#2,660: Instant Pot Homemade Yogurt

At the end of the school year my co-worker suggested I try making yogurt in my Instant Pot.  She swore it was easy.  I'll admit, I scared me, so I kept putting it off.  But I'm really tired of buying store bought yogurt which I know is just filled with so much sugar.  I will often buy Greek yogurt for my kids, but they don't like it plain.  I'll put some honey or granola in it for them, but they still would prefer the regular flavored high sugar kind.  So in an effort to make some changes (little changes gradually!), and for the sake of it being a whole heck of a lot cheaper, I decided to make my own!  

For the sake of running high, this huge batch cost me $2 to make!  TWO DOLLARS.  All you need is a gallon of milk (I could have used an organic kind but I figured I'd go with regular whole milk for now to see if was even successful, and 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt).  That's it.  Seriously...that's it! 

Now the process took about all day, but most of that was just waiting for it to finish.  For my first batch, I was pretty happy.  It's a bit runny compared to store-bought Greek (or plain) yogurt, but I think that was user error!!  I don't think my milk got hot enough so next time I'll actually test it with a thermometer and not assume that the first time my Instant Pot told me it was ready that it actually was.

My kids are really like this.  I let them add a little spoonful of swerve sugar substitite or honey and a little bit of granola.  Some of my kids even like to add in fruit too.  PS...this yogurt is GREAT for making smoothies!!  

1 gallon of milk (I used whole milk)

1/2 cup store-bought or homemade yogurt (from a previous batch)

First you need to sterilize your Instant Pot. Add 1-2 cups of water to your Instant Pot. Turn the steam release handle to sealed, hit the steam button and set the time for 1 minute.

Your Instant Pot will take a few minutes to come to pressure and then will steam the water for one minute. Once it beeps at you that it's done, do a quick release to release the pressure. After the steam has stopped releasing, open the lid and dump out the water.

Add your gallon of milk to the Instant Pot. Turn the steam release handle back to the sealed position. Hit the yogurt button and push the adjust button until the displays says "boil." The Instant Pot will now boil your milk. This usually takes about 45 minutes, but may take a little longer or shorter for you.  This is where you need to check your milk with the thermometer.  It needs to be at least 180 degrees.  Supposedly the longer it's boiled, the thicker your yogurt will be.  

After the milk has boiled, your Instant Pot will beep and the display will read “yogt.”

You now need to cool your milk down to 110 degrees.  There are 2 ways to do this...
1. Take the lid off your Instant Pot and remove the pot to somewhere on your counter. Stick a liquid thermometer into the pot so you can keep an eye on the temperature. Wait a long time for it to cool. 
2. Fill your sink with some cold water and a bunch of ice cubes.  Place your instant pot into the water to give it a cold water bath.  Periodically stir the milk.  This took maybe 15 minutes for mine to cool down.  I was shocked when I checked on it that it was already done. 

Once your milk has cooled to about 110 degrees, you need to add your yogurt starter.  Grab a medium sized bowl or larger measuring cup (you know the glass kind!).  Add half a cup of the yogurt starter (this is where I just used store bought greek yogurt I already had in the fridge, and add some of the cooled milk from the instant pot.  Stir it together so the yogurt is fully incorporated).  Now, stirring continuously, slowly add your yogurt starter/milk mix to your Instant Pot and make stir gently to combine.  

Return your pot to the Instant Pot and put the lid back on. Hit the yogurt button again and then hit the adjust button until it displays a number. This is the number of hours that your yogurt will culture. You can use the “+” and “-” buttons to adjust how long you want your yogurt to culture. Supposedly the longer it cultures the tangier your yogurt will be.  They suggest 8-10 hours.  I did about 9. 

After you’ve selected the number of hours, your Instant Pot will beep and then display 0:00. It will then start counting UP as it cultures. When your yogurt is done culturing, the Instant Pot will beep a final time and then display “yogt.” 

That's it!  Now you can now transfer your yogurt to storage containers (like glass mason jars).  Get a lot, because you will have A LOT of yogurt to store! 

Store finished yogurt in the fridge. It should keep for several weeks.