Making Yogurt

My first attempt to Homestead: Yogurt.

Yes, I'm now making my own Greek Yogurt. My mom loves the stuff, and it fits well into her low-sodium diet. But buying it in the store, we easily spent $12 - $15 a week on it.
So I crunched the numbers and realized that making it ourselves would be less expensive.
But you won't catch me standing over a stove, stirring milk to keep it from burning. That sort of tedious, time-consuming, boring task is NOT for me.
Microwave to the rescue! I microwaved 1/2 gallon of milk in a bowl for about 7 min, checked the temp until it was above 100 degrees and under 110 degrees F. Then I whisked in two heaping spoonfuls of the commercial greek yogurt, poured the mixture into 2 quart jars and 1 half-pint jar (for starter), and sealed them tightly. I set them in my small cooler, filled the cooler with hot tapwater, closed the cooler lid and let it sit for about 6 hours.
Before I went to bed, I took the jars out of the cooler and put them in the fridge.
The next morning, I took out the 2 quart jars, a fine-mesh strainer, a large bowl, a large paper towel, and a pot lid. The strainer went into the bowl, and the paper towel into the strainer. The two jars of yogurt went into the strainer, which I then set in the frig with the pot lid covering it.
Five hours later, I poured the whey from the bowl into a quart jar and stored it in the frig. I then poured the strained yogurt into the empty whey bowl, mixed in the flavorings, and scooped it into a pint and half-pint jar.
Yogurt all done, with starter for next time! Yay! And tasty, if my mom can be believed.
Also, whey is THE solution for perfect, light, fluffy pancakes.

All typed out, it looks like work. But really, it took about as much time as it does to feed my cat.

Someday, I can envision making my yogurt from goat milk harvested from my back yard. Until then, cow's milk from the store will have to do.