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homemade yogurt with the cooler method

Homemade Vanilla Yogurt (in a cooler)

Callie Morgan
Making your own homemade vanilla yogurt is shockingly easy. The taste is amazing, and all you need is a handful of basic ingredients and a small cooler that holds temperature!
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes
Culturing Time 8 hours
Total Time 9 hours 10 minutes
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 1 Gallon

Equipment

  • A large stock pot
  • One chest cooler
  • Sterile mason jars with lids for culturing and storing yogurt
  • One thermometer (milk frothing thermometer works best but you can use an instant read thermometer or meat thermometer)
  • A whisk

Ingredients
  

  • One Gallon of Whole Milk
  • 1/4 Cup Store bought organic yogurt must say live cultures*
  • 1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
  • 4 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Instructions
 

  • Pour a gallon of milk into a large stock pot. Set the burner to medium-high heat and bring the milk to a temperature of 180 degrees F. Hold the milk at that temperature for 5-10 minutes, whisking often.
    One Gallon of Whole Milk
  • Once the milk has maintained a temperature of 180 for 5-10 minutes, remove the pot from heat and let the milk temperature come back down to 115-120 degrees. Add in the vanilla and maple and stir well to combine. While the milk is cooling, begin adding hot tap water to your cooler. The temperature should be between 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature should not exceed 120 degrees or you risk harming your culture.
    1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup, 4 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • Pour most of the sweetened milk into a large gallon mason jar, or into multiple smaller jars, leaving 1-2 cups of milk in the stock pot. Whisk your starter culture (store-bought) yogurt into the remaining milk and whisk well to thoroughly combine.
    1/4 Cup Store bought organic yogurt
  • Add the milk + starter culture mixture back in to the heated milk and whisk really well to make sure it is evenly distributed throughout. Then, secure your lid so that it is airtight.
  • Carefully place your mason jar into the cooler filled with warm water. Make sure that the water comes at least half way up the jar. Check the temperature to make sure it is still between 110-115 Fahrenheit and close the lid.
  • Let the yogurt culture in the cooler overnight or for 8-10 hours. Be careful not to jostle the cooler.
  • Carefully remove the yogurt from the cooler and transfer it to the fridge to cool and continue to "set" for 4-6 hours before eating.
  • Top with your favorite fruit, jam, granola, honey, or cereal and enjoy!
Keyword fermentation, Lacto-fermented, Yogurt