The Careful Process of Yogurt Making | BONUS Cupping & Packaging Video

graphic for yogurt making process

Today we are diving into the process of yogurt-making! Join us to learn much more about the careful processes we go through to make our yogurt it’s absolute best.

The process of yogurt making…

The first step in the making of our yogurt is to pasteurize raw milk. The milk is put into the vat and brought to a certain temperature and then other ingredients and cultures are added.

yogurt vat

It is then incubated overnight. During this time, the cream rises to the top.

In the morning, agitation and cooling are turned on. Since overnight the cream rose to the top, the yogurt is now blended to whip the cream back into the yogurt. (which is first?)

Yogurt is then cooled by putting ice water through the jacket of the tank. Once the yogurt gets down to a certain temperature, it is ready to be cupped.

Some kinds of our yogurt are tank-set and some are cup-set. But what does this mean?

When we say our yogurt is tank-set, we are implying that it is incubated in the tank. During this time, the cream rises to the top. The cream then gets whipped up the next morning and distributed evenly throughout the yogurt. It is then poured into the cup as a pudding and the cream stays distributed throughout. That’s what we mean by tank-set. Our vanilla yogurt is tank-set and all of our fruit-flavored yogurts have this tank-set vanilla yogurt as their base.

What do we mean by cup-set?  Cup-set means that our yogurt is blended, ingredients and culture are added, and it gets cupped while still hot. The cup-set yogurt goes into the incubation room and incubates for 6-8 hours. It comes out with the cream on the top and then goes into the cooler. We also say that this yogurt is creamline since the cream is setting on the top. Our Plain and Maple Yogurt is cup-set and creamline.

Our cup-set yogurt has a totally different texture and taste than our tank-set yogurt.

Now the yogurt is finished and ready for you to enjoy!

We would love to hear from you what your favorite flavor of yogurt is! Let us know in the comments.

Note: We use no artificial flavors or preservatives in our yogurt. There is also no sugar added to our Plain and Maple Yogurt. Our Maple Yogurt is sweetened with local fresh maple syrup.

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The final step in the yogurt process is cupping our yogurt and then packaging it to be delivered to the many stores that sell our products. 

To see the process of cupping and packaging our delicious Stoltzfus Family Dairy Yogurt, watch video below. We hope you enjoyed learning all about the yogurt making process here at Stoltzfus Family Dairy!