Homemade yoghurt in the Instant Pot or multi cooker - easily!

 When my kids were younger I made yoghurt every week, carefully wrapping a casserole dish in a blanket and placing it in a styrofoam box in the airing cupboard. It worked most of the time, but sometimes it didn't and that was gutting and expensive.

The girls used to eat it almost every day with stewed apples and raisins, I used it in baking, in curries and to replace sour cream on the mountains of nachos they devoured.

For the past 20? years I have used an Easiyo maker, the big plastic thermal jug half full of boiling water and the plastic container of water and yoghurt mix placed inside. I saved money there by only using 30g of the mix and topping up with 150g milk powder, and that worked well (even though I had to wrap the entire contraption in a blanket to ensure success).

Recently I have been trying to declutter the kitchen and pantry, and I realised my multi cooker (Crockpot brand - just like an Instant Pot) has a yoghurt setting, I investigated further, I tried it, it worked. I gave my trusty Easiyo to my daughter.

We like Greek yoghurt, and we like it a bit sour, so thats what I make. To buy 750 mls of greek yoghurt is $8.70 (NZ) at the moment. 

• Milk costs $3 for 2 litres at the Warehouse so $1.50 a litre
• Milk powder is $12 a kg so .60c per 1/2 cup
• My Greek yoghurt $2.10 a litre plus power and culture start up cost, so say $3
• That's a saving of at least $7 a litre.

To make instant pot yoghurt you will need:

• A multi cooker with a yoghurt setting
• A thermometer
• Milk (your preference - this recipe is for animal milk, not plant milk)
• Milk powder (if you prefer thick yoghurt without having to strain the yoghurt)
• Culture: I purchased two small pots of different brands of plain, unsweetened natural yogurt and a bottle of plain kefir as my culture. I took a tablespoon of each to make my culture.

The recipe is for 1 litre of milk, most multi cookers will hold 3 litres, the recipe can be scaled easily.

If you prefer thick yoghurt add 1/2 cup of milk powder per litre of milk (mix in a small amount of milk first to eliminate lumps, then add to milk and whisk.

1. Remove the sealer ring from the multi cooker lid (remember to replace it after making yoghurt) the ring often holds minute amounts of scent from previous cooking, its enough to taint the yoghurt.
2. Place the milk in the multi cooker and press "boil" or "sauté" to start heating the milk, stir often to prevent sticking. When the temperature reaches 82 degrees celsius (140F) remove the pot and sit it in a bowl of ice water to cool (keep the lid on) until the temperature is 40C (104F).
3. Place 1/4 c of culture in a small bowl, take a 1/2 c of the warm milk and add it to the bowl, stir to mix the culture in, this tempers the culture so it is not a shock to the warm milk.
4. Add the culture mixture to the pot of milk and stir well.
5. Return the bowl to the instant pot and place the lid on, you don't need to lock the lid as we are not pressure cooking.
6. Press the "yoghurt" button, it usually sets for 8 hours, we programme ours for 9 hours as we like it a bit sour. Experiment to see what suits your family.
7. That's it - when the yogurt is done scoop it out and refrigerate. It will last 2 weeks in the fridge so long as you kept everything clean. Reserve 1/4 c to use as your next culture. If you do not use the culture within 10 days it is best to buy a new small pot of yoghurt from the supermarket.