Do you want to learn to make your own goat milk yogurt? This guide will help you make your own yogurt using goat milk plus 3 different ways to incubate and tips on making thicker yogurt.
One of the perks of having your own dairy goats is that you get fresh, raw milk whenever you want. But it doesn’t stop there- you can use your milk to make cheeses (like goat milk mozzarella!), kefir, caramel sauce, buttermilk, and fresh homemade goat milk yogurt!
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Like a lot of products made with goat milk, it can be kind of tricky to get your homemade yogurt to turn out just right.
But with a few tips you can have the best goat milk yogurt- fresh from your goat to the table!
How to Make Goat Milk Yogurt
The first step to any cheese and yogurt making is sterilization of your utensils and work space. This is very important so that you don’t add in any bad bacteria to your milk before you incubate it.
When making yogurt on the stove I simply place a bit of water in my pot and stick all my utensils inside then boil it for a few minutes- or until the water has fully evaporated.
What you will need:
1/2 gallon of goat milk
2-3 T of organic yogurt or Yogurt starter cultures
Thermometer
Glass jars for incubation- pint or quart
cooler/dehydrator/yogurt maker
For the purpose of this recipe, I will be using store bought yogurt for my cultures. If you use starter cultures, much of the process will be the same, but follow the directions on the packet for the addition of the cultures.
How to Make the Yogurt:
Place your milk in a large pot over medium-low heat.
Bring it to a temperature of 180F while stirring frequently.
(*You can skip this part if you want raw milk yogurt, but the resulting yogurt will be much thinner due to the fact that the cultures will have to compete with the natural occurring bacteria in the raw milk*)
Once the milk has reached 180 F, remove it from the heat and place it in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, until it comes to 110 F.
While the milk is cooling, set out your yogurt starter so that it warms up a bit.
I use organic, plain whole milk yogurt.
When the milk reaches the correct temperature, gently stir in the yogurt starter and mix well.
Pour into 2 quart jars or 4 pints.
Allow it to incubate at a steady warm temperature (~110F) for 6-12 hours.
I like mine at about a 6-8 hour incubation- the longer you let it sit, the more tart or sour tasting it will be.
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How to Incubate Your Goat Milk Yogurt:
You have a couple of options when it comes to incubating your yogurt:
- Use a yogurt maker. Such as the Euro Cuisine Yogurt maker. Just follow the instructions for your machine.
- Place it in your dehydrator. My Excalibur works great for this. Just remove the trays and set your jars inside.
- Use a cooler. Fill a couple of jars with boiling or really hot water and set them, and your yogurt jars, inside of the cooler and close it up. Walk away for at least 6 hours before opening up the cooler. I used this method for years. It works well and it takes no extra electricity.
Regardless of which method you use, the key is a steady temperature and an undisturbed incubation period.
Once your incubation is complete, set your jars of homemade yogurt in the fridge to cool and thicken up a bit.
And you are done! My kids like to stir in a bit of maple syrup or honey and just drink it like kefir from a glass. It’s great with granola or mixed with fruit too! Let me know if you give it a try!
Is Thick Goat Milk Yogurt Possible?
Like with many dairy products, goat milk yogurt can be tricky to get to a thick consistency. All goat milk is different so playing around with different cultures, incubation period lengths and incubation methods will help you find the method that gives you the best results.
The normal suggestions are to stir in dry milk powder or gelatin into the goat milk as you heat it. I am not willing to make these additions just for the sake of thickening it up, so I usually settle for somewhat runny goat milk yogurt that is more drinkable than spoonable.
It still tastes great and much is less expensive than the organic store bought varieties and with much less additives!
Thank you for this great recipe. May I assume the whole milk yogurt you use for your starter is goat milk and not cow’s milk?
Actually it’s cow milk yogurt I use as a starter
How can you tell if the yogurt is no good? And can a person get really sick if it wasn’t incubated properly? Does the raw milk need to be super fresh? I just made some with raw goat milk that has been sitting in my fridge for a few days. I tasted it before I used it and I tasted fine to me! My husband was the only one who mentioned that it didn’t quite taste the same but didn’t taste bad or anything….should I be concerned?
Thanks! :)
I let my cows milk yogurt sit at 180 for an additional 5 minutes or so to make it thicker. Maybe that would work for goat milk too?
I also let mine sit at 180 an additional 5 minutes and have spoonable, thick, amazing yogurt. Best I have ever made!
Can you use goat’s milk yogurt as the started to avoid the cow’s milk entirely? DS has an allergy to cow’s milk. Thanks.
Any yogurt -or the cultures to make yogurt.
Have you tried straining the whey out to make the yogurt thicker (greek yogurt)?
I’ve made yogurt a long time, but am now trying to switch to use goat’s milk for yogurt, because a neighbor can sell me both cow & goat’s milk. First attempt used 1/2 of both. Strained, but still WAY too thin. My 2yr old who wants yogurt every day – wore his yogurt. Dripped all over. Had to dispose.
I’ve always made a gallon of cooked milk, starter, incubate all night, then strain through a t-shirt lines colander the following day. Then put in a mixing bowl, add honey & vanilla, blend w/ hand mixer, portion into single serving containers, stock the frig w/ 10 servings of super thick honey vanilla yogurt!
But the goat’s milk is not working so far…
If I am using store bought goat’s milk do I still need to cook it before incubating it?
I like my yogurt thick, more like a Greek style. So I played around some and use a really thick Greek yogurt from the store instead of regular yogurt. I also add 1/3 cup white sugar while the milk is pasteurizing to help keep that tart taste away. This seems to work well to make thicker yogurt! Thanks for your recipe!
I am glad I found this as I could not figure out why my goat yogurt was thin. I just drink it like kefir as it is so expensive to buy and didn’t want to waste it. I got raw goat milk when we lived in Minnesota and now can only get the store bought kind now we are in New Mexico. It is still good, but nothing beats raw. I made kefir with it there. I think I will go back to that, the only problem is that it is a daily thing. But as an endurance athlete I think I can afford to drink that much a day.
I really like your site!
I finally found a source for goats milk. Appreciate the article and am looking forward to try.
thanks
Thanks! I tried making yogurt from goats milk the way I make cows milk yogurt and it has always been thin. Now I know why. Next time I will watch the temp better and keep it at 180 degrees for longer to see if it thickens up at all.
To make the goat milk yogurt thick you need to strain it all day through butter muslin cheese cloth. That way the whey is drained out.
If you are going to add gelatin how much would you add?
When you strain the yogurt all day. Is that on counter Orin refrigerator
I can’t wait to try your recipe. If using my dehydrator, what should the temp be set at?