We eat a lot of yogurt at our house. Lately, my favorite has been the Greek yogurt. It's really expensive, though. So, I decided to try making it myself. This is something I have been wanting to try for a while and finally did it yesterday. It's so easy... not sure why I didn't do it earlier! Plus, with milk costing around $2.50 for a gallon, this makes for some very inexpensive yogurt.
In a large crock pot, pour 1/2 gallon of milk (8 cups)- you can use any kind- I used skim, but just make sure it is not ultra-pasteurized (apparently that kind does not work). Mine was just regular skim grocery store milk. I also mixed in 1 c. nonfat powdered milk. This makes it creamier.
Turn it on low and cook for 2 1/2 hours. (If your crock pot cooks lower or heats up slowly, start it on high for an hour then turn to low for remaining time) After it has been cooking a total of 2 1/2 hours, turn off the crock pot. Let it sit for 3 hours to cool.
After 3 hours, take out 2 c. of the milk and stir 1/2 c. of plain yogurt with live cultures into it. I used my Greek yogurt that I already had. Whisk this back into the rest of the milk.
Put the lid on and wrap a large towel around the whole crock pot. Let it sit for 8-10 hours- or overnight. When you open it in the morning it should be thick and creamy.
If you want it to be really thick, like Greek yogurt, you will have to strain it. Line a strainer with cheesecloth, muslin, or paper towels. Ladle the yogurt in and let it sit for 1 hour until thick.
You can use this as a substitute for sour cream, you can mix in any flavoring that you like- honey, sugar, vanilla, jam, fruit, etc. I am planning on making some frozen "go-gurt" pops for my kids. I mixed in some strawberry jam and I am putting it into little snack-sized Ziploc bags then freezing. We also did some with a chocolate pudding mix stirred in. Should make for a tasty treat! The flavor possibilities are endless...
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In a large crock pot, pour 1/2 gallon of milk (8 cups)- you can use any kind- I used skim, but just make sure it is not ultra-pasteurized (apparently that kind does not work). Mine was just regular skim grocery store milk. I also mixed in 1 c. nonfat powdered milk. This makes it creamier.
Turn it on low and cook for 2 1/2 hours. (If your crock pot cooks lower or heats up slowly, start it on high for an hour then turn to low for remaining time) After it has been cooking a total of 2 1/2 hours, turn off the crock pot. Let it sit for 3 hours to cool.
Put the lid on and wrap a large towel around the whole crock pot. Let it sit for 8-10 hours- or overnight. When you open it in the morning it should be thick and creamy.
You can use this as a substitute for sour cream, you can mix in any flavoring that you like- honey, sugar, vanilla, jam, fruit, etc. I am planning on making some frozen "go-gurt" pops for my kids. I mixed in some strawberry jam and I am putting it into little snack-sized Ziploc bags then freezing. We also did some with a chocolate pudding mix stirred in. Should make for a tasty treat! The flavor possibilities are endless...
Comments
I'm Chef Corey from Family Fresh Meals.We just started a new recipe Linky called Sunday Funday.This recipe would be perfect for the first week theme CROCKPOT. I have never heard of crockpot yogurt!Each week will be a new theme.Once this Sunday Funday gets going,I would LOVE to do a random gift card giveaway each week.But I am going to need a good amount of posts to start that,so come join the fun. At the end of the week, a recipe/blog will be picked at random to be the featured recipe for the following week. Hope you stop by and join!
http://familyfreshmeals.blogspot.com/2011/11/sunday-funday-recipe-of-week.html
XO Chef Corey