Crockpot Monday: Yogurt

Have you ever made your own yogurt? Every so often I get this itch to experiment with something new. Sometimes that's a good thing...sometimes... Well, life should be a bit of an adventure, right?

Yogurt:

Ingredients:
8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk
1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt
frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring
thick bath towel
crockpot

Directions:

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a day when you’ll be home to keep an eye on it.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2.5 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened. Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. When you blend in the fruit, bubbles will form. They aren't a big deal, and will settle eventually.

Chill in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup (unflavored) as a starter to make a new batch and next time you won’t need to purchase a live culture.

If you try this, let me know what you thought!

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