Mayberry Monday: Instant Pot Greek Yogurt
Last week, I scored two bottles of whole milk on clearance at my local grocery store that were about to expire.
I brought them home and the first was almost gone in less than a day (my kids can blow through milk when I let them). I knew we couldn't get through both bottles before they spoiled, so I decided to make yogurt. I used to do this every week before we moved out here, but for some reason I stopped when we moved. We also pretty much stopped eating yogurt. Some of the kids had been asking for some recently, but I won't spend a fortune on the good stuff, and won't waste my money on the bad, so I finally decided to make it myself.
I'm a HUGE fan of the blog and Youtube channel Farmhouse on Boone, and immediate went looking for the old process I followed years ago. I pretty much followed Lisa's directions (though I definitely didn't stir constantly), and the result was better than I remembered.
If you're interested in the recipe, you can follow the link to Lisa's video, or read about what I did below.
Instant Pot Greek Yogurt
1. Pour a half gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, and press the “sauté” button. 2. Bring the milk up to 180 degrees stirring often. I used a small thermometer to test the temp. Once you hit the correct temp, press “cancel” to turn it off.
3. Let the milk cool back down to 115 degrees. This took FOREVER. Or maybe I was just super impatient.
4. Mix in 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.
5. Set Instant Pot for 12 hours on the yogurt setting.
You can go anywhere from 8-24 hours. My kids prefer it at 10-12 or it starts to get too tangy. Just don't go longer than 24 hours or you'll start to kill off the good bacteria you just made!
When the yogurt is done, use a strainer or cheese cloth (I used these flour
sack towels) to strain off the whey. The longer you strain it the thicker your yogurt will be.
When you have strained off the whey (save this in a jar and use for other recipes, or to add back to your yogurt if you decide you want it thinner), you can pour the yogurt into a blender and pulse a few times if you want a super smooth texture, or just transfer to a jar or dish and put it in the fridge.
And that's it! I added honey and vanilla to mine. I don't have measurements for those, just measure with your heart. =)
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