Prepare Your Equipment:

• Make sure your automatic yogurt maker is clean and ready to use.
• Sterilize your yogurt pots by bringing water to a boil in a large pot. Once boiling, gently simmer your glass jars for 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, carefully remove the jars from the water and set them aside to dry. While not strictly necessary, this step ensures no unwanted bacteria interfere with your yogurt culture.
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Heat the Milk:

• Pour milk into a heavy-bottomed pot.
• Heat the milk over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until it reaches a temperature of about 200°F (93°C). This helps to denature the milk proteins and kill any unwanted bacteria.
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Cool the Milk:

• Once the milk reaches 200°F, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool down to about 110°F (43°C).

Inoculate with Yogurt Starter:

• Combine 3 tablespoons of plain whole-milk yogurt with a small amount of cooled milk in one of the yogurt jars. Mix until smooth. 
• Add this yogurt-milk mixture back into the rest of the cooled milk and mix well to ensure even distribution of the starter.
• Note: If using starter from a pack, add starter to cooled milk and gently stir until it dissolves.

Prepare the Automatic Yogurt Maker:

• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your automatic yogurt maker to set it up. I use the Euro Cuisine yogurt maker. It’s super simple to use and makes delicious yogurt every time.

Incubate the Yogurt:

• Pour the milk mixture into the containers provided by your yogurt maker. If your yogurt maker has one large container, pour it into that.
• Place the containers with the milk mixture into the yogurt maker.
• Set the yogurt maker to the desired incubation time, about 7-9 hours. The longer you let your yogurt incubate the firmer it will be. If using whole milk, I typically set my timer for 8 hours or 9 hours if using 2% milk. 

Refrigerate

• After the incubation period, remove your jars from the yogurt maker, cover them with lids, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until thoroughly chilled. I typically let it set overnight.

And there you have it! Your creamy homemade yogurt is now ready to enjoy!