Most of these items you will probably have in the house. Some requirements might need adapting to what you have at hand.

A double boiler is ideal for heating the milk, as raising the temperature over boiling water prevents the milk from sticking to the pan. I use a stainless steel stockpot with a mixing bowl on top.(25cm diameter, 16cm high). I purchased these locally from the Professional Cookware Company. The glass lid is from another pan. They all seem to fit.

Preferably a gas cooker, both for heating the milk and growing the culture (yoghurt). For different methods you will have to look elsewhere, as I have little experience with any of those.

An easy-pour container holding 2L. I use a ceramic (Corning glassware) coffee pot, which is easy to clean. A slotted spoon, a knife and long-handled teaspoon, all of them stainless steel.

Now we come to the most important item: the THERMOMETER. My yoghurt making has improved tremendously since I acquired a digital one, with a long metal probe to go into the heart of the milk. It will take ten batches of yoghurt to repay this ( 50 Euro), but in the long run it is well worth it: GTH 175/MO from Greisinger Electronics.

Here are the ingredients: MILK and a STARTER. Please yourself as regards the fat content of the milk. I use semi-skimmed ( half-fat ).

The starter is a little bit of yoghurt (with the emphasis on "little"), either store-bought or your own. I prefer to use the former and mix and match different types of culture.

When you buy yoghurt to use as a starter, be sure that it says "live" or "bio" on the container. Some yoghurts are stone dead by the time they reach you and will not grow on in your milk. Obviously we are talking about plain, unflavoured, unsweetened yoghurt here.

That is all. No thickening agents. No gelatine (Heaven forbid! That would undo all the nutritional advantages of making your own.) No extra milk powder or dried milk. Absolutely nothing. Except some tender loving care.

start | heating | cooling | growing | finishing | sterilizing | diabetes