Yes, you can make fresh yogurt on the trail — I’ve been doing it on wilderness trips for as long as I can remember. While not part of the ultralight mindset because of the need for a thermos, is a great treat and is a wonderful way to get some calcium.
This recipe isn’t really a recipe — it’s more of a technique and it requires a little advance planning.
trail yogurt
makes 2 to 3 servings
Making homemade yogurt is very easy to do on the trail. You will need a 2-cup, high-quality, very clean, stainless steel thermos for this, and it is one of those recipes actually works better with powdered milk. It is best to make yogurt in the late afternoon the day before as it takes the culture some time to do its job. You should probably test this recipe at home first to get the hang of it. Once you do, you’ll be making fresh yogurt on many of your trips.
8 tablespoons milk powder
1 teaspoon yogurt culture powder
1 3/4 cups water
Honey or vanilla sugar (optional)
At Home
Measure the milk powder accurately and put in a small ziplock freezer bag. Put the culture in a snack-sized sandwich bag and place that in the bag with the milk powder. Be sure to include a copy of the directions below.
At Camp
Boil 1/4 cup of water and pour it in your thermos to warm the metal. Mix 1 3/4 cup water and milk powder together in a pan. Scald the milk by heating it until the edges start to bubble and it reaches the boiling point. Be careful not to boil though. Remove the milk from the heat and cool until the milk is warmer than body temperature but not overly hot. If the milk is too hot, you will kill the culture; and if it’s too cool, the yogurt will not set.
Discard the now cooled water out of the thermos. Then put the yogurt culture in the thermos and add a little bit of the warm milk. Stir until the powder has dissolved. Then pour the remaining milk into the thermos. Stir well and secure the lid tightly. Put the thermos in a large ziplock bag and then inside a cozy. At bedtime take it into your sleeping bag with you. If you are a restless sleeper wrap the cozy in some clothing and set it beside you where you won’t knock it over. Avoid disturbing it as much as possible; do not shake or stir. By morning, you will have yogurt. If you don’t like unsweetened yogurt, add a little honey or vanilla sugar to it before serving.
Tips
You need as much milk powder as you would normally use to make 2 cups of milk even though you will only be making 1 3/4 cups. These extra milk solids make for a richer and better texture.
The yogurt may not incubate if you use old culture. Freeze-dried berries go well with yogurt, and it makes a great topping for a bowl of granola.
From A Fork in the Trail by Laurie Ann March ©2008
[…] Yogurt, which you can actually make at camp the night before if you’re bored or starting every day’s journey at 4 am. Backpacker Recipes: Fresh Yogurt on the Trail […]
This is a really interesting idea. I never thought of making yogurt, let alone on a camping trip. And it seems pretty simple! This is definitely something I’ll try at home before I take it to the trail.
The only thing I’m wondering is: Does it taste like yogurt you could buy at a store, or does it have a strange taste?
Kayla… it depends what you mean by strange. Homemade yogurt does have a different taste than most store-bought brands and the texture is a little different. Why? Well most store-bought brands are heavy on the fruit and sugars and often commercial yogurt is made with gelatin. I grew up with homemade yogurt and prefer it. I find yogurt from the store tastes highly processed and artificial to me. The other thing is that this is only as sweet as you make it.
I’ve never tried homemade yogurt, so maybe it would be a taste I’d have to get used to. But I’m all for unprocessed, natural food so I want to give this a try. I have a feeling I won’t be skipping out on the sugar.. 🙂
Thanks for the information!
I like to use honey or agave for sweetening… it works much better in yogurt because it isn’t granular like sugar.
[…] on the trail is possible, but is it worth it? That’s what I aimed to find out after reading a recipe on Laurie Ann March’s backpacking food blog. The recipe calls for four […]
I tested out the yogurt at home before attempting it on the trail, and I was happily surprised with the results. After honey and agave nectar, it tasted good! Not like store-bought yogurt, you’re right, but still something I would like to eat. I documented the process for my blog. Thanks for the great recipe, Laurie Ann!
Thanks for taking the time to do this…. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve eaten homemade yogurt for so long that I now find the texture of store-bought a little strange. Funny how that works.
By the way… I use a pot and find it easier to pour from than a flatter pan (it seems to reduce spillage significantly). Hope that helps.
This may be a silly question, but how do you get it out of the thermos?
Oh and second comment, I’m not sure where you’re from, but don’t you think it’s a little dangerous to be sleeping with yogurt? Bears and such
Emmama… I use a wide-mouth thermos so you’d scoop it out just the same way you’d take it out of a yogurt container at home. As for bear-country… I wouldn’t put this in my sleeping bag in bear country but it would get put in a cozy and hung with the pack. That would negate making it on winter trips, of course, In my books I do write about how to handle food storage in bear country. Bears can be more than a nuisance in the backcountry. I often travel in areas with black so I always am aware of how we treat even the clothing that we cook in. I’m happy you brought this up though…. it’s a valid point and a good subject for discussion.
Hi Laurie, planning for the JMT this summer. I’m curious if it’s possible to add other ingredients while the yogurt cultures, specifically, rolled oats, chia seeds and fruit, I want to combine your idea with this in the backcountry: http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried doing it while it cultures. It could interfere with the process though. Best bet… try it at home first.