Preserving Dairy at Home: Yogurt, Milk Kefir & Butter (Online)

Learn creative and safe ways to use extra milk and cream, make them last longer, and explore fermentation, butter-making, and storage.

Wondering what to do with extra milk or cream? Turn them into yogurt, milk kefir, and butter while learning the fermentation, storage, and food-safety principles behind each method.

Yogurt, kefir, and butter all start with milk or cream, but they rely on very different processes. What changes during fermentation? Why does yogurt need heating and incubation? How is kefir different? And how can butter be stored safely for longer?

Join UC Master Food Preserver volunteers for a free online class exploring how these foods are made at home, why each process works, and how temperature, fermentation, freezing, and storage affect quality and safety.

These techniques can help you make better use of milk and cream before they go to waste, extend storage life, and create more options from ingredients you already have on hand.

What we’ll explore

• how yogurt is made, including why heating and incubation matter
• how straining changes yogurt into a thicker Greek-style yogurt
• how milk kefir differs from yogurt, including a live kefir-making demonstration
• how cream becomes butter and how freezing can extend butter’s storage life
• how fermentation, temperature, and storage choices affect quality, safety, and storage life

You’ll leave with a better understanding of how these dairy processes work, what makes each one different, and how to handle and store the finished foods safely at home.

Bring your questions! UC Master Food Preservers will be available during the class to answer questions about safe home food preservation.

Photo credit: "Butter" by Ruby's Feast is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.