Homemade Yogurt in the Crock Pot

so i assume it taste like the plain unsweetened yogurt?

I made yogurt for the first time today too! my sister in law gave me the recipe,,, good idea for the sunflower seeds, I will have to get some.

Did you have any issues with a film forming over the yogurt? Also, when I made this I thought that it was REALLY sour. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Curious as to cost comparison here. How much did this make?? I pay just under $4.00 for a quart of Stoneyfield whole milk yogurt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on sale but occasionally get coupons for it.
I’ve wanted to try this for so long, but was terrified I would poison us all or something.

I’ve been using this method for a while and it is great! I have noticed that different brands of milk produce different thickness of yogurt (all other things were the same). It’s a fraction of the cost of buying yogurt and my DD eats it almost straight with just a bit of fruit compote in there. So much less sugar than many brands out there. I have strained it using multiple layers of cheesecloth and it has thickened really well!

I make mine in the microwave. I keep one cup of milk out and use 2 tbs of gelatine in it (stir like crazy). I put the rest of the milk in a large container in the microwave and heat until I can put a figure right on top and come away with a light scum (that tells me the milk is scalded enough). I put in 2 tbs of active plain yogurt and the cold milk mix and stir until there are no lumps. I set in a container of warm water, covered for 6-8 hours and then refrigerate.

I pulled the recipe from link for homemade go-gurts and started making homemade yogurt in my crockpot this summer and my boys (ages 2 & 4) eat it all within 7-9 days! They love it. We mash up some banana and sprinkle just a little sugar and they drink it as banana smoothies. I haven’t decided if it is really cheaper or not since they consume so much more of it than the store bought yogurt. lol. I also use it in place of sour cream. We really like it. This is yet another recipe I picked up from moneysavingmom. I am now required to keep a supply of slow cooker yogurt, buttery rolls, and bread sticks on hand. Thanks for having so many great recipes.

Would this work with coconut milk and coconut yogurt as the starter? We have a dairy allergy in the family. Coconut yogurt is yummy but pricey.

I made yogurt yesterday, too. Since it was 107 (!) here in NW Ohio yesterday, mine made a little faster by using the same method I used when we lived in central Africa and had consistently warm weather. In my crockpot, I heated the 1/2 gallon of milk (plain soymilk is what I had on hand) to 110 degrees. (My crockpot has a temperature probe.) I then stirred in 1/2 plain yogurt, and replaced the lid. Then, I removed the covered crock and placed it on my back porch in the sun for about 3 hours, then in the shade for another 1-2. Worked like a charm!

How long is the starter good for? The recipe looks easy to halve. I want to try it!!

I have used this method before too and it is really good. My only issue it that I sometimes has ‘lumps’ in it that have a wierd texture. Is it just bacteria cultures? I used fresh ingredients so it was not spoiled. I was afraid I was doing something wrong and didn’t want to upset any tummies. Anyone have an idea what the lumps are?

Thank you, I very much appreciate all your wholesome recipes. Please keep them coming!

I make this weekly, and my only problem is remembering when I started/finished the previous step. The online timer http://e.ggtimer.com/ has helped tremendously! I actually start all 3 timers at the beginning of the process, 1 timer for the initial milk heating, 1 timer for letting the milk cool down, and 1 timer for re-warming after adding the starter yogurt (I don’t think Crystal’s recipe has this step). This way I have all the timers set up front, and can’t forget!

I use this same recipe often but we like it thicker so I have been adding some boxed pudding. Makes the cost a little higher but it is super tasty. We have used vanilla, lemon, and banana cream and have loved it!

From what I’ve read, there may be two easy things to remember to get thicker yogurt. First, when you stir your starter into the 1 cup of milk, don’t stir much. I only stir 3 or 4 times around. Do this as well when you add it to the warm milk because you just want to spread out the starter, not destroy it. Lumpy is ok. Over stirring can cause it to be runny. The other thing to do is to put your crock pot crock directly into the refrigerator to fully cool, after the towel incubation, before you put it into containers or stir. These two things make our crock pot yogurt thick. Oh, the longer it’s in a towel, the more sour it gets.

I make yogurt in my crockpot every week following a similar recipe. At the point of mixing the milk and starter yogurt, I take out a cup of the milk and mix it with the store bought yogurt and a package of sugar free /fat free vanilla yogurt. After the eight hours wrapped in the towel, I strain it by pouring it into a cheesecloth covered colander sitting in a large mixing bowl. I cover it and put it in the refrigerator for several hours. The longer it is strained, the thicker it gets. We love this yogurt and eat it pretty fast. I use half skim milk and half 2%. It costs about .09 an ounce which is not a huge difference from on-sale yogurt but we like knowing our ingredients and we love the flavor. It goes with all fresh fruits, granola, etc. And I use it in place of sour cream.

I have made yogurt before, and what you are doing takes a lot of unnecessary time, counter space and expense (electricity for hours of cooking).

I ‘facilitate’ an international cooking class and bring in a cook from a different country for each class. My friend from Pakistan taught me a long time ago how she makes yogurt which is a staple in their diet. She repeatedly gave me the recipe until I finally insisted she and I make some together. It was indeed as easy as she kept telling me it was. She even gave me a small enamel bowl to make it in. She does not like glass or plastic.

She mixes a few spoons full (no measurements) of her reserved starter-yogurt into some milk, fat or a little fat but for her not skim, and set it on her counter and covered the top with something to keep dust/pests out, that’s it! Left unshaken and not disturbed, in 6-8 hours it begins to congeal and goes into her frige. I think it’s a little thinner than I’m used to, not sure anymore.

I also had someone tell me their climate is cold so they make yogurt in a cold manner. Might have been an Ukrainian friend. That’s all I can remember, sorry.

My Bulgarian friend (Bulgarian is the pinnacle of probiotic yogurts) choses her ingredients carefully and insists you need a large towel to wrap it in. She warms her milk before making yogurt as many do, I assume to speed up the thickening.

We can’t make it in class because it is not to be disturbed after making it so it does not lend well to a class. She demonstrated and sent some of hers home with everyone.

All yogurts will taste different, some more sour and some less. You can adjust the flavor and make a far better product easier and with less expense. Milk is costly, homemade yogurt is not cheap but a much better product. Hope this helps!

I loved this! I made it for my daughter, whose 3, and she loved it too. We added some fresh strawberries that we had frozen from picking and that was just the best! I did make the frozen also, and put it in the sandwich bags like I read. Delicious and it was so easy!

I agree, making yogurt is so great! I have been making thick Greek style yogurt for the last year. I found an excellent website that explains how to do it. You might want to take a look and see yourself: http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/making-homemade-yogurt
You can save time by heating the milk in the microwave for about 17 minuets on high or until the temp reaches above 175. Also, putting about 1 tablespoon of your previous yogurt per half gallon of milk is plenty. I have been told that putting in much more than that can have problems because the bacteria needs room to grow.

Actually, you dont need to heat the milk these days as most recipes call for unless you’re using fresh whole milk. Back in the olden days, milk wasnt pasteurized and needed to be scalded to kill any bacteria that might be hanging around.
I’ve been making yogurt for about 33 years and in the beginning, I scalded like all the old recipes said, but over the years, talking to others (before computers) who didnt scald convinced me to try it. I dont scald now. Its a waste of time & energy. (again, unless you are using raw milk).

Also if you add half & half to your milk, it will thicken it considerably. Funny thing about it though, is that if you try to make it out of 100% half & half, it will be much thinner than if you just made it from milk. Also, heavy cream doesnt make it thicker either. About 1/2 milk to 1/2 h&h gives the best thickest results but any added to the milk will thicken it.

I have been making yogurt for a couple of years, and although I have had success with the crockpot method, I feel like I get better results on the stovetop. I boil water in a large stockpot and place my pot of milk over the top to heat. It is like using a giant double boiler – keeps the milk from burning, and you don’t have to watch it as closely. I fill the stockpot with ice water to cool the milk back down to 110. Although, after reading previous comments, I may try making yogurt without heating it first… After I have mixed my starter in, I wrap the yogurt in a large towel and then an emergency blanket (the silver ones that look like aluminum foil). This keeps the yogurt at a consistant temp -again even in the winter when my kitchen gets VERY cold!