I started making yogurt in my Instant Pot a few years ago and I've never looked back! Homemade yogurt is cost effective and it tastes delicious! It is a bit time consuming, but it isn't difficult to do and once you make it part of your routine you don't even notice that the Instant Pot is working its magic in the background.
Step One: Clean your Instant Pot. I know you wash it after every use. But taking this extra step will improve the flavor of your yogurt. This is especially helpful if you've been using your Instant Pot to make something spicy. Just pouring boiling water into the inner pot will suffice and should take the spicy flavors away. Pour the boiling water out and allow the pot to dry.
Step Two: Pour 1/2 gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, put the lid on, and hit the yogurt button. Adjust the yogurt button until it says Boil. Allow the Instant Pot to boil the milk and when it beeps indicating it is done (approx. 45 min later), remove the lid. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the milk. It should have reached 180 degrees. Leave the inner pot inside of the Instant Pot for 5 min after it beeps.
Step Three: Remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and allow the milk to cool to 105-115 degrees. This will take an hour if you allow it to cool on the countertop, or you can speed up the process by inserting the inner pot into a large bowl or sink of ice.
Step Four: Remove the skin from the top layer of milk once it has cooled to 105-115 degrees.
Step Five: Whisk in a yogurt starter. The rule of thumb is to add 1 Tbsp of yogurt per quart of milk. So if you are making 1/2 gallon of yogurt you would whisk in 2 Tbsp of yogurt. Use plain yogurt from the grocery store that has live cultures and has not been sweetened. If the yogurt has live cultures the ingredient list will include Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Streptococcus thermophilus.
Step 6: Give your yogurt 8-12 hours to incubate in the Instant Pot. Place the inner pot back in the Instant Pot and hit the Yogurt button until it reads 8 hours. (I personally love to adjust it to 12 hours). The longer you let the yogurt sit the tangier it will be. When the yogurt is done, transfer it to Mason jars and store in the fridge.
***If you would like to make Greek yogurt, follow all of the steps above except for transferring to jars and storing in the fridge. Once the Instant Pot indicates that your 8-12 hours is up, put a piece of cheesecloth over a bowl and pour the yogurt mixture over the cheesecloth so the liquid can filter out. The yogurt on top of the cheesecloth will be thick and can be scooped into jars to store in the fridge once the liquid has drained away.
If you'd like to flavor your yogurt, you can do this once it is already made! I've stirred in honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and/or berry compote.
Pro Tip: You can use your own homemade yogurt as the starter for your next batch. An easy way to make sure you always have some on hand is to freeze it in a silicone ice cube tray. (Each section holds 1 Tablespoon).
Do you have any tips or tricks for making yogurt in your Instant Pot?
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