yogurt maker?

[HollyDay]

Due to a change in health and diet requirements, I want to make my own yogurt.  And I don't know how to do that.

I've been researching yogurt makers on Amazon and the reviews are really mixed.  Also, I have an Instant Pot with a yogurt cycle, but my IRL friends also have very mixed reviews.  One IRL friend said their yogurt tasted like the tumeric chicken they made the day before. Not the flavor I'm going for.

Also, I want greek yogurt as my end product.  So I'm assuming I'll need to get a strainer of some type.

What does the great cooking hive recommend????

[itsheresomewhere]

I make mine in the instant pot.  No flavor issues at all.  It tastes like yogurt.  We like Greek yogurt so I use a metal yogurt strainer from amazon and save the whey for bread making.  

[prairiewindmomma]

I had a yogurt maker previously, and had really mixed results from it. I wouldn't push you in that direction.

My best results have been from going greek granny/low tech----heat and culture your milk, dump it into quart jars, and stick those into a cooler. Wait. Strain. I used cheesecloth, but it's cool to hear they have metal strainers.

For health reasons do you need to use a culture to get started or can you start from some existing yogurt? 

[HollyDay]

Just now, prairiewindmomma said:

I had a yogurt maker previously, and had really mixed results from it. I wouldn't push you in that direction.

My best results have been from going greek granny/low tech----heat and culture your milk, dump it into quart jars, and stick those into a cooler. Wait. Strain. I used cheesecloth, but it's cool to hear they have metal strainers.

For health reasons do you need to use a culture to get started or can you start from some existing yogurt? 

I can use either.  I'm recently diagnosed with some scary kidney problems.  They want me to eat yogurt, but I must be careful about potassium and sodium.  If I make my own, I can control the ingredients. 

[wathe]

I've used the instant pot.  It was fine, with no flavor transfer.  

I've also made it in a simple thermos - scald milk in a pot on the stove, cool to appropriate temp, add starter, pour into thermos and leave overnight.  It'll be yogurt by morning.

[prairiewindmomma]

HollyDay--I have to be careful with my kidneys too because I'm on some super toxic medication (that also keeps me walking, so you know, trade off).

I find it easier to use yogurt over a culture, fwiw. 

I mix in fresh berries or a teaspoon of jam when I am craving flavor.

Edited February 7, 2020 by prairiewindmomma

[bibiche]

I use a cooler so my InstantPot is not tied up. Cooler is really easy: Bring the milk up to temp, let it cool down to temp, add in starter, pour into jars and pop into cooler with hot tap water up to the level of milk in the jars. Close and come back several hours later for yogurt. For Greek yogurt, I strain through butter muslin and/or a chinois. If you add some powdered milk you will get a thicker yogurt.

[skimomma]

I've been using a cooler for years.  I don't have the kitchen space for any more gadgets and our picnic cooler, which already had, is the perfect size.

[cjzimmer1]

I've had a yogurt maker, I've made it with a cooler, I've made it with a dehydrator, and I've made it in the Instant pot.  The instant pot is by far my preferred method.  Less, dishes, less mess, less effort on my part since I'm not having to monitor temps much.  I do have a separate ring for my instant pot for sweets and yogurt because my normal cooking one does has a very strong order of the savory dishes I cook.  I've heard people complain of the flavor transfer before so I bought extra rings from the get go.  My yogurt has never tasted like anything but yogurt in the instant pot.  I use a 6-8 ounce plain greek yogurt, 1 gallon whole milk and 1 pint whipping cream.  My yogurt is just a thick a greek yogurt but I don't have to strain to get it that way.

Edited February 7, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[marbel]

I just heat the milk in a saucepan, let it cool, add the culture (some yogurt), put it in a big bowl, and leave it for 12 hours in a warm place (our microwave, which is mounted and has a light underneath, is perfect for this) and it comes out great every time.  I make about 2 quarts at a time; this might not be the best method for larger quantities.

Here is the link to the NY Times recipe I  use:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017991-creamy-homemade-yogurt

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by marbel

[DesertBlossom]

Funny, I just started a batch of yogurt today for the first time in years. I am trying it out in the instant pot, but because I like to wash extra dishes I heated the milk on the stove first. 😄 

In years past I always heated the milk on the stove, let it cool to 108 degrees, added 2 tbsp of yogurt and then put the pot in my oven with the light on. It was fail proof. 

When fruit and berries go on super sale, I buy a bunch and blend them up and freeze them in 1 cup portions to add to a batch of yogurt.

[Angie in VA]

2 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I make mine in the instant pot.  No flavor issues at all.  It tastes like yogurt.  We like Greek yogurt so I use a metal yogurt strainer from amazon and save the whey for bread making.  

 

Please come to my house and teach me how to make yogurt in my IP. I can;t even seem to make it on the stove top anymore. The last few times I made it in  my slow cooker were fails too. Pretty please???

[Laura Corin]

FWIW I always used sterilised shelf-stable milk to make yoghurt. It made the process much easier. The yoghurt maker that I had worked well. I'm eating a lot of yoghurt these days, so maybe I should start again.

[Katy]

I haven't tried the instant pot.  Now that I have 2 with milk allergies I rarely make it.  My favorite way to make it before we had them in the family was in the crock pot.

I'm pretty sure I made it from this video:

 

[cjzimmer1]

58 minutes ago, Angie in VA said:

 

Please come to my house and teach me how to make yogurt in my IP. I can;t even seem to make it on the stove top anymore. The last few times I made it in  my slow cooker were fails too. Pretty please???

I'm not who you were addressing but here's how I make mine.  Does your Instant Pot have the yogurt button?  Pour 1 gallon whole milk and 1 pint heavy whipping cream in instant pot. Put the lid on. Push the yogurt button until it says boil.  Walk away and return when it beeps.  (I like to use a thermometer to verify it reached the 180 degrees.  Usually it's good but every now and then it's not hot enough and so I just set it to go through another round of boil).  Remove instant pot liner from base and set on counter (you can also cook in sink but i'm not that ambitious).  Skim off the top layer (no idea what to call it but that stuff that sits on top of the milk). When its 110-115, put 8 ounces of plain greek yogurt in a bowl and stir in a spoonful of warm milk.  Keep adding milk until it's smooth and liquidy like milk.  Add back to milk.  Give a quick stir.  Add vanilla and/or sugar at this point if you wish.  Put liner of milk back in the instant pot, put the lid on and use the yogurt button and set to 8 hours. Come back later and have wonderful thick yogurt.

[Laura Corin]

I just set my IP to make yoghurt with some sterilised milk I had in the cupboard for emergencies and a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt. I'll report back in the morning.

[mominco]

HollyDay are you in the Dallas area?I can teach you if you are!

[Angie in VA]

21 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I just set my IP to make yoghurt with some sterilised milk I had in the cupboard for emergencies and a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt. I'll report back in the morning.

 

Well? How'd it turn out? 

[Laura Corin]

23 minutes ago, Angie in VA said:

 

Well? How'd it turn out? 

Really well. The yoghurt made perfectly overnight and I strained it through paper towel in a sieve. However, one of the reasons to make my own yoghurt is embarrassment about all the plastic tubs of yoghurt that I buy. Making yoghurt using sterilised milk in tetra packs is even worse, because they are very hard to recycle. There's a local supplier of milk in glass bottles, but I mostly drink oat milk for health reasons (more tetra packs). So I think that recyclable plastic tubs is probably still the way to go for yoghurt.. Frustrating.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Laura Corin

[Angie in VA]

10 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Really well. The yoghurt made perfectly overnight and I strained it through paper towel in a sieve. However, one of the reasons to make my own yoghurt is embarrassment about all the plastic tubs of yoghurt that I buy. Making yoghurt using sterilised milk in tetra packs is even worse, because they are very hard to recycle. There's a local supplier of milk in glass bottles, but I mostly drink oat milk for health reasons (more tetra packs). So I think that recyclable plastic tubs is probably still the way to go for yoghurt.. Frustrating.

 

Good to know it turned out. I hear you on the plastic. One of many reasons to make my own yogurt! So frustrating. I have completely lost my mojo!

[KungFuPanda]

On 2/7/2020 at 12:16 PM, HollyDay said:

Due to a change in health and diet requirements, I want to make my own yogurt.  And I don't know how to do that.

I've been researching yogurt makers on Amazon and the reviews are really mixed.  Also, I have an Instant Pot with a yogurt cycle, but my IRL friends also have very mixed reviews.  One IRL friend said their yogurt tasted like the tumeric chicken they made the day before. Not the flavor I'm going for.

Also, I want greek yogurt as my end product.  So I'm assuming I'll need to get a strainer of some type.

What does the great cooking hive recommend????

Skip the appliances.  They ALL make yogurt making take longer because they adjust the temperatures so gradually.  You might HAVE everything you need.  I use:

pot

thermometer 

yogurt 

container for finished yogurt

cooler

 

Put some milk in a pot.  Use as much as you want.  Don't even measure.  I usually make a half gallon or less each time.  Heat the milk to 180 to kill the cooties.  Crank your stove to high and stir and this will happen FAST. Next, put some water in your sink and plunge your pot in it to cool the milk quickly.  Make sure none of the sink water gets IN the pot.  Cool the  milk to 110-115 (so you don't kill the yogurt culture) and pull it out of the sink.  This might take 4ish minutes.  Blop some yogurt in it for starter.  I use maybe 1/4 cup. Don't measure. Stir it in and pour your mixture into a container.  Place this container in a cooler.  Put a jar of hot water next to this container.  Maybe use two jars if you're cooler is really big.  Close it up and leave it alone for about 6 hours or overnight.  Don't peek and don't jostle it. The hands-on part takes maybe 10-15 minutes but can take HOURS in a machine.  I've never had it fail to work.  Really, it's like magic when you check it later and it has yoged.

ETA: If you want thicker yogurt, just line a colander or soup strainer with a coffee filter and let it strain until it's as thick as you like.

Edited February 8, 2020 by KungFuPanda

[KungFuPanda]

This topic reminded me that I needed to make yogurt, so I timed myself.  In 15 minutes I made the yogurt, and washed and put away the pot and thermometer.  I made half a gallon, so if you make less it would go faster.  I'm glad we had this conversation because I was down to my last half cup.  I'm the only one who eats it, but I eat a LOT.  

[ScoutTN]

I make it in the oven overnight, as a pp said. I use whole milk from a local dairy, whose cows are grass fed. Yummm.

 

[MeaganS]

I have two different yogurt makers and use the instant pot as well. I like them all. In the instant pot, I use 8oz mason jars filled with yogurt milk in it rather than just filling the pot (we like smaller servings). I heat up the milk in the instant pot using the first yogurt setting, let it cool down for a few hours, add a large spoonful of regular yogurt with live cultures, mix it in with a wisk, and pour it in all the jars/cups. I make a gallon at a time. Then I let it incubate all night and put it away in the morning.

I've found yogurt to be very forgiving and this almost never fails me. It does help to use whole milk, though.

[Carrie12345]

I’ve had relative success with the crock pot. (No recipe from me, I just Googled at the time.) Relative, because it was more Greek-style and that’s not what dh likes. He’s the one who eats the most yogurt.  But it sounds like it would work for you!

[Tenaj]

I use my instant pot.  I wanted to address the flavor transfer.  I read a recommendation somewhere to rinse in ip insert with boiling water before making the yogurt.  Also, I have a silicone ring that I use just for yogurt to keep it from smelling like chicken or whatever.  

Or, you can do what has happened accidently at my house is that my 8 quart ip is usually used for supper and my 6 quart has become almost solely used for yogurt -lol!  We go through yogurt quickly!

Edited February 9, 2020 by JanOH

[Lady Marmalade]

I was going to pop on and mention that it's been a while since I made homemade yogurt, but that when I do make it, I love my inexpensive yogurt maker.  However, it only makes a quart at a time, and as I'm reading through these IP recommendations, the thought of making a gallon of yogurt at a time sounds fantastic!

I have an 8 quart IP, but my aunt recently gave me a 6 quart that I've been debating passing on to someone else.  Now I'm thinking I might keep it and try making yogurt in it.  Love the idea of adding cream to get more calories into DS.  He can't stand Greek yogurt, but if I make it myself I can make it thin like regular old yoplait.