Homemade Crock Pot Yogurt!

Homemade Crock Pot Yogurt!

I never realized how easy it is to make homemade yogurt until I saw a pin on Pinterest by One Good Thing by Jillee.  She calls it "crock pot yogurt", and it's so easy to make.  Just pick a day that you are planning to be home for the day.  I have a crock pot with a temperature probe, so that makes it just a little bit easier.  I just pour in the milk, add the powdered dry milk, and set the probe to 180 degrees F, and go about my business.  It takes about four hours on the low setting to reach that temperature.  Then I remove the crock pot from the well, set it on my stove top to let it cool down to the temperature of between 95 degrees F and 115 degrees F.  That takes about 1.5 to 2 hours or so.  Then mix in the yogurt tempered with some of the warm milk, stir well to thoroughly mix, and pour into clean mason jars.  Then place them into your oven, pop on the oven light, and wait another eight to twelve hours, I usually just leave them overnight.  Wallah, you have delicious yogurt.  Refrigerate a couple hours to chill for best results.

Here is the recipe:

1. 1 gallon milk - I use 1%, but you can use whatever your preference.  Fresh goats milk, if it's available to you, would be wonderful.*
2. 2 - 3 cups dry milk powder - I used 3 cups to my 1 gallon of milk.  This will help to make it thicker and creamier, while adding calcium and protien as well.
3. 1/2 cup yogurt - be sure to use yogurt with real live cultures.

Directions:

1. Heat milks (liquid and dry powder) to 180 degrees F on low setting of your crock pot.*  
2. Cool milk to anywhere between 95 degrees F to 115 degrees F.
3. Once cooled, stir in thoroughly yogurt that has been tempered with the warm milk.
4. Pour the mixture into any type of storage container you desire.  I used mason jars.
5. Place into your oven, turn on the oven light, and leave for 8 to 12 hours undisturbed.
6. Put jars into refrigerator to chill.
7. Done!

You now have more than four quarts of delicious yogurt for the price of little more than a gallon of milk!  How great is that?  You can use this yogurt for dips, in place of sour cream, add to your scrambled eggs in place of milk or cream.  I love it like Jillee wrote, with a few almonds and a little honey drizzled over.  Delicious!  Also great with fruit, or granola or grape nut cereal sprinkled on the top.  I eat it every day to help with calcium intake.  

*I saw this comment on Jillee's blog, and thought it very interesting:

"christa Monday, November 5, 2012 at 9:59 am

I used goats’ milk and went straight from the utter to the oven with the pilot light on. Worked great as I wrapped the jar with a towel as soon as I finished milking to keep it consistent in temp til i got back to the house."

I might have to try that sometime.

Carpe Diem! Lil and Bill