Making Yogurt with a Heating Pad

If you have learned how to make yogurt from my website www.makeyourownyogurt.com, then you know that I use a heating pad during the seven-hour yogurt incubation period. I have had more than a few readers ask "why the heating pad?". There are three good reasons I typically respond with:

1. It is critical that the milk remain at or about 110°F during incubation, in order to ensure propagation of the bacteria that gives us our yogurt. In my experience (through much trial and error), I found that a heating pad keeps the temperature just right, the whole time.
   
   
2. The basic premise of my homemade yogurt website is that you can easily make yogurt in your home with items already on hand, without buying any special equipment.
   
   
3. While I am sure an electric yogurt maker is a nice thing to have, and works just fine, it's one more item in your house that serves no other real purpose when not in use, and takes up counter/cabinet space. In other words, you can't soothe a sore neck with your yogurt maker, like you can with a heating pad!
   

But a few thoughtful readers have written to me with a few situations that illustrate problems with my reasoning:

• Some heating pads turn off after a manufacturer's specified length of time. So after three hours or so, it shuts off entirely. This defeats the purpose of using it for steady temperature control. I was unaware of this, since my heating pad does not have such a feature, and can be left on for seven hours without issue.
  
  
• Many people simply don't have a heating pad. I just grew up with one, and figured so did everyone else.
  
  
• Others are uncomfortable leaving it on all night, unattended. I am sure the manufacturer would agree with this position, and I certainly would not want anyone to lose sleep so that they could make some yogurt.
  

So what are the alternatives? Well, there are a few I am aware of, some good, and some not. Keeping in mind that your goal is to maintain a steady temperature at or near 110°F, consider these:

1. A warm oven. I have an electric oven, so it is never warm except after having just been used. Then it gets quite cold. Gas ovens, on the other had, have a pilot light, which creates some residual warmth. And depending on your oven's doors seal, it can be rather warm. But probably not 110°F.
   
   
2. A thermos with some hot water bottles (or other heat source) in it. I've never tried this, but it certainly seems plausible. But it would seem to me that the heat is retreating slowly the whole time.
   
   
3. A hotplate. I don't have one of these, and I am not sure how popular they are anymore. But it would seem to be a good bet. Unlike a heating pad, this item was intended to keep a pot warm for hours. And if you entertain a lot, is a useful gadget.
   
   
4. A crockpot. I also do not have one of these, but it would seem the perfect solution for anyone who does. It was designed to hold a steady temperature for hours, and the insert typically comes out for transferring into the refrigerator. If you are a slow-cooking fan, it is probably in use all the time already, and employing it on yogurt making day is no imposition at all.
   
   
5. The YogoTherm Incubator. Like the thermos approach above, I am skeptical that the temperature remains steady for seven hours. But I contacted the manufacturer, and they assured me that it does. They have offered me one wholesale, but I have yet to take them up on it. So while this is one more hunk of plastic around the house, that doesn't do much else, it has its distinct advantages: a) it uses no energy at all, unlike a heating pad or crockpot, b) it doubles as a container to transfer the yogurt to the fridge, and to serve it out of, and c) if taken care of, would presumably last indefinitely. I am definitely going to have to try this, and report back.
   

So if you have the wrong type of heating pad, don't have one at all, or are worried about leaving it on unattended, I would suggest a crockpot, a hotplate, or the YogoTherm Incubator. All other steps in my tutorial should be followed exactly as written, and you will make consistent homemade yogurt every time out.