Simple Homemade Yogurt

I have decided that in this new year I am going to make whatever I can myself.  I love cooking and baking and make my own food as much as I can.  You are in control of the ingredients and what you are putting into your body when you cook at home.

I love making sourdough bread, buns and even cinnamon rolls.  Its super delicious and I do admit it was a learning curve for sure.  The body can digest sourdough much easier because of the fermentation.

With the price of food rising I am on a mission to make even more things myself. 

This is what made me try making yogurt.  The price of the one I was purchasing kept increasing each week and the amount stayed the same. The exact yogurt I was buying is the one on my Metabolic Balance meal plan that was curated by doctors in Germany.  It was specific to what my body needed to heal.  So I was buying it weekly and eating it most days for breakfast- so I knew I needed to troubleshoot this situation.

WIth a little inspiration and research I embarked on the journey very excited!!

I used my Instant Pot.  This is the exact one I have- with the handy Yogurt button.  I have had my instant pot for years and I will admit it has been collecting dust. 

In all honestly it intimidated me.

But when I was researching how to make yogurt I kept seeing how easy it was if you use an Instant pot!  So I literally dusted off my pot and was elated to see I have the Yogurt button!!

The journey was moving forward! 

I ran out to the store and purchased the milk I needed and then I had to wait until the morning to start because it takes a minimum of 8 hours.

 So this is what you have to do- and it depends on how much you want to make.

This is for the COLD start method and you must have a yogurt button on your instant pot for it to work.

You need 2 ingredients- milk and starter.  Crazy right?  You can also add in 1-2 cups of heavy cream, sweetened creamer or sweetened condensed milk.  

Using your clean instant pot- (take the ring out of the lid if you have used your pot for other things as the yogurt can absorb the smells) pour the milk in (I used 2litres).  I used the brand "Natrel" because its a fine pasteurization. This is very important if you are doing a cold start for food safety reasons.

Then add in 1-2 tablespoons of your starter yogurt.  I used the brand I always buy.  Its very important that whatever yogurt you decide to use as your starter contains one of these strains "lactobacilius bulgaricus", streprococcus thermophilus", "bifidobacterium lactis" or "lactobacillus acidophilus".

Stir until yogurt is combined with the milk.

If you wanted to add the heavy cream, creamer or sweetened condensed milk you add it now and stir until mixed well.

Put the lid on in the locked position and the pressure valve closed.  Select the yogurt "NORMAL" setting.  You should choose 8 hours or if you think you need longer you can use the + button to add time.

The IP will beep, and begin counting UP.

Walk away!

When its done it will beep again and YOGT will display.

Remove the insert and place in fridge to chill for 4-6 hours. After chilling do a thickness test- by taking a spoonful of yogurt and stir into a bowl.  It will thin out.  If you want it thicker you will need to strain it.

That's it!!

(if you want thicker yogurt -next time use a higher fat% milk). 

Store yogurt in fridge for up to 3 weeks.