Homemade Greek Yogurt

First you need to collect all your tools to make yogurt.

Instant Pot or large dutch oven
Digital thermometer
Whole milk (1 gallon)
Plain yogurt with active cultures
Sugar (optional) 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract (optional) 2 Tbls
Strainer or Colander
Nut milk bag
Glass jars

I was raised on a small family farm and was blessed to have fresh cows milk most of my life in which we would also have the great opportunity to make fresh butter. I think my father has milked a cow since he was 14 years old. He has owned many milk cows over the years but I think his cow Daisy that he owns now is his favorite. After she calves she puts out so much milk that we don’t know what to do with it all. Several years ago we were having to learn some new skills so that we could use all that milk. I made all different kinds of cheese, ice cream, sour cream and of course yogurt.

Yogurt is one of my favorite things to make and with my new Instant Pot it is so super easy. You don’t have to have an Instant Pot to make yogurt, and I will go through the steps of both ways, but the Instant Pot has changed yogurt making for me forever! I love it!

Step 2

When the “boil” process is over the Instant Pot will chime and the display on the Instant Pot will say “yogrt” to let you know this step is finished and it is ready for the cool down process. There are two ways to cool down the milk, the natural method or the quick method. I always do the quick method because I don’t like to wait. The natural method is just to let the milk sit with the lid off, while stirring occasionally, until the temperature drops to 115 degrees. This may take about an hour or so. The quick method is to take the steel pot insert out of the instant pot and set it in a cool water bath. I use the kitchen sink and cold tap water.

Step 1

The first step in making yogurt is to heat the yogurt to 200 degrees. Use a digital thermometer to make sure you get it to the right temperature. If you are making it in the Instant Pot all you have to do is push the yogurt button. You want it to say “boil” on the display. Read your Instant Pot instructions for correct steps to get the “boil” to display. My pot all you have to do is push the “yogurt” button 2X to get the “boil” to display, but on my mom’s edition you push the “yogurt” button once and the “adjust” button twice to get the “boil” to show up on the display. Wait for a few seconds and it will beep and automatically start.

While stirring constantly and watching the digital thermometer carefully, I drop the temperature down to 118 degrees. The temperature will drop 2 degrees every 10-20 seconds or so. It takes about 5 min total time this way. Because it is dropping so fast I remove the pot from the water bath at 118 degrees so that when I put the culture in it will be around 115 degrees and perfect for incubation. I dry off the outside of the steel pot insert and place it back in the Instant Pot. If you are not using an Instant Pot and using a dutch oven or stainless steel pot, the cool down methods are the same.

Step 3

Now it’s incubation time. Your milk is at the perfect temperature to grow the culture. Take your 1/2 cup starter culture, I like using Great Value Plain Greek Yogurt, but any plain or vanilla Greek yogurt that has active cultures in it will work, and whisk it with a cup of the warm milk to dissolve it. Pour the milk culture mixture back into the pot. Here is where you would mix in your sugar and vanilla into the milk if you want sweet yogurt. Replace the Instant Pot lid and push the yogurt button once and adjust the time with the + or – buttons until it reads 12:00 on the display. Depending on the edition of your Instant Pot you may have to push the “Yogurt” button once and then the “Adjust” button until it reads a time on the display and adjust with the + and – buttons until it reads 12:00. You will be incubating the yogurt for 12 hours. Depending on the sharpness of the yogurt you want, adjust the time of incubation up or down 2 hours.

For the Dutch Oven method incubation will need to be done a little different. You need to keep the yogurt warm so you can put the Dutch Oven in a warm oven for the 10-12 hours, making sure to not get the yogurt too warm or it will kill the culture and the yogurt won’t set. Anther method you can use is placing the yogurt in the glass jars and placing them in a towel lined ice chest with a heating pad inside, on top of the jars. The key is just to keep it at a constant warm temperature around 115 degrees. This is where the Instant Pot is great because you don’t have to worry about this part. Just set it and walk away. I love it!!

Step 4

Now you are going to get ready to strain the yogurt. Place a pie tin upside down in the bottom of the extra large bowl or in the bottom of your sink so that the colander is elevated and the yogurt will drain properly. Line the colander with the nut milk bag. I have used multiple layers of cheese cloth to strain the yogurt but the milk bag works better due to the fine mesh material.

Take the yogurt out of the Instant Pot and you will see that it is slightly firm. Pour it into the colander with the nut milk bag lining it and cover it up by tying it up or cover with cheese cloth. Let the yogurt sit and strain for 1-2 hours. This is going to be a personal preference. The longer you strain it the thicker it will be. I like straining it for 2 hours. Once I strained it for 4 hours and it was like eating cheese cake. It was really good but a little too thick.

Step 5

Once it has strained and it is the thickness you want. Dump the yogurt in a bowl and mix it with a whisk or electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Use a funnel to put the yogurt into jars. I like the little jars because they are individual servings. Store in the fridge for up to 1-2 months. Serve with fresh fruit and granola or nuts. I have also used it smoothies. I hope that you will really enjoy this yogurt. Make sure to save at least 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt as your starter for your next batch. You will never have to buy yogurt again.