Yogurt At Homegurt

I like yogurt. It’s pretty yummy, it makes for pretty convenient, filling breakfasts with the right accouterments, it’s a good excuse to eat fruit. When it’s too hot to bake bread for toast for breakfast, I’ll usually do a spoonful of honey, some berries, some granola (plus something for fiberrrrrrrrrr) thrown into a bowl right before I have to leave, then slurrrrruruurrrrrrrrrrp it down on my way out the door. (my hot take though is that, even though berries store pretty well in the fridge, they taste better at room temp- so I’ve been known to prep my bowl of yog and leave it sitting while I get other stuff ready. It’s super cool and normal I promise)

but that shit is expensive oh my GOD. a quart of yogurt is like six bucks!!! Actually, I don’t even remember how much yogurt costs because I just make it at home and so can you probably!!!!!!!!!! Milk is so dang cheap and when you make yogurt at home you get about as much yogurt out as milk you put in, so yogurt can be as cheap as milk !! And if you have the right tools, it’s so so so so so so so so so so easy

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Who am I? Why do I speak with authority on making yogurt at home? Well, I googled it like one time and don’t really remember what I read. But since then, I have successfully made (and eaten without dying) yogurt pretty much every week, like probably over a dozen times. It’s like gallons of yogurt. And you can’t argue with the results- I’ve been able to eat that yogurt, with varying degrees of satisfaction, nearly every time. (you should maybe do your own research )

Here’s what you need:

• Advance notice. This is really easy but it works best done in one afternoon and the next morning.

• Instant pot with yogurt button

  • Any old lid that fits on the instant pot and isn’t the instant pot lid*

• Optional but recommended: a bit of really hot water

• Some yogurt**

• As much milk as you want to have yogurt

• Something to keep the yogurt you just made in

• That’s kinda it tbh. 

*this part is uh kinda important. The instant pot doesn’t get up to pressure for this sort of thing, so you don’t need the top it came with- but the gasket/seal/rubber thing in there can hold onto flavors from other stuff you’ve cooked and make your yogurt taste like that. First time I made yogurt, I used the instant pot lid, and my yogurt did taste like beans- but if this happens to you, don’t worry, adapt! I used mine in a marinade for something else later, and it was great!

** your existing yogurt needs to still be a live culture. If you go to the store and look at the yogurt package, it’ll say some latin name of a bacteria in italics- that should be fine. Or ask me for some of my yogurt. Or ask your friend who told you about this article. Or use the stuff you made last time! I’ve seen it recommended to use 2 tablespoons per quart/litre of milk you use, but I really don’t think it matters very much. I’ve also seen it recommended to not use sweetened or flavored yogurt, or else it won’t work. If you can swing that, go for it, but the stuff I used was actually maple flavored and I’m literally writing this article so I don’t think any of this is as big of a deal as anyone’s ever made it out to be. 

I’ve never done this without the instant pot. I only do this because I saw the yogurt button on mine. I have looked into it very briefly, and making yogurt without a smart little machine to keep everything the right temp for the right time for you seems like a pain in the pinecones. If you don’t have an instant pot, fair, but I can’t help you other than to say- yogurt is definitely older than the instant pot. Where there’s a will, there’s a whey!

So here’s the basic procedure:

1. (optional, recommended): Make your instant pot not so stinky by pouring some boiling water in there and swishing it around

2. Boil the milk 

3. Let your boiled milk cool down so it doesn’t kill your yogurt critters

4. Stir in your little gurt gremlins and give em time to do their thing while the instant pot keeps the right temp for ya

5. wait (go to bed probably)

6. That’s it you have yogurt!! Put it in a different container so you can use the instant pot for other stuff and keep your gurt in the fridge until it’s gone!

It’s much work at all! You have to stir like once. It’s perfect. 

A little bit about the Instant Pot yogurt button

I don’t know if different models have different presets associated with the yogurt button. But what I’ve read makes me think they probably don’t? Check your manual to be sure.

Every button on the instant pot has 3 settings (I think?): Less, Normal, More

For the yogurt button, these three settings do wildly different shit:

• Less: 24h of a temperature too low for yogurt. It’s for some other fermented thing that I don’t know anything about. It’s probably good, do your own research.

• Normal: 8h of the right temperature to incubate your milky whey and get your gurt going. Exactly what your gurt gremlins need. You can add more time if you want- more on this later

• More: BOIL. It just says BOIL. It’ll bring the milk you’ve got in there to a boil and then…? I don’t remember if it holds it there for a while and then stops or what. I just follow the lights. None of this is a big deal. I don’t even know what temperature it goes to. It just works I guess.

More Detailed Procedure

I’m a very detail-oriented person. I like knowing everything about how something like this works, and why. I can and will explain a process where precision matters in excruciating detail. For this, though, almost no part of this matters at all. You’re setting a little critter up for success and letting it do its thing. Precision is not really a factor here. You’re gonna do great

1. (optional, recommended) boil some water and pour it in (the pot part of) your instant pot and swirl it around. Then pour it out wherever you want i guess. This is to get any flavors from the last thing you made out of the pot. If you’re using a different lid like I recommend, this probably doesn’t matter but I’ve been too afraid to try so far bc it’s pretty easy just to do this

2. Pour your milk in! Set it to boil (Yogurt: More). Wait for it to be done and beep a million jarring times (why does it do that it makes me )

   1. Now’s a good time to talk about what type of milk to use- I don’t care and I don’t think it matters. I don’t think soy would work just bc it’s not made of cow or whatever but like skim, whole fat, whatever should do fine. Different milks will make different yogurts, but I don’t think any milks will make bad yogurts unless you’re picky. I’m not. Just get the cheap one- and I usually go for whatever’s going to expire the soonest since it gets boiled anyways and I feel like (without looking into it literally at all and also expiration dates are a made up lie anyway. and also do your own research) that kinda resets the expiration date situation (and also yogurt is like kind of a preservation method even if that’s not why I do it so). Sometimes you can get a discount too maybe?? Idk. Basically, whatever’s in your milk ends up in your yogurt, I’m pretty sure. Unless it gets eaten by the gurt gremlins..? Do your own research 

   2. I remember some blog post saying to leave it for like five minutes after it boils before doing the next part, to like, make it more creamy or something. I use that as license to absolutely not rush once I hear the beeping, but I cannot believe that the amount of time matters.

3. Take the instant pot out of the instant pot (like. The pot part out of the outside part. I don’t know what any of this is called. Do you get me) and set it somewhere good to cool down. You can put it in like a bowl of cold water and stir the milk or something if you’re in a hurry, but I just try to do this part when I don’t need to leave the house for a few hours- or when I’m going to leave the house for a few hours, and it’ll just be ready when I get back. Probably don’t leave it too long though? doyourownresearch You’re trying to get it to cool down to a temperature that won’t boil your bugs, so your gurt gremlins don’t grimace and give up. The temperature I’ve seen online is like… high 90s (Fahrenheit) but I truly don’t have a thermometer so I just stick a clean pinky in there and if it seems probably too hot leave it for another while. The exact amount of time depends on exactly how long you’re willing to wait, and also how much yogurt you’re trying to make. I leave the lid on to pretend I’m keeping the whole thing somewhat sterile, but it’s mostly to keep flies out. 

4. Once it’s the right temp, put the instant pot back in the instant pot, this instant, pot. Grab your gurt gremlins and drop them in, kicking and screaming. A healthy, unmeasured scoop (heaping spoonful for me, like twice? I make a half gallon at a time.) from last batch goes in, stir it up, throw the lid back on (remember the different lid !!!) and hit your “Yogurt: Normal” setting.

   1. I’ve been told somewhere on the internet that the thing to do is remove any milk skin before mixing in your culture- I’ve never had good luck doing this, I just never get a sturdy enough milk skin to remove without it just falling apart, so I don’t bother anymore. It’s just to make your final product more silky-smooth, but I haven’t noticed it matters much and I don’t consider it worth the extra dishes to try to like use a skimmer or something. I say don’t bother. 

5. Wait.

   1. I have actually adjusted my Yogurt: Normal setting to run for like 24h or 36h or something dumb like that, and I just call it done whenever I find the time the next day to do the next step. Usually that winds up being about 13h of incubation time. 8 is pretty good, but after that and you’re still going to have yogurt.  I’ve heard that it gets more acidic the longer you let it go, and less sweet as the bacteria (gurt gremlins) eat up all the lactose or whatever. I’ve also heard that it gets less bad for lactose intolerant people the longer you let it go. Do your own research, though I’ll note summertime in the coops may be perfect for self-testing, as there are fewer people in line for the bathroom and you can sleep with the window open

   2. Short story long, anywhere from 8 hours to literally forever is probably fine. At the end of the time it’s set to, the instant pot will stop holding itself at a good yogurt temperature, so the gurting sort of changes, but I’m sure it’s fine no matter what happens as long as your culture gets established well enough to outcompete anything else that would be less kind to your insides. Or pathogenic, in otherwords .

6. You have yogurt!! Good job! Eat some, wait a while to make sure it won’t do in your friends, and then share!!

   1. I. Do… honestly prefer it cold though. The fresh yogurt that’s still warm from the incubation period is way looser and kinda weird to eat imo so I plop plop plop the gurt into a separate container (If you monopolize a shared instant pot’s pot for storage… don’t tell anyone you got this info from me. I don’t want to be associated with that.), write the date on it, and throw it in the fridge for a while to cool ! During this period pls clean the instant pot pot… It’s easiest to clean rn and the bottom does get a little cooked on but it’s a pretty quick job if you don’t let it dry and stick and stink on there. 

I’ve considered doing the incubation period in the yogurt’s “forever home,” whatever container it’s supposed to live in after you make it, and just setting it in the instant pot on a trivet in some water, but your mileage may vary and honestly that’s technically more dishes so really why bother. I’ve also been told you can make greek yogurt by doing this whole thing and then straining it through some cheesecloth or something, but I’ve never bothered to try. I’ve also heard that just using some greek yogurt for the culture is good, but I’ve not been that adventurous. 

Have fun! Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!
In Yo-opgurtation,

Rowan

PS(A): You have just made plain yogurt. Plain yogurt is different from vanilla yogurt. If you are used to vanilla yogurt, this might be gross to you until you add some sweetener to it. I have seen people make the mistake of thinking vanilla yogurt is plain- ice cream has lied to us in this regard. It tends to end in a nasty surprise. I’m telling you so I know you know, not because I think you don’t.