Laban(Yogurt) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 quart whole or 2% milk
2 level tbsp. starter (see below)

Preparation

Heat the milk in a stainless steel saucepan, over medium high heat to 180-200\u00b0.
Use a candy thermometer.
Do not let the milk scorch or boil over.
Let the milk cool on the stove top to 120\u00b0. If the milk cools too much, you can give it a little heat to bring it back up to 120\u00b0.
For the starter, you should save some from a previous batch or buy plain, unflavored yogurt from the store.
Be sure to buy a brand that has a live culture such as Dannon's. Wait until the milk has cooled
to 120\u00b0 or when you can keep your little finger in milk comfortably and count to 10.
In a small bowl, stir 2 tbsp. starter until smooth and add a little of the warm milk to warm the starter and thin it a little. Then thoroughly stir the starter into the pan of warm milk and cover the pan with a lid. Then wrap the pan with layers of clean towels and place in a warm, draft free place for 4 hours. The oven is a good place and you can warm it (not Hot!) a little (about 100\u00b0) and turn if off before you put in the pan of yogurt. If the yogurt still has not set in 4 hours, leave it longer and check hourly. If you make it late at night, you can leave it overnight. After it has set, refrigerate immediately.
Excess moisture can be absorbed with paper towels placed on top of the yogurt.
Be sure to save a starter for the next batch. The recipe can easily be doubled when you need a greater quantity for cooking.
Makes 1 quart.