Making Yogurt in the Crock Pot
(Instructions courtesy of my pal Dani, but I have no idea where she got them.)
NON-FOOD SUPPLIES:
- 6-quart or larger Crock Pot
- Old t-shirt (or several layers of cheesecloth) for straining (optional)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 gallon milk of any kind, but NOT ULTRA-PASTEURIZED OR IT WON’T SOLIDIFY. (Homogenized is OK, as is pasteurized, but NOT the ultra-pasteurized kind)
- 1 cup plain yogurt with live, active cultures (Once you’ve made your first batch, you can save a cup to use for this.)
- If desired, vanilla, fruit, sweetener to add later (or garlic & herbs if you’re making yogurt cheese).
DIRECTIONS:
- Pour milk into Crock Pot. Put the lid on, and cook it on LOW for 2 1/2 hours.
- Turn off/unplug Crock Pot and just let it sit for 3 hours.
- Take out 4 cups or so of the warm milk and whisk in the 1 cup of yogurt. Stir mixture back into Crock Pot. Put the lid back on and wrap the Crock Pot with towels (I use 2 beach towels folded in 1/2 around it and 1 beach towel folded in 1/4’s on top). Let it sit for 8 hours.
- (Optional) Put t-shirt over the top of a really large bowl (I put the steamer insert into my big pasta pot and put the t-shirt inside it). Scoop out yogurt onto top of t-shirt and let the whey drip through. The longer you let it sit and strain, the thicker the yogurt will be. If you let it sit too long and it ends up thicker than you want it, you can stir some whey back in.
- (Optional) Stir in any flavorings, fruit, or sweeteners you want.