Homemade plain yogurt

Procedures
1. Heat 1 L of milk in a double boiler slowly to 85 ºC and maintain at that temperature for 2 minutes. This step kills undesirable contaminant micro-organisms. It also denaturizes inhibitory enzymes that retard the subsequent yogurt fermentation.
2. Cool milk in a cold water bath to 42-44 ºC.
3. Add the powder in probiotic capsule as starter culture to the cooled milk and mix gently.
4. Cover the container to minimize the possibility of contamination. Incubate at 42ºC undisturbed until the desired custard consistency is reached.
5. Put the freshly made yogurt in the fridge for at least two hours. The yogurt will taste as fantastic as you expect.

Tips
(1) A thermometer is very necessary.
(2) You can make yogurt by skim milk, whole milk or other kind of milk.
(3) The probiotic capsule can be found in local Wal-mart or any pharmaceutical stores. It should be placed close to the shelf of Vitamin pills or herb extract. Capsule is more convenient than tablet. It can be easily opened and the powder inside is well granulated. One capsule is enough for about 300 cc milk. It takes about six hours to finish the fermentation. Or you can use 160 cc plain store-bought yogurt for 1 L milk (Make sure the label on the package indicates that it indeed contains an active culture), and the period is about four hours.
(4) A container should possess a tight cap. A jam glass bottle with screw cap is preferred. Since the volume of jam bottle is generally 500 cc, three jam bottles are necessary. Each bottle should not be filled with milk too full.
(5) A rice cooker can be a good incubator. Firstly, use "cook" mode to heat the water to 45~48ºC, then switch to "warm" mode. The temperature of the water bath in the rice cooker will maintain perfectly at the incubation temperature.

(6) You may add your favorite fruits, jam, honey, syrup to enhance the taste before serving.