When I discovered 2 days ago that I was spending $40 or more a month on Yogurt (and still saying no to my kids often!) I decided that something HAD to be done! Surely I could make yogurt - I'd been told it was easy.... I had tried once and got a cottage cheese sort of very sour stuff - YUCK! It was worth another try....
I found this website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html on how to make yogurt in a slow cooker. It sounded easy. I thought I'd try a small batch. I did some more research and decided to use a thermometer to moniter the temperature.
I put 4 cups of milk in the slow cooker (I used 2 cups homo milk, 1 cup coconut milk, and 1 cup skim milk). I put it on low for 2 1/2 hours. During this time my starter yogurt was in a bowl on the counter warming to room temperature. When the milk was hot I added 2 Tbsp tapioca powder because I did not want it runny!) and I added 1/3 cup of sugar because I read somewhere that the bacteria convert the sugar in lactose and when you use non dairy milk you must add sugar for the bacteria. I put the thermometer in, shut of the crock pot and when the temperature fell to 113' I whisked in my yogurt and put the lid on and covered it with a towel.
My research said that yogurt likes a steady 110' but the crock pot was cooling the whole time so every 2-3 hours I turned it on low for 4-5 minutes... afraid I'd forget every time! 8 hours later I opened it up and I had yogurt! It wasn't bitter or sour tasting (my fear!) It was still a bit runnier than I prefer (more like YOP - that yogurt drink!), so I used the mango/orange juice in the fridge and a pkg of Knox gelatin. In the morning it was ok for thick but by the time I added sugar (another 1/3 cup!) and pureed peaches it was runny again - so I pureed it (it had some lumps that I find delicious and my kids dislike!) I used the juice in the can of peaches and another pkg of Knox gelatin. My kids like it now .
All in all - it was a success! The kids don't care if its a drink - but I like it thick. I think when I'm running low on yogurt I'll try again and next time I'll add more tapioca powder. Eventually I'll have to make some fat free sugar free stuff for my husband (yuck - I do not like the runny and sucralose taste!) I'll let you know how my future experiments go! And - Happy Cooking!
I found this website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html on how to make yogurt in a slow cooker. It sounded easy. I thought I'd try a small batch. I did some more research and decided to use a thermometer to moniter the temperature.
I put 4 cups of milk in the slow cooker (I used 2 cups homo milk, 1 cup coconut milk, and 1 cup skim milk). I put it on low for 2 1/2 hours. During this time my starter yogurt was in a bowl on the counter warming to room temperature. When the milk was hot I added 2 Tbsp tapioca powder because I did not want it runny!) and I added 1/3 cup of sugar because I read somewhere that the bacteria convert the sugar in lactose and when you use non dairy milk you must add sugar for the bacteria. I put the thermometer in, shut of the crock pot and when the temperature fell to 113' I whisked in my yogurt and put the lid on and covered it with a towel.
My research said that yogurt likes a steady 110' but the crock pot was cooling the whole time so every 2-3 hours I turned it on low for 4-5 minutes... afraid I'd forget every time! 8 hours later I opened it up and I had yogurt! It wasn't bitter or sour tasting (my fear!) It was still a bit runnier than I prefer (more like YOP - that yogurt drink!), so I used the mango/orange juice in the fridge and a pkg of Knox gelatin. In the morning it was ok for thick but by the time I added sugar (another 1/3 cup!) and pureed peaches it was runny again - so I pureed it (it had some lumps that I find delicious and my kids dislike!) I used the juice in the can of peaches and another pkg of Knox gelatin. My kids like it now .
All in all - it was a success! The kids don't care if its a drink - but I like it thick. I think when I'm running low on yogurt I'll try again and next time I'll add more tapioca powder. Eventually I'll have to make some fat free sugar free stuff for my husband (yuck - I do not like the runny and sucralose taste!) I'll let you know how my future experiments go! And - Happy Cooking!
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