Homemade Greek Yogurt - instant pot recipe

I've made a couple yogurt posts in the past but it has been nearly a year now where I make greek yogurt instead. David was diagnosed back then with reactive hypoglycemia, and as such he wanted to bring more snacks high in protein to school.

My friend Leann recommended using the crockpot instead of the stove, and so this recipe is the result of testing of many batches using various yogurt starts and other methods. This is MUCH faster than standing at the stove testing the temperature over and over, wondering when it will be hot enough. I've tried microwaving too, and I can't fit a gallon of milk in any of my microwave safe containers so it is pointless. Also, my microwave is super wimpy. I tested the wattage last year and it was around 500 watts.

Ingredients:
1 gallon milk
1-2 Tbsp plain yogurt with active cultures and no additives

First, I use Oikos plain greek yogurt as my starter. I tried saving bits from previous batches, but it just never worked as well as oikos for some reason. It is easy enough to just freeze it in little bits and thaw it while the milk cools, so that is what I do. Also I don't have to stress about saving yogurt from the old batch, or worrying if the old batch is TOO old because it took 3 weeks to eat.  (I think I make this every 2 weeks usually.)

The yogurt ice cubes were a little bigger this time than last, but close enough. I just put in a couple tablespoons or so of starter, and less works too. I have found that works better than using a large amount as some people do.

Also, I use an entire gallon of milk. I buy 2% milk for it. This recipe is specific for my 6 quart instant pot. Leann's crockpot heats MUCH more slowly because it is insulated poorly. She said hers takes 5 hours to heat and mine takes only 90 minutes.

Step 1, ~ 5 pm: Pour gallon milk into instant pot. Cover with lid (I vent it) and put on 90 minutes crock pot low setting.

Step 2, ~6:30 pm: After 90 minutes test with instant read thermometer, and it should be 190 or more. I like to get the milk up to 190 F. I am not satisfied with 180, which is considered the minimum temperature for heating it, but I feel like 190 has worked better for me. (I used to test at 67 minutes, but for some reason that is not consistently adequate. I am baffled as to why.)

Step 3: Take lid off of instant pot and remove pot from the cooker. (You can choose to leave it in the cooker (lid off), but it will not be cool enough by 8 pm to proceed, you'll need to wait until 9:30 or 10.)  Take out small dish and put yogurt starter ice cube on it. It will thaw while the milk cools.

Step 4, ~8 pm or bedtime, or whenever I happen to feel like looking: (Clearly this step is less precise...) Check temperature of milk again after removing the skin that has formed on top of the milk. Throw away the skin. Milk should be below 115.

If I were simply insulating the milk, I would care a lot more if the temperature dropped below 105. But I the yogurt function on the instant pot will heat up the milk to the proper temperature and hold it there for me. It is often 90 degrees when I check it later at night, so its no big deal if I forget about it and do it late at night just before bed.

Step 5: Use a whisk and thoroughly mix in the thawed yogurt cube. Then put lid back on. It doesn't matter if its set to vent or not, the temperature is kept around 110. Set yogurt to 11 or 12 hours, depending on my morning schedule.

Step 6, the next morning when yogurt is done: Line a large colander with 4 overlapping coffee filters (4 is adequate for mine). Pour off what whey you can from the instant pot. The yogurt will be set up to a point, and it will make it easy to pour liquid off the edge. Once you have got all the liquid removed that you can, scoop the yogurt into the lined colander. Mine gets very full. I let it sit in the sink and the whey goes straight down the drain. If you have a use for the whey, you can set up a collection system. There are plenty or uses for it when making fermented foods. 

If I can't get it all in, I'll add the rest after 30-60 minutes, or whenever I remember. I let it strain for about 2.5-3 hours. 

Step 7: Then I scoop it into a 2 quart size tupperware, stir it, and put it in the fridge. Sometimes the tupperware is too full to close so I may need a small second container. I love using coffee filters because the yogurt peels right of of it and then you can throw away the filters. I have tried using a cheesecloth and it was irritating and just made more laundry.

So that is how I make yogurt. David takes it to school in little 4 oz containers I got for him. The kids will eat it plain sometimes but like it best with honey drizzled on top. 

It would cost >$10 for 2 quarts of store bought low fat greek yogurt. This makes the same amount and is the price of a gallon of milk. Plus the store I shop now (Aldi) only has fat free greek yogurt, which I object to purchasing as nobody likes it, and it is still far cheaper to make it at home. It is really not much effort at all, you just have to be around in the morning to strain the yogurt. If I worked out of the home I would just make it on a friday or saturday night. 

Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki sauce

This recipe is from Libby with my modifications. I have served this with pitas and flatbread. Flatbread works fine, just put meat on top with tzatziki sauce on top of that.

A very delicious meal, if a little time consuming. This takes about an hour. I served with tomatoes and tzatziki sauce, and the chicken/pepper mixture, and feta (but feta not really necessary).  I served with a feta and tomato green salad. It was very complimentary.

Chicken Souvlaki

INGREDIENTS

1 recipe Chicken and vegetables

6 whole wheat pitas, warmed (or flatbread and serve chicken and sauce on top)

Roma tomato, thinly sliced

red onion, thinly sliced

cucumber, thinly sliced (optional)

feta, crumbled (optional)

Tzatziki sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare chicken and vegetables according to recipe directions. (see below)

2. Prepare tzatziki sauce according to recipe directions. (see below). Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Fill warmed pitas with grilled chicken, cucumber, tomato, onion, feta, and tzatziki and serve.

chicken and vegetables

Serves 4-6.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces (works fine with more chicken, I've done with 3 lb)

3-4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1-2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 red onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, coat chicken in 2 Tbsp. olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Marinate 30 minutes.

2. Sauteed onion and peppers in remaining 1-2 Tbsp oil. Remove from skillet when soft and put in marinated chicken and cook. Let the pieces sit in the same spot for a few minutes to get a nice crust, then flip the pieces. After chicken is done, put vegetables back in along with 2 Tbsp lemon juice. Cook a little more if needed, if dry add more olive oil if needed.

Tzatziki - (from about.com)

Cool and creamy, this tangy cucumber dip flavored with garlic is the perfect compliment to grilled meats and vegetables. It's served on the side with warm pita bread triangles for dipping, and is also used as a condiment for souvlaki.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced finely (or 2 t minced garlic from the jar) (if cloves are very large just use one)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 1 cup sour cream (or 1/2 cup sour cream and 1.5 c yogurt)
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced (no need to peel if using persian cucumbers
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill (i used dried)

Preparation:

Combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Using a whisk, blend the yogurt with the sour cream. Add the olive oil/vinegar mixture to the yogurt mixture and mix well. Finally, add the cucumber and chopped fresh dill. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Homemade Strawberry Yogurt II (or any fresh fruit)

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/how-to-make-fresh-fruit-flavored-yogurt/
http://eurocuisine.net/recipes.php?recipe_id=5&fc_id=1
http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/reader-question-how-much-starter-do-you-really-need-to-make-yogurt

I used the recipe linked first as the base idea, but that recipe is similar to the second link. The third link is just a great troubleshooting site so I link it for future reference.

This recipe worked.  I measured an overflowing 1 cup of frozen strawberries and 2.5 T sugar, and cooked it down in ~1 cup water until it was thick and not much liquid. I did use a stick blender to blend the strawberry leftovers, but I'm wondering now if it would work better without the fibrous part. There is a recipe online that strains strawberries so I may try that trick sometime. I don't like to waste any fruit though so I will tinker with other stuff first.

I mixed it into the 1 quart scalded (normally to 180, but this batch I accidentally heated to 205) and cooled milk just after I added 3 T of plain yogurt starter. I also sprinkled some gelatin on the top and whipped it in. I didn't measure it, next time I will. I would do 1 tsp per pint since that worked when I made plain yogurt before.  Then pour it into glass jars and incubate. I did it for 10 hours, but David says it wasn't as tart as the TJ kind. Maybe I will try it for 12 hours next time.

This will make about 2.5 pints.

It turned out pretty well, except it is definitely grainy and has extra liquid separating from it. I think I didn't use nearly enough gelatin. The grainy part looks like the first pic in the 3rd picture set from the 3rd link at the top. Based on that picture, I may have used too much starter too. So I will experiment more and see.

But Ila liked it and ate it, and David says it is less sweet than the trader joes kind so that was my goal. It was not runny but not as thick as I wanted so more gelatin is needed.

Update: I made this again with 2 teaspoons of gelatin soaked over 1 quart milk, prior to heating to 180. The texture of the final yogurt was perfect. I think it needs more strawberry flavor though, so next time will add 2 heaping cups instead of 1 heaping cup of frozen strawberries. ALso, I cooked it 13 hours and it a little too tart. I think I will do 10 hours next time. Also, this time I used only 1 tsp of starter --plain lowfat anderson erickson yogurt, stirred into milk mixture after it cooled. I think that was a good change too. So for next time, do this:

1 tsp starter yogurt

2 heaping cups strawberries

2.5 T sugar

1 qt whole milk

2 tsp gelatin

let go for 10 hours

9/30/15: I made the changes I recommended, but the texture turned out even more grainy. More fruit only made it more grainy. Next time I will strain out the fruit while following the same steps otherwise, and see if that works better. The fruit syrup left behind should be boiled down as small as possible.

Strawberry Yogurt

http://be-it-ever-so-humble.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-flavor-homemade-yogurt.html

This did NOT work. I did everything it said. My strawberries were thawed, but the water would have been present whether thawed or not.  I am really bummed. Now I have a bunch of strawberry yogurt drink that kids won't eat.

I should say, that it was fine and made plain yogurt, but it did not set up in the fridge after adding the fruit and other extras.

Homemade Yogurt

I made yogurt in my instant pot when I'd run out of regular (except for 3 T that I used as a starter.)

For one pint:

Let 2 cups milk come to 180 degrees on stove. Turn off heat, then whisk in 1 tsp gelatin. Let cool to 110 (or so) and stir in 4 T leftover yogurt (it worked with 3T).

Pour into pint jar and put into instant pot on yogurt setting. Mine went for about 11 hours and it turned out perfect. I think 8-12 is the recommendation, up to 24 at most.

Just double all values for 1 quart (which will use 1/2 cup yogurt as starter).

Gyros and Tzatziki Sauce

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gyros-Burgers/Detail.aspx

http://greekfood.about.com/od/dipsspreadspures1/r/Tzatziki.htm

I used the two recipes posted above to make Gyros with Tzatziki sauce. I halved the sauce recipe. This was very tasty! It was a bit more involved to prepare since I had to make a sauce & meat mixture, but was really good. I also found some thin gyro style wraps (that look like pitas but don't have an air pocket) that were fabulous.

Yogurt Sauce

This is from Bon Appetit, part of the Lamb Kofte I made a while back. It goes well with middle eastern dishes. On gyros or falafels or something like that.

Yogurt sauce:

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and chill.

Chicken Masala

This chicken was really delicious. I used leg/thigh quarters. One quarter per person is plenty, but I used 3 so there would be extra. I made mashed potatoes and broccoli to go with the meal. I put the chicken in a zip-lock bag with the marinade in the morning so it would be ready to go straight into the oven at night.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Easy-Chicken-Masala-357252

Lamb Kofte

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lamb-Kofte-with-Yogurt-Sauce-and-Muhammara-356770

This is basically lamb meatballs with yogurt sauce and flatbread. It was fantastic! I made the yogurt sauce a few hours in advance and let it sit in the fridge. Then I did the rest later--it took a little over an hour. It would have been an hour or less if one of my burners hadn't been on the fritz.

I used whole wheat pita bread and we ate all everything rolled up inside. The Muhammara sauce didn't work out quite right because I didn't even try to find pomegranate molasses, and instead tried to use pomegranate seeds instead. That didn't turn out quite right though. Also, I roasted my own red pepper instead of using some from a jar. But overall, it was fantastic--with or without the pomegranate seeds!