperature is reduced to about 110-120 °F (warm, but not hot—above this temperature the active cultures will be killed), add 2 Tbsp of yogurt to each jar and stir. Put lids on the jars. 

   
   

   

   
   

8. Place the jars in a cooler and fill the cooler with warm water to maintain the incubating yogurt at 110-120 °F. (My cooler was only big enough for two jars, so I kept the other two jars in the stockpot with warm water and wrapped it all up in a blanket overnight. It worked just as well as the cooler!)

   
   

9. Allow the yogurt to incubate for 8-12 hours. During this time, you may need to replenish the cooler with warm water to keep the temperature stable. The longer the incubation, the tangier your yogurt will taste!  

   
   

10. 

    Place your quart jars of yogurt into the refrigerator, keep covered. It will thicken as it cools. That's it!

    
    

    

    
    

11. Serve with our giftable granola, fruit, stewed prunes, coconut flakes, or your favorite toppings! I used Azure Market's Non-GMO Maple Pecan Dream Granola for this delicious parfait!

*Another possibility is to keep your jars warm by wrapping them with a heating pad on LOW and then wrapping a towel around them. You will need to check the temperature as the heat given by individual heating pads varies.