I used Trader Joe's European yogurt as the initial starter. I believe the TJ yogurt it tastes just like the Strauss yogurt we fell in love with in SFO.
Put 1.5 tablespoon of yogurt as starter into a 1 cup container to be warming up while you heat the milk.
Pour 6.5 cups of
Heat Milk: Heat as slowly as possible to 180F, stirring occasionally with a stainless steel spoon. Do not use a wooden spoon. You should stir more often once the milk gets warmer to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Hold the milk between 179 - 184 for 15 min.
Cool Milk: Place pot of milk into a cool water bath in sink and stir until milk reaches 110F. This goes pretty quickly.
Add Starter: Add about a cup of warm milk to starter and stir with stainless spoon. Add diluted started back into pot of warm milk.
Wait: Pour milk with starter into yogurt Vita Clay crock pot and put on yogurt setting. Leave it alone for 5-6 hours or to taste. Don't move it or stir it. It is pretty forgiving on time if you forget it. I have done from 4 - 9 hrs, but at 9 hrs it was fairly sour.
Enjoy: Remove crock insert from Vita Clay and place in refrigerator. It will be firmer in the morning.