How to Make Yogurt at Home.

March 3, 2020 by Karen 281 Comments

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How to make yogurt every which way. Instructions for Instant Pot, stovetop & making yogurt in a dehydrator. And NOPE. This doesn't mean I now like my Instant Pot. Plus a new trick for thickening it that I learned in the past month.

Don't want to read my ~~witty~~ entertaining babbling? Skip right to the recipe.

I started making my own yogurt because of my imaginary world. This is the world many of us let our minds wander to when we should be thinking about insurance rates, mutual funds or other gross things.

In my imaginary world I'm usually at the cottage (that I don't own) and everyone is gathered around when we all realize, much to our horror, that we don't have any butter, or bread or ... in this case ... yogurt. "Everybody calm the hell down.", I say, my arms outstretched, palms facing the ground, in the internationally known gesture of "calm the hell down". "We have whipping cream, flour, yeast and milk. We've got this."

Butter as you know is made by shaking whipping cream.

Bread is made with flour, water, salt and yeast.

And Yogurt ... is made with milk. (And a little bit of yogurt. But that ruins imaginary world where I miraculously produce yogurt with just milk. So.)

Therefore years ago I started making my own so if I ever own a cottage and am ever stranded there with a group of starved people that I need to impress, I will be able to impress them.

Table of Contents

Yogurt Facts that'll make your head spin

(not really, it's remarkably dull actually)

You can use whole, 2%, 1% or skim milk. The higher the fat percentage the more calories.
Do not use ultra pasteurized milk.
To "activate" your yogurt, you need 2 Tablespoons of plain yogurt with active cultures. Just look for the words probiotic or active cultures. Some people have had success using sour cream in a pinch as an activator/starter.

So the Instant Pot. The gadget I love to hate. There are two things it can do well. Make a small batch of chili and make yogurt. It's more complicated than just doing it on the stove. But it does work and has some pros to it.

However, I know a lot of you love your Instant Pots so I thought I'd better show you how to make it in the Instant Pot because 1) the instructions that come with the Instant Pot for almost everything are useless and 2) even online instructions for making yogurt in it don't cover the little things.

If you INSIST on buying an Instant Pot, even if you're only cooking for one, make sure you get one that's at least 6 quarts.

The process is the same no matter what you're using to make it.

The Basic Process

Heat milk (to 180°F)
Cool milk (to 115°F)
Add starter culture (yogurt)
Keep at 115°F (for 8 hours)

Here's how to accomplish that with an Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Method

THE HEATING PHASE

Pour 2 litres (½ gallon) of milk into the inner pot. I use 1% but you can use any kind.
Lock the lid on.
Turn the vent to "sealing". (although I've forgotten this step before and my yogurt still turned out fine.)
Press "Yogurt" button then,
Press "Adjust" button. The light will switch to "more" and the word "boil" will show up.
Wait. The Instant Pot does its thing for 35-40 minutes, heating the milk to 180° F.
"Yogt" will show up on the display when it's done.
Remove the lid. CHECK THE TEMPERATURE. After this part is done my yogurt is NEVER at 180° F. It gets to 175. So I put the lid on and restart the process of hitting "Yogurt" then "Adjust" to boil again until it registers as being 180° F.
NEW TRICK below ⇓ (I learned this from Team Yogurt)
Keep the yogurt at 180° F for 5 minutes. To do this, Press "Yogurt" then "Adjust" again. This will keep the unit warm enough to keep the yogurt at 180° F. Leave it like this for 5 minutes. Don't put the lid back on. (doing this helps to make it thicker)
Press "Cancel" at the end of 5 minutes.

THE COOLING PHASE

Unplug the Instant Pot. Remove the inner pot and either let it rest on the counter until the temperature drops down to 115° F, OR put the pot in a cold water bath in your sink. This speeds up the cooling time a LOT. (instead of taking half an hour it will only take a few minutes, so keep an eye on it)

THE INOCULATION PHASE

Put 2 tablespoons of yogurt (with active cultures) into a bowl and then temper it with a ladle of the hot milk and stir. This just makes it easier to disperse the yogurt through the entire pot.
Pour bowl of yogurt/milk mixture into the inner pot of the Instant Pot and stir.
Set the inner pot back into the unit.

THE INCUBATION PHASE

Push the Yogurt button. Add or subtract with the (+) key until you reach a minimum of 8 hours. You can also let it go for 11 hours for tangier yogurt. You can even let it go longer than 11 hours for tangier yogurt. I often incubate my yogurt for 12 hours or more.
At the end of your cycle "Yogt" will appear on the display and it's done.
Pour off the whey from the top (or scoop it out with a spoon) and put the yogurt in mason jars or other glass containers.

** For extra thick Greek yogurt, strain the yogurt as shown in the straining method below.

Making it on the stovetop is simpler and has FAR fewer steps.

Stovetop Method

Heat 2 litres (½ gallon) of milk in a pot on the stove until it reaches 180° F.
Turn the heat off, put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Cool the milk to 115°F on the counter or in a cool water bath in the sink.
Mix together some hot milk with 2 Tablespoons of yogurt to thin the yogurt then add the mixture to the rest of the hot milk. Stir.
Pour into a good thermos (one that will retain the heat) and wait 8-11 hours. (or follow Dehydrator instructions)

**If you don't have a thermos then pour the hot milk into mason jars and store them in a good quality cooler wrapped in towels for 8-11 hours.

Yup. That's it. In my opinion this is much easier and faster than fiddling with the erratic behaviour of an Instant Pot.

Would you like to save this stuff?

We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

The drawback is if you forget your milk on the stove while heating it, it can boil over.

Dehydrator Method

To make yogurt in a dehydrator, you're not really using the dehydrator for anything other than holding the yogurt at temperature.

Follow the stove top method up until the part where you hold the yogurt at 115°F for 8-11 hours. Instead of putting it in a cooler or thermos you can hold it at temperature perfectly with your dehydrator.

Follow steps 1-4 for stovetop yogurt.
Turn the dehydrator on and set it to 115°F
Pour hot milk into glass mason jars. Screw on lids.
Remove trays from dehydrator and place the jars inside.
Set the dehydrator timer (if it has one) for 8-11 hours.

Straining to Thicken

Dump your incubated yogurt into a sieve lined with cheese cloth or a flour sack tea towel set over a bowl or pot.
Let drain for up to an hour or until it has reached the consistency you like.
After 1 hour around 4 cups of whey will have drained away, leaving you with 4 cups of Greek yogurt.

When the process has finished its 8 hours of incubating it will have a lot of whey in it. That's the liquid stuff you see on top of yogurt or sour cream that you buy at the store sometimes.

Straining willt get rid of most of the whey resulting in a thicker, higher calorie yogurt. If you like it thinner you don't need to strain; just pour off the bit of whey on top and you're good.

YIELD: NOT STRAINING VS STRAINING

Unstrained yogurt will get you the same amount of yogurt as milk used. 8 cups of milk will result in 8 cups of yogurt!
Strained yogurt will get you thicker yogurt, but less yield. 8 cups of milk will result in 4 cups of greek yogurt.*

*the exact yield depends on how long you strain it and how much whey you remove.

Unstrained has a similar consistency to a very soft jello.

Straining is how you get that thick, Greek style yogurt.

Strained is so thick it will sit high on the spoon and even stick to it when you turn the spoon over.

I love a big spoonful of plain, tart Greek yogurt, but there are times I want to have something a little more dessert or breakfast like. THOSE are the times for toppings.

Topping Ideas

Jam (Strawberry, raspberry, apricot etc. etc.)
Nuts
Granola
Canned fruit
Chia seeds
Bananas
Coconut Flakes
Chocolate Chips
Cocoa powder
Honey
Maple Syrup
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Poppyseeds
Orange slices
Mashed sweet potato
Lemon zest
Brown sugar
Apple sauce
Cookie crumbs

How to make Yogurt.

Making your own yogurt is easy, fun and gives you that little feeling of superiority we all like to experience every now and again.

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: They say it's from New York.

Keyword: yogurt

Servings: people

Calories: 82kcal

Author: The Art of Doing Stuff

Ingredients

2 litres milk (whole, 2%, 1% or skim)
2 tablespoon active yogurt plain

Instructions

Instant Pot Yogurt

Pour 2 litres (½ gallon) of milk into the inner pot. I use 1% but you can use any kind.
Lock the lid on.
Turn the vent to "sealing". (although I've forgotten this step before and my yogurt still turned out fine.)
Press "Yogurt" button then,
Press "Adjust" button. The light will switch to "more" and the word "boil" will show up.
Wait. The Instant Pot does its thing for 35-40 minutes, heating the milk to 180° F.
"Yogt" will show up on the display when it's done.
Remove the lid. CHECK THE TEMPERATURE. After this part is done my yogurt is NEVER at 180° F. It gets to 175. So I put the lid on and restart the process of hitting "Yogurt" then "Adjust" to boil again until the yogurt registers as being 180° F.
Keep the yogurt at 180° F for 5 minutes. To do this, Press "Yogurt" then "Adjust" again. This will keep the unit warm enough to keep the yogurt at 180° F. Leave it like this for 5 minutes. Don't put the lid back on.
Press "Cancel" at the end of 5 minutes.
Unplug the Instant Pot. Remove the inner pot and either let it rest on the counter until the temperature drops down to 115° F, OR put the pot in a cold water bath in your sink. This speeds up the cooling time a LOT. (instead of taking half an hour it will only take a few minutes, so keep an eye on it)
Put 2 tablespoons of yogurt (with active cultures) into a bowl and then temper it with a ladle of the hot milk and stir. This just makes it easier to disperse the yogurt through the entire pot.
Pour bowl of yogurt/milk mixture into the inner pot of the Instant Pot and stir.
Set the inner pot back into the unit.
Push the Yogurt button. Add or subtract with the (+) key until you reach a minimum of 8 hours. You can also let it go for 11 hours for tangier yogurt. At the end of your cycle "Yogt" will appear on the display and it's done.
Pour off the whey from the top (or scoop it out with a spoon) and put the yogurt in mason jars or other glass containers.

Stovetop Yogurt

Heat your milk in a saucepan over medium heat to 180 F (almost boiling, this happens quickly).
Remove pan from heat and allow milk to cool to 115 F. This will take around 30 minutes on the counter or a few minutes in a cool water bath in your sink.
Once the milk is at 115 degrees add some hot milk to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of yogurt in it and incorporate. Add this mixture to your pot of hot milk.
Now your job is to keep this concoction at 115 degrees for the next 8 hours. There are a few ways to do this.
Pour your milk mixture into a mason jar (or similar) with lid and place the entire jar into a small cooler filled with warm water. Leave for 8 - 11 hours. OR ...
Pour your milk mixture into a good thermos, wrap it in a towel and leave it for 8 hours.
Your yogurt is now done. Store it in glass jars and refrigerate. (If you want you can strain it to make it thicker.) Straining instructions in notes.

Dehydrator Yogurt

Follow steps 1-3 for stovetop yogurt.
Turn on the dehydrator and set to 115°F.
Pour yogurt into serving sized mason jars for convenience (or use full sized mason jars).
Set the jars into the dehydrator and allow to incubate for 8-11 hours.

Notes

The longer you let the yogurt incubate the more tart it will be.
2 litres of milk will make 8 cups of yogurt.
For extra thick Greek yogurt, strain the yogurt after it has set by pouring it into a cheesecloth lined sieve over a bowl. In about an hour 4 cups of whey will have drained out leaving you with an incredibly thick remaining 4 cups of yogurt.
If your oven goes as low as 115°F then you can set the jars of yogurt in the oven for 8-11 hours as well to incubate it.

Nutrition

How healthy is homemade yogurt?

Really good natural yogurt is way more accessible now than it ever was. There was a time that the only yogurt you could buy was yogurt with premixed fruit and about a pound of sugar per serving.

Homemade has no sugar and no additives. Adding these two things will decrease the health benefits of this lively culture.

Homemade concoctions can be sweetened with honey, maple syrup or agave and you can add fresh fruit like peaches or strawberries as well.

By making your own you're controlling what milk it is you use to create it. Even some of the best brands of yogurt don't use the best milk and often come from cows that have been fed grain (GMO corn or soy). That means when you get that store bought healthy seeming yogurt you're actually consuming GMOs through the milk of the cow. If that's the sort of thing that worries you then homemade really is your best choice.

THOUGHTS ON WHICH IS THE BEST WAY

If I were in some sort of battle that required I choose only ONE method to make yogurt for the rest of my life what would it be?

A combination of the stovetop method for the initial heating and cooling and then finishing it in a dehydrator.

How to Make Yogurt at Home.

Yogurt Facts that'll make your head spin

The Basic Process