Crockpot Yogurt Instructions

Sam has been doing all the grocery shopping, and he doesn't like to buy yogurt because, quote, "The kids go nuts over it."

I'd made yogurt before, but stopped, and thought I might start again. I use a mishmash of instructions I found online and thought it might be good to document them here since I haven't seen these exact steps elsewhere. 

1) Dump an entire gallon of whole milk into the crockpot and set out your starter to bring it to room temperature. Starter can be leftover from your last batch of yogurt or a small container of plain yogurt with active (live) cultures from the store. 

2) Leave it alone in the crockpot on high for 2.5 hours. Wrapped in a beach towel here to conserve heat. 

3) After 2.5 hours for a gallon (it takes less time for a half gallon), check with a meat thermometer that the temp of the milk has reached about 190 degrees Farenheight (I think between 180-200 is okay). If you don't have a meat thermometer, you can see and smell that the milk has scalded. In fact, I'm not sure why I keep checking because the 2.5 hours has consistently worked with my particular crockpot.

4) Unplug crockpot and scoop out 1-2 cups of the hot milk to cool in a big bowl.

5) Put the crock into a bath of ice water in the sink. 

6) Stirring frequently, monitor with the meat thermometer until the milk has cooled to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit (I think 100-120 is okay) then pull it out of the ice bath. If you don't have a meat thermometer, check the milk on the inside of your wrist.  

6) Check the temp of the milk you set aside in the bowl to cool, it should be less than 120, then mix your starter in with the reserved milk in the bowl, then dump the milk/starter slurry into the crockpot and gently stir. Steps 3-6 are definitely the most labor-intensive part and it only takes 15 minutes. 

OPTIONAL: For very, very, very thick yogurt, you can mix in 1/2 packet or 1/2 a cup of fat-free dried milk powder at this point. 

7) Your next goal is just to keep them milk consistently warm for the next 10-12 hours. You can put it back in the crockpot and wrap the towel around it, or put it in a slightly warm oven - around 100-110 degrees (I preheat to the lowest the oven will go, then turn it off, then put the crockpot in.) 

8) Make sure no one tries to use the oven while your yogurt is doing its thing! A note over the oven clock/controls does the trick. 

9) After 10-12 hours, remove the crockpot from the oven and check that the yogurt has set. It's amazing! So satisfying! 

10) Remove about 1/2 cup to 1 cup to use for your starter for the next batch in 1-2 weeks. Put the starter in the back of the fridge. 

11) I like very thick, greek-style yogurt, so I drain quite a bit of whey off. Line a colander or sieve (or a colander AND a sieve!) with a paper towel and drain for 4 hours-overnight. 

Mine reduces by about 1/2 if I leave it overnight and glops easily off the paper towel. 

12) For super smooth yogurt, blend in batches. You can also add a squirt of vanilla syrup at this stage: 

Since I drain off so much whey, one gallon of milk makes 9-10 cups of finished yogurt. If you accidentally drain off too much and find that you like yours a little thinner, you can always add more whey back in during the blending step. 

I've been rinsing my hair with the whey - the proteins and pH balance are supposed to be good for curly hair. Also, the dog REALLY REALLY loves to drink it. It's supposed to have a lot of good probiotics in it as well, and can be subbed for water when making soups, etc., or to thin out your yogurt smoothie, but I haven't tried that. 

13) Our favorite way to eat it is with a big spoonful of jam: 

Frozen blueberries are also very good: 

One gallon of whole organic milk is $7.49. If I were to buy 1/2 a gallon of whole organic yogurt, it is $8.39, but I can hardly ever find it at the store. Regular whole milk is currently $3.19 a gallon, and whole milk plain greek yogurt is $5.29 a gallon, so not much cost savings unless you get a good deal on milk (theoretically post-COVID I'll start shopping at ALDI again!), but it is incredibly delicious and kind of a fun sciencey project.