Easy Homemade Yogurt Recipe using a slow cooker

Today’s guest post comes from Emily of Random Recycling. I’ve been following Emily’s blog for a long time, and I am super excited that she’s here today sharing her homemade yogurt recipe with us!

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Do you find yourself spending a lot of money on yogurt at the grocery store? Whether you buy little cups, a large tub, organic or otherwise, yogurt can get expensive. When I realized I was spending close to $400 a year on yogurt alone, I decided to make a change. Making your own yogurt doesn’t have to be complicated and it’s very safe. I’ve tried to make it in the past using a stove top method with thermometers involved, but never found it that easy. The slow cooker method is simple, you just need to plan your time accordingly. I am using a 6 quart slow cooker for this recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 Gallon of Milk ~ cannot be Ultra-Pasteurized, which many Organic milk products are. I have found Organic Pasteurized milk at Trader Joe’s that worked fine.

1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt, called the “starter”. Once you make up your first batch, you can save a 1/2 cup and use for a future batch.

Instructions

Pour all of the milk into a slow-cooker and turn to Low. Leave it on for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug the cooker and let it sit for 3 hours.

At the end of 3 hours, mix in the 1/2 cup yogurt starter to the warm milk. I slowly whisk in the yogurt. Recover the slow cooker, then wrap the entire cooker with a thick bath towel to retain heat.

Let it sit overnight, or at least 8 hours. Transfer to storage containers, save a 1/2 a cup for the next batch and refrigerate.

That’s it! In the morning, you have yogurt. While I like it cool, I have eaten it right away in the morning, and so have the kids. I’ve tried my starter using both Plain and Vanilla and each worked fine, just choose according to your taste. I use my yogurt for baking and also to serve with my Homemade Granola. I usually mix fresh fruit in my yogurt and granola breakfast so I don’t miss the fruit on the bottom flavor. If that’s how you roll, you can make a puree in the blender of fresh or frozen fruit and then blend it into the yogurt.

It’s an easy way to not only save money, but also cut down on your plastic use. Happy cooking!

About the Author:

Emily Roach is a foodie, parent, blogger and happy wife. She became a SAHM last year and hasn’t looked back. You can find her stories at Random Recycling: Modern Green Living for Busy Families.

Comments

Gina says

May 17, 2012 at 5:45 pm

Love making yogurt! It is such a treat. We also freeze it to make popsicles. My husband loves it because he can flavor plain yogurt any way that he wants- he gets bored easily. 🙂 Thanks
Emily @ Random Recycling says

May 17, 2012 at 9:07 pm

Thanks Emily! Hope everyone has success with the yogurt. Don’t miss the granola recipe too!
- Emily says
  
  May 18, 2012 at 1:44 pm
  
  So happy to have you this week! I’m going to give the yogurt a try. I’m a bit nervous but your instructions are so easy to follow I think I can do it!

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