Making yogurt at home is super easy with an Instant Pot. I have an Instant Pot 6 Quart Duo with an accessory glass lid for yogurt making or slow cooking. You may use the sealing lid, vented. It will not come to pressure and you may open it at any time.
All cooking utensils/pots should be super clean. I mean clean. Run them through your sanitizing cycle in the dish washer or use boiling water.
Add 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon of 2% or whole cow's milk to the instant pot.
Press the yogurt button and adjust until the display reads "boil"
I like to stir mine periodically to keep it from sticking and to ensure even heating.
The milk should reach a minimum of 180°F
(You may also heat your milk slowly on the stove top in a heavy boiler.)
After milk has reached 180°F, remove the cooking pot and cool.
You may place the pot in an ice bath to speed along the cooling process. Have a thermometer handy because it does not take long.
Cool milk to 110°F and remove from ice bath. You want the milk between 100°-110°F.
Whisk in starter culture (yogurt from your last batch).
If using frozen culture (dollops from your previous batch), like in the pic above, allow to thaw before whisking in. Do not heat to thaw, you will kill the cultures. That will not be nice.
Gently stir the culture into the pot of milk.
For starter culture for your first batch, use plain commercial yogurt with LIVE active cultures or plain yogurt from a friend. For subsequent batches, you can freeze some of the yogurt from the last batch you made.
Sources say to use 1 tablespoon yogurt per quart of milk. Honestly, I just take a big spoonful and plop it right in. It is fine. Don't overthink it.
Press Yogurt button and it will automatically incubate for 8 hours. The longer you incubate, the more tangy it becomes. I usually let mine incubate between 6 and 8 hours.
If you don't have an Instant Pot/yogurt maker, just cover and wrap heavy towels around your saucepan to insulate it. Let it sit in a warm place for 6 to 8 hours.
Wait.
(the hard part)
I usually make yogurt in the evening so it can incubate overnight.
When complete, remove yogurt to freeze to start your next batch. It is easy to freeze in ice cube trays. You can measure it out in each section so you will know how much to thaw.
You now have creamy yogurt! You may flavor it or use it as you wish.
This makes a thin yogurt. You will need to stir in the whey.
For Greek Yogurt (thick), keep reading.
Greek Yogurt is strained plain yogurt. It makes it somewhat thicker.
Wet a doubled cheesecloth or cotton towel (I use 100% cotton bar towels) OR use a Greek yogurt strainer.
Strain until you reach the consistency you prefer. We like ours thick. I strain about 3 to 4 hours. You can always stir some whey back into it if it gets too thick.
For Labne (Labneh) Cheese - aka Yogurt Cheese,
keep reading.
All it takes to turn your Greek Yogurt into cheese, is straining time. I usually strain it for about 12 hours. It becomes thick and creamy and delicious. It can be substituted for sour cream, made into dips, or used as toppings. Our favorite way to eat it is on a waffle with pear or muscadine jam. I also put it in chili.
