i've never even thought to make my own yogurt - but this sounds really good, and i love the idea of having fresh yogurt every few weeks. my husband and i go through so much yogurt...might have to give this a try. thanks!

Home made.... Where I am from yogurt is in at least one meal a day..so buying would be expensive for me and it's super easy to make..

I say ALWAYS make yogurt. For what seems so simple, there's so many variations based on cultures alone. For example, Chobani makes a very mild yogurt while Ronnybrook Farms turns the lemony funk up to 11. I like both for entirely different purposes.

I eat A LOT of greek yogurt and its also way more economical this way- and easy. Just strain the finished yogurt to your desired thickness and its good to go for about half the price. As an added bonus, one you have the culture you like, its even less expensive to make as you don't have to buy a new starter again!

Also, you don't need fancy equipment to make this- essentially just a pot, a thermometer and mason jars.

The only downside is the preplanning for culturing time, but that's just a minor technicality.

Unprofessional Cookery

No way am I making my own yogurt! The 1/2 gallon of Mountain High (?) brand organic plain yogurt at Costco is $3.87 - I couldn't possibly make my own for that price. 1/2 gallons of organic milk around here (if you can even find some that's not ultrapasteurized) run upwards of $4.50.

I can never get the texture right. My husband said the consistency reminded him of snot last time I made it. Mmmm.

Viili yogurt from Culturesforhealth.com requires no cooking. Actual labor takes minutes. It's delicious and very thick when made from cream.

Make, all the way for me too. My homemade is actually just as thick as Greek yogurt even without straining (I give credit to the Brown Cow as the original starter, Organic Valley Farms milk, and a little local Ames honey to sweeten). Doesn't take me much time or effort, saves money, and there are fewer plastic pots to recycle.

@Slow Lorus - I'm also a huge fan of Brown Cow as a starter! Best yogurt I've ever made!

Buy for me. The milk and yogourt costs here isn't worth it the difference in price and I seriously doubt I could make yogurt as good as Liberté's. Plus I also love the tons of fruit flavourts available at the store.

I'm currently in love with Liberté yogurt, and I doubt I could make something as good on my own. It wouldn't be a huge cost savings and I'd miss the good stuff.

I make mine, but largely because doing so encourages me to eat it more often. Also, I use a yogurt maker that parcels the yogurt out into small jars that are just the right size for taking to lunch.

I do prefer to drain each jar just a bit, though -- but that further encourages me to add a little jam to the bottom of each jar before I put the drained yogurt back in, and THAT is helping me get through a serious backlog of jam from last year's "wheeee i just taught myself how to make jam and now I have to make eighty-five squillion different kinds of jam" backlog.

So basically, making my own yogurt helps me clean my pantry.

I make my own about 1/2 the time. Motivation is not cost savings, but rather I like the ritual, the health benefits (I eat more yogurt when I make it) and I hate buying all that plastic! In fact, I smile each time I open my refrigerator if I can see my big glass tub of yogurt in there!

My ritual is just like yours - make at night, have husband transfer to refrigerator - and smack myself on the forehead every couple weeks.

I buy when I don't have time to make yogurt, but otherwise, it's so easy to make that there's no reason not to. I like that I can control the thickness--and the flavor! I use homemade jam to sweeten mine. And I can use local and/or organic milk.

I love the fage. I have a yogurt maker but it just doesn't compare.

I definitely make my own. It’s so easy, there is no reason not to do it yourself. There are many different ways to get your yogurt from thin to thick, even thicker than Greek yogurt. By controlling the temp and time, I can dial in the tartness and thickness I want. Also, I can flavor it with the purest, freshest fruits I want.

But for real probiotic artillery, look into making your own Kefir. It’s even easier than yogurt and has triple the wee beasties to populate the gut. Tastes great, too.

I just started making my own (thanks to a different Kitchn post!). It tastes so much better and I find that I'm eating it daily unlike when I would buy yogurt.

I've always hated the tart taste of plain (store) yogurt, so am happy that homemade doesn't have it. I can eat it plain just fine.

I'm a long time yoghurt maker, but a couple of months ago I managed to get hold of some kefir grains. That's even easier to make. All I do is strain it, use the liquid (smoothies usually) and immediately pour the grains back into the mason jar I make it in with about a cup of milk from the fridge. Left on the counter overnight, it's ready for consumption the next day.

Make about once a week.
We were acquiring too many plastic tubs and the cost is about half - use local, but not organic milk, about $2.00 a half gallon, but strain it a bit so the final volume is a bit less than two quarts. No gums, no fillers, and not fans of commercially flavored stuff anyway. Use a pot, a thermometer, and a heating pad.

Make. It's fun to do (and easy) - so far we have enjoyed nicely tart well-textured homemade - strain some for greek style yogurt (and use the whey in making pizza dough) - flavor it as we wish. Less plastic too!

Haven't tried making it yet but plan to. Making it is about the only way to get full fat yogurt in most areas. (That's good animal fat. As in the fat that is good for your body.)

Also, the organic options are pretty limited in my area, and no one seems to care to bring any others.

Definitely make - if only to save all that plastic from the waste (or recycling) stream!

Definitely make. It's so easy! My dad always has exceptional yogurt and I ask him for his inoculum and it is makes an amazing yogurt.

Buy - I don't eat that much yogurt and it doesn't seem worth the hassle. Plus with a small kitchen it's not easy to find space for extra items to make things so I only have things I use regularly.

I used to make my own yogurt, but then I discovered kefir. It's so much easier to deal with, so much better in terms of probiotics, and so much tastier (to me) than yogurt.

The only difficulties with kefir are:
1) finding a source for the kefir grains. Once you have them though, they last forever unlike yogurt starter which has to continually be purchased.
2) dealing with the "EWW" from friends and family. "You drink what? Oh my god, that is so disgusting!" You don't eat/use sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, crème fraîche, or cheese? They're all fermented milk. Kefir is no wierder or gross than a slice of cheddar.

Uh oh. I just finished my evening glass of store bought kefir. I thought it was just liquid youghurt. What IS it? What are these grains you speak of? Is there something disgusting that I don't know about?

In my area, dairy kefir grains (as opposed to water kefir grains...which are amazing too) are always in the refrigerated section right next to the yogurt culture packs and ready to drink kefirs. But if you look hard enough there's usually someone who already has some to share.

Personally, I have more use for yogurt since it gets used for all sorts of cooking and baking as well but I do use water kefir grains and they're happy little buggers too that make great drinks.

I'm not too familiar with kefir, but from my reading it seems like it's more of a liquid beverage than yogurt. Or can you get/make thick kefir?

I make my own yogurt, and I don't use a slow cooker or a machine - the only pieces of equipment I need are a thermos flask and a thermometer. Easy stuff and it tastes great.

I don't eat yogurt enough to think of bothering to make it myself. I just get tired of it after a few bites. Maybe that would be different if I made my own, I don't know. Anyway, if I ever do try it, I will def have to use Snowville!! I love Snowville milk! Whenever I'm at Whole Foods or the Market District, I pick myself up some Snowville. It goes really quick in my house.

We've been making our own kefir - it's much easier than making yogurt (and healthier too)! Here's a post about it and a chance to win some live kefir grains to get you started: http://mindfulmomma.typepad.com/mindful_momma/2011/07/kefir-madness.html

How do you get 32 oz of yogurt from a half gallon of milk? I used a half gallon of milk and it only made 1 pint (and it wasn't even very thick). It ended up being the same price if not more than buying yogurt at the store.

Make. I enjoy the process, I like working with the hot milk. I like to sweeten my yogurt with delicious manzanita honey. I enjoy doing biology experiments in my kitchen. :) I also like that I have less plastic cups to throw away, and somehow my homemade yogurt seems to last longer than store-bought ?

Hanna! This comment is late to the party, but if you're still having texture issues, boil the milk 20-30 minutes before cooling and adding starter when making your yogurt. I had the same issue, researched, and found that solution. It worked!