Photo Elliott Burr/Town CrierLos Altos resident Andy Hamlin, above, enjoys frozen yogurt from Miyo Yogurt on Main Street. In recent years, yogurt has become increasingly popular for its health benefits.

In the past, consumers could only find yogurt in prepacked plastic containers in the dairy section of the supermarket, nourishing but hardly extravagant.

In recent years, however, yogurt has enjoyed both a makeover and a surge in public interest. With a crop of fresh options in the dairy aisle and yogurt shops appearing all over the Bay Area, new yogurt lovers find that their tantalizing options are many. From trendy fro-yo chains to artisan yogurt shops hawking house-produced organic yogurt, granola and fruit mix-ins, the formerly overlooked “health food” has morphed into a coveted treat.

Yogurt has become an increasingly – and I promise to make this pun only once – popular culture. Since Miyo Yogurt opened last fall at 270 Main St., business has been booming.

The newfound interest from health-conscious consumers is due in part to recent research lauding the benefits of probiotics. Probiotics, for the uninitiated, are healthy bacteria found in foods supplemented by the inoculation of live microorganisms, such as yogurts, kefir, sauerkraut and miso. Medical practitioners frequently recommend consuming probiotic foods like yogurt during antibiotic treatments to restore natural healthful bacteria in the gut. However, several recent studies demonstrate potentially greater benefits from consuming good microorganisms in cultured foods. Preliminary research suggests that consuming probiotics may alleviate several digestive conditions, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, improve immune function and prevent certain cancers.

Ever ready to capitalize on the latest health claims, food producers are packing the markets with specialty bars and beverages teeming with friendly microflora, often nestled between the expanding rows of flavored yogurt.

Of course, popularity comes with a cost. The price of most designer live-culture foods packs a wallop, and lines at popular specialty shops snake out the door with yogurt junkies waiting to pay $6 for a granola-topped probiotic fix. Yogurt fans reeling from the cost will be happy to learn that good, fresh yogurt with top ingredients can be made on a shoestring budget.

Apart from cutting costs, making yogurt is worth the (minimal) effort simply to savor a tart, creamy bowl at its freshest. Yogurt requires little time or talent, and the most complex item needed is a thermometer – no fancy yogurt machines necessary. In the end, there is little more to making yogurt than nurturing friendly bacteria in warm milk.

First, choose your milk. Any fat percentage of milk will do – although fat-free milk may produce yogurt that is somewhat runny. Cow milk is the widespread standard, but goat milk is increasingly available, and goat milk yogurt is gaining in popularity. Even fresh organic milk can be had for less than $4 a quart, and because the recipe yields a roughly equivalent amount of yogurt, the cost of homemade yogurt represents substantial savings over the yogurt shop (leaving room to splurge on toppings later).

Second, select your live cultures. All that is needed to inoculate a new batch of yogurt is a small amount of plain yogurt from a previous batch – a tablespoon is all you need to produce a quart of fresh yogurt. Save a small amount of your favorite specialty yogurt to start your own batch. If you are unsure of where to get your live culture, Dannon plain yogurt is a favorite among home yogurt makers, and its cultures are reliably active. Tip: Buy a small container of plain yogurt to use as a starter. Spoon whatever yogurt you do not use immediately into an ice-cube tray to freeze. You can thaw and add these starter cubes to future yogurt batches.

Once you have chosen a quart of milk and a starter, you can begin. In a saucepan, heat milk slowly over the stove until it reaches 180 F, stirring gently. The milk should begin to steam but not quite reach a boil. Heating the milk to this temperature alters the milk proteins in a way that helps the yogurt set, ensuring the milk is a bacterial blank slate by the time starter is added.

Once milk reaches 180 F, it must be cooled quickly to between 110 F and 120 F. Accomplish this by setting the saucepan in a bowl of cold water to cool the milk rapidly. Once the milk is cooled, stir in the tablespoon of plain yogurt. The bacteria in yogurt begin to die at higher temperatures, so be sure the milk has reached a safe range. When the starter is integrated, pour the mixture into a jar.

At this point, most of the work is finished, and it is time for the bacteria to take over. The bacteria found in yogurt are most active between 100 F and 120 F, so keep the milk warm until the culture sets (at least four hours). For this task, there are several options, including bundling the jar of warm milk in kitchen towels for insulation or leaving the jar in an oven with the light turned on. If you are feeling ambitious, place the jar in a large pot of warm water (110-120 F) to help maintain the ideal temperature – but even lazier methods yield quality yogurt.

Allow the yogurt to set between four and 12 hours, longer for tangy yogurt, shorter for mild. When yogurt is ready, chill the jar in the refrigerator to firm up the texture and slow the production of tang-inducing acids. Fresh yogurt will keep refrigerated for two to four weeks.

Serve yogurt topped with fresh fruits, nuts, granola, graham crackers or dark chocolate. Yogurt is an excellent replacement for cream in soups or for milk in a tangy fruit smoothie. Or, pour it into an ice-cream machine with a little sugar as you contemplate names for your own fro-yo shop.

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