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Yogurt in the Slow Cooker
November 4th, 2009
If you halfway like yogurt, you’ll love homemade yogurt! And, you’ll really love the price!
Yogurt
1/2 gallon whole milk
1 c. plain yogurt (Buy it the first time but save some of your own yogurt for the next time!)
That’s it . . 2 ingredients! You will need a food thermometer also. I use a 2-1/2 quart slow cooker and I’ve heard that those who use a larger slow cooker (as in 5 quart or larger) have had some problems with the yogurt cooking too quickly. There are several ways to make the yogurt . . one is by heating the milk for 2 – 3 hours, then letting it cool for 2 – 3 hours. If you use a thermometer, I don’t think it should matter what size pot you use.
Pour the milk into the slow cooker. Place the lid on the slow cooker and turn to high. Heat til the milk reaches 180 to 190 degrees. Turn off and unplug the slow cooker and let it sit (unattended . . don’t bother it!) til the yogurt temp drops to 115 degrees. Remove about 1 cup of the warm milk and stir into the 1 cup of yogurt to temper the yogurt. Add it all back into the warm milk, stir. I used a whisk to get it all blended together really nicely.
Replace the lid on the slow cooker and wrap the whole thing in a couple of thick towels. Let sit 10 – 12 hours and you will have a slow cooker of yummy homemade yogurt! Dish into containers and store in the fridge at least 8 hours before serving.
See that jar of caramel apple jam sitting there? That’s what I’m going to add to some of my yogurt. Add anything you want if you want to use add-ins. We’ve added blackberry pie filling that I’d canned, peach pie filling that I’d canned, storebought sweetened frozen fruit, etc. Canned fruit can be added when the yogurt is put into containers or it can be added when you’re ready to serve the yogurt. At serving time, other things like nuts, granola, chocolate chips, etc. can be added to the yogurt.
6 ounces of plain yogurt was saved for another recipe, 2 larger cups were filled with plain yogurt. Some of that will be used for my starter for the next batch, some will be used in place of sour cream on baked potatoes. The rest of the batch went into 7 cups of Caramel Apple Yogurt.
Labeled and ready to go into the fridge for at least 8 hours before serving.
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I’m so glad you posted this! You have me baking bread, knitting socks and now making yogurt. What a good influence you are!
One question though…how long will the yogurt last in the fridge? More than 1 week? Thanks so much! ~Karleen
Judy, what type of thermometer do you have that you can check the temp without disturbing the lid?
awesome Judy…will try this weekend..now if I like vanilla yogurt can I add the extract in? I am so new to this…or should I buy the vanilla yogurt instead of plain…
Did you reply to the above questions? could I get those answers, too? I don’t like plain yogurt but love vanilla and some fruit yogurts. And I would really like to try this.
I’ve never tried adding vanilla. Vanilla alone isn’t going to add any sweetness, whereas the jam I add does add some sweetness. I’m not sure that adding vanilla flavored yogurt. I’ve never tried that.
I love your containers! Where did you get them? I’m looking forward to giving this a try!
Judy, does it have to be whole milk or do you think I can get away with 1%? I don’t know enough to know if the fat in whole milk is necessary for the yogurt.
Mmmmm Judy. I’ve been wanting to try your yogurt recipe for awhile now-I think it’s time to take the plunge. I was wondering if you ever tried this with 2% milk instead of whole milk. I love the idea of making my own but I’m cringing at the extra calories in whole milk-I’m still trying to work off the Christmas cookies that took up residence around my waist!
I’ve only used whole milk. You might google to see if you can find anyone who’s done it with 2% milk. The worst that can happen though is you ruin 1/2 gallon of 2% milk and 1 cup of plain yogurt so if you can’t find anyone who’s done it, just try it and let us know what happens.
Don’t know. I’ve only tried it with whole milk.