Recipe: Homemade Yogurt in the Crock Pot

There aren't that many yogurt brands that meet all of my requirements:  Certified kosher, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial sweeteners, must have active cultures, not loaded with extra sugars.  And of course there's the expense--it has to be cheap.  So when I read this post on Jane4girls about making homemade yogurt in a crock pot, I knew I had to try it.


I didn't own a dairy crock pot but I wanted to try this so bad I went out and bought one.  I found a 1.5qt. crock pot at Target for $7 and it's already paid for itself in yogurt savings. 


The original recipe called for twice these amounts but used a bigger crock pot.  I cut it in half for the mini and it's just enough for a few days worth of homemade yogurt for my family of five.


This takes all day to make and there are a few simple steps, so start it first thing in the morning so it can be finished by the time you go to bed and ready to eat cold the next morning.


Here's what you need:


4 cups of *whole* milk
1/4 plain, active culture yogurt (first batch is store-bought, after that just save some from your homemade batch)
1.5-2qt. crock pot
Thick bath towel


Here's what you do:


1.  Pour the milk into the crock pot.  Set it on low and leave it for 2 1/2 hours. 


2.  Unplug the crock pot, leave it covered and let it sit for 3 hours.


3.  Remove 1 cup of the milk and put it into a bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of yogurt to the bowl and stir.  Add that mixture back into the crock pot, stir it up and put the lid back on.


4. Wrap the crock pot with a thick bath towel (completely wrap and cover it), and let it sit for 8 hours.


5. Unwrap the crock pot, take off the lid and check the consistency with a spoon (it won't be as thick as store bought yogurt although my second batch was thicker than the first).  Go ahead and taste-test it.


6.  Yell to your family in the next room, "Oh, my gosh--it worked!  I did it!   Honey, kids, come here!  It totally worked!  WE ARE NEVER BUYING YOGURT AGAIN!  WOO HOO!"


7.  Do the "Cabbage Patch" while singing, "Oh yeah...I did it...I made yogurt...in my crock pot."


8.  Regain your senses.  Transfer the yogurt to a plastic container with a secure lid and refrigerate.  (Supposedly this will keep for 7-10 days in the fridge, but we have yet to have any left after 2 days.)  :D


Add fresh or frozen (thawed) fruit as needed, not as one big batch.  Same thing goes for sweeteners.  Time it so that it's done just before bed so you can refrigerate it and have it ready in the morning. (Sunday is my yogurt making day), or time so you do the last step of wrapping right before bed then refrigerate in the morning and it's ready for after school snack time.


My kids are totally loving this because they get to have whatever kind they want all the time and now they're experimenting with flavors.  I'm totally loving it because we get active culture (probiotic), kosher yogurt for the price of 4 cups of milk and I'm in control of what goes into it so it's not loaded up with preservatives, sugar, or artifical anything.


Besides just eating it straight, we've been making all kinds of stuff with it.  My husband made homemade falafal with an awesome yogurt cucumber sauce and we've also made dips for chips.


How will you use your homemade yogurt?


Let me know!