I started making my own yoghurt a couple of years ago for a couple of reasons:

One, because store bought dairy-free yoghurt is SO expensive.

And two, it often contains ingredients I don’t want to have in my yoghurt, like sweetener and carrageenan.

Making your own yoghurt gives you control over the fermentation process which means a higher probiotic count. In the holistic health world, it is popular to ferment it for 24 hours which is claimed to have a probiotic concentration of 3 billion cfu/ml. This means that in one cup of yoghurt there is potentially 50 times more probiotic bacteria than a typical probiotic supplement.

Possibly the best part of making your own yoghurt is that it gives you control over the probiotic strains. If you have had a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis, you will know which bacteria strains you may not have enough of and can tailor your yoghurt accordingly. For example, my test a long time ago showed that I had a super high count of Bifidobacterium but a very low count of Lactobacillus bacteria. This is a common scenario in those with Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth. Therefore, the starter culture that I use only contains Lactobacillus strains.

Making your own yoghurt is a very simple process once you have the equipment. Here is what you will need:

• Yogurt maker
• Thermometer (this usually comes with the yoghurt maker)
• Starter culture

Starter cultures can be purchased from a health food store (usually) for even the grocery store if you are not particular on what strains you want to use. I purchase mine from Customs Probiotics. They also have a US site here. They have non-dairy starters which is important if you do not tolerate dairy. The price may seem steep but it makes a crazy amount of batches.

You can use yoghurt as a starter instead of buying the culture. Use about 2 tbsp. of yoghurt per litre of milk.