Homemade Crockpot Yogurt
This past month, I have made it my goal to rid my kitchen of as many store bought products as possible. I know I can’t get rid of everything, but a girl can sure try.
I wanted to find options for condiments, such as ketchup and bar-b-cue sauce (something Biceps consumes by the truckload), butter, yogurt, granola (to replace our cereal), summer drinks and canned anything.
Photo Source
The process of making it myself had to be simple, cost effective and better tasting to warrant the move.
Last week, I shared with all of you my recipe for Tasty Granola sweetened by Agave Nectar. And what goes better with granola than yummy, creamy, sweet yogurt? I dare say nothing does.
Today, we are going to focus just on the yogurt. The granola will just have to get along on its own, crying by itself in the cabinet. It’s yogurt’s time to shine.
I was on the hunt for an easy, cheap recipe to make my own yogurt-free from things found in the ingredient’s list that I cannot pronounce. After a few tries, I came up with the perfect recipe-and it’s all done in the crockpot and with very little effort.
I start my yogurt in the evening, knowing that the cool down can happen overnight and I can enjoy fresh yogurt in the morning!
Here’s all that you’ll need to make your very own yogurt (makes 1/2 gallon of yogurt):
-1/2 Gallon of Milk* (I used 2%, because that’s what we drink.)
-1 Cup Plain Yogurt with active cultures (after you make your first batch, you save a cup and use on the next batch. No more store bought yogurt!)
-*1/2 Cup Powdered Milk (if using 2% or lower milk, or ultra pasteurized milk)
-Crockpot
-Cooking Thermometer
Pour the 1/2 gallon of milk into the crockpot, cover with the lid and set to high.
Let the milk heat until it’s almost to the boiling stage with the desired temperature of 180. This took my crockpot about 1 1/2-2 hours to do.
Once the milk has reached 180, turn the crockpot off and let it cool down to 115. I would recommend stirring it from time to time to distribute the heat and help it cool down more quickly.
Once the milk has cooled to 115, stir in the 1/2 Cup of Powdered milk if you are using it.
Next, stir in the 1 Cup of Plain Yogurt.
Put the lid back on the crockpot and cover it with a large towel.
Set the crockpot in the oven and let it cool down for 8-12 hours (or overnight).
Write yourself a note so that you won’t accidentally turn the oven on and burn your house down if you are forgetful like me.
In the morning, open the oven, remove the beach towel and see what happened overnight! .
Remember to save back a cup of this yogurt, sticking it in a ziploc bag and placing it in the freezer for your next batch.
Sweeten the yogurt with liquid Stevia (I prefer the Vanilla Creme), add some strawberries and Tasty Homemade Granola and voila-enjoy a delicious breakfast all made by you!
Okay question: I’ve been making me own yogurt for a couple months now, but haven’t heard of the powdered milk, and my recipe calls for using cheese cloth to strain it. Your recipe sounds so much easier. Does the powdered milk make it thicker making it unecessary to strain it?
If you use 2% milk (or less) or if its ultra pasteurized, you’ll need the powdered milk to make it thicker. You can omit the powdered milk if you can find whole milk and it’s not ultra pasteurized.
There’s no need to strain the yogurt at any time. If you follow the recipe, by the morning you have a crockpot full of yogurt ready to eat!
So, question for you. Have you been able to successfully add the sugar or flavorings before serving, and then store in the fridge? The texture in mine seems to suffer when I do that. I’m new to yogurt and haven’t got this figured out yet.
I dish it up and sweeten mine with Stevia right before I serve it, to each person’s taste. I also add the fruit/granola right before I serve it. It pretty much stays plain until it goes down the ol hatch!
Have pinned it and will be trying this soon! I eat so much yogurt it’s ridiculous. Yogurt stands in for sour cream quite often in our house. It’s great to add in when making ranch dressing. We stir it into curry to give it added creaminess. I even use it on tacos. And of course for breakfast with granola.
Stacy-
Yogurt on tacos!? I hadn’t thought of that. I may need to make tacos tonight just to try this out. Thanks for the tip!
Rebekah – can you tell me how much yogurt this made?
Stacy-
It makes a 1/2 gallon of yogurt. Yum.
I saw Yoghurt… Crockpot… and I HAD to come look! *Winks* What a great recipe and not at all complicated, which is just how I like it! The Note on the Oven made me smile too… that would be me… so that step was important! *LOL*
Blessings from the Arizona Desert… Dawn… The Bohemian
Dawn-
So glad you stopped by! Hope you love your own Crockpot yogurt. Let me know how it turns out for you!
This is very interesting. I t hink I am going to make my own yogurt next time. May I ask what specific brand of Yogurt you used? Thanks for sharing this at Passion Parade Link Soiree.
xo
Myric
I think I started off with a cup of Organic Stonyfield Farm’s plain yogurt. But after that, I just save back a cup of the yogurt batch to use in the next batch. I tried to find something originally with just a few ingredients and no sugar. That seemed to work the best.
This is great I love yogurt but never thought about making my own until now. Thanks for a great recipe.
I make my own too, but on the stove. I’ll have to try the crock pot way. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hello Rebekah- I am so thrilled that you link up each week. You rock, thank you. I wanted to let you know that I wanted to feature your granola and strawberries Sat. but I couldn’t right click and save a picture to do so. It gave me like a foggy image with a spinning thinking circle. I tried on a few other pics. but same thing. I hope that I can feature you in the future and that I will be able to copy one of your images, as I do on other blogs. Have a great day, Thanks a bunch, jen
I soooo wish I liked yoghurt. I know it’s so good for you, and this looks like a recipe that even I could follow. Thanks so much for sharing at Etcetorize this week!
I am SO intrigued by this easy recipe! I’m pinning it for now and will make it soon – A.MA.ZING!
Thanks much for sharing – and thanks for being my guest at The Better Baker today! It’s time to go make some more tea…=)
P.S. – Oopsie – I didn’t see a link back to Weekend Potluck? Maybe I’m missing it, but if we are going to consider your recipes for features, we do like you to link back to us. Thanks much –
Sorry about that, Marsha! I have added you to my list at the bottom of my post!
How long does that much yogurt last you? I wonder if we would eat it all before it went bad. Do you know if it can freeze? I love the idea of saving and making my own yogurt. Seems like it would be delicious and affordable, too!
A half gallon usually lasts us (which is a hungry hubby & me) a little over a week or so. We have 1/4 -1/2 cup of it for breakfast, along with my granola. I have put it in the freezer before for later consumption, but it tends to get a little watery upon thawing out. I usually only freeze the one cup that I need for the next batch!
OMG-these photos are amazing and it looks so tasty and wholesome! I am such a strawberry fan so this was a winner for me! Thanks for linking this up at Seasonal Celebration Sunday! Rebecca x
great recipe. thanks. looks scrumptious!
Yummy, yummy. I could just dip into that right now!
My mum used to make yoghurt when we were kids – I’d totally forgotten until I read your post! I really should try it myself sometime!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a fabulous week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
Ok here’s my question..do you have to use plain yogurt? I have some vanilla yogurt I would love to try this with. Otherwise I’ll have to go buy another thing of plain yogurt.
Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday last week! I’ll be featuring you on this weeks linky tomorrow 🙂
I’ve only used plain yogurt-so I don’t know how a flavored yogurt would react-or if the sugar would do anything weird…Maybe try a small batch and experiment?! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you for participating in Show Your Stuff Blog Hop, You are invited to come back:
http://juliejewels1.blogspot.com/2012/06/show-your-stuff-29-mini-cherry.html
This sounds good and I am interested in trying it, thanks so much for sharing. I have to see if powdered milk is gluten free, hmmm???
Hello! I featured your homemade yogurt at Passion Parade Link Soiree! Thank you soo much!
Don’t forget to link-up again 🙂
xo
Myric
Now, that’s awesome! I am so glad you linked it up to our Handmade Tuesdays party. Thanks for joining us!
Just to let you know – your wonderful project was featured on homework today. Come on over and a grab a button. As always, thank you so much for linking up your project. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thanks so much, Carolyn. What an honor! I’ll be right over!
Sounds nice & easy! Great yogurt making idea. Thanks for linking to Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do:)
OK. I think I hit a few speed bumps in my yogurt. I made a half recipe because my crockpot is tiny. after 2 1/2 hours my crockpot only got the milk up to 170. After which I let it cool to 110 by accident. I talked to a friend who makes her yogurt all the time and said those temps are fine and that yogurt is very forgiving. Well mine wasn’t. After 8 hours in the oven it was the consistency of whole milk and didn’t really taste like the original yogurt. I love the flavor and thickness of my store bought yogurt but it is so expensive that I thought I would give this a try. I was wondering if you could tell me where I went wrong?
That said I also made your granola and it is the best I ever made. My husband keeps begging me to make more which is great because before me he was a sugary frosted flakes guy. Thank you!
Hm…
I was wondering first what kind of milk (what percent) you used? I always use Great Value Organic 2%. Did you remember to add the powdered milk? I had a weird reaction using a different type of milk once (Target’s Archer Farms) & the yogurt was a little runnier. I went back to my usual 2% milk & haven’t had problems since. I hope you can make it work. Let me know how I can help! Glad the granola worked out, though!
I did use a store brand milk. I will try organic next time. Would using whole milk or 2% and dry milk give me creamier yogurt?
Whole milk will make thick yogurt, as does the 2% plus powdered. I buy 2% for every day use. If you use whole milk, skip the powdered milk!
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I have tried this twice and I am ending up with thick milk. Any suggestions?
Amy-
A couple of questions:
1. What type of milk are you using?
2. Are you adding the powdered milk and yogurt after allowing the warm milk to cool down to about 115?
3. Are you covering it with a beach towel and letting it sit overnight?
Let me know! Let’s get to the bottom of this milky mess. I just had some more yogurt this morning for breakfast and it’s delicious. I don’t want you to miss out on this one!
[…] here are a few Homemade Food Items to easily replace store-bought items: Simple, Tasty Granola Easy Crockpot Yogurt Simple, Homemade Butter Cooking and Freezing Beans, avoiding BPA Homemade Hummus Garden Fresh […]
[…] here are a few Homemade Food Items to easily replace store-bought items: Simple, Tasty Granola Easy Crockpot Yogurt Simple, Homemade Butter Cooking and Freezing Beans, avoiding BPA Homemade Hummus Garden Fresh […]
Have you ever tried adding the Stevia just after the yogurt before you put it in the oven? If so, how did it come out?
Also how about blending up or processing fruit and adding it to the mix just before putting in the oven? I also thought of skipping the Stevia and mixing in blended up pie filling.
What do you think?
Thanks.
I haven’t added the stevia before so that anyone could sweeten to taste! And since it’s sitting out all night, I would to add the fruit when you’re ready to refrigerate. Thats just my opinion though!
I just stumbled across this from a Facebook link. Curious – what is the purpose of putting the crock pot in the oven while it cools?
It needs to cool down gradually (Overnight) without any change in breeze/temperature. The oven or your microwave are some of the best places to do that. Enjoy!
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This could very well be a question most people know the answer to but, here I go:
For yogurt-making, will almond milk and/or A2 milk work as well?
Thank you.