Home-made Crockpot Yogurt!

I enjoy making yogurt in the crock pot.  Ryan could eat it all day, so it's nice to be able to make an entire quart of it. 

(Ryan's caramel syrup yogurt right before he stirred it)

Instructions:
Pour 1 quart of WHOLE milk into the crock pot.  Turn on low for 2 1/2 hours.  Then turn the crock pot off and leave for 3 hours.  Take 1 cup of store bought PLAIN yogurt and 2 cups of milk from the crock pot and stir together.  Dump this back into the crock pot.  Wrap a heavy towel around the crock pot for insulation and let sit overnight.  Chill in the refridgerator.  Before you eat it, mix in fruit, honey, or any type of syrup.  We love to add strawberry, caramel, or chocolate syrup to ours.  It is a little thinner/runnier than store-bought yogurt... this is normal and how yogurt is naturally.  Thickeners are added to get the store-bought consistency.  If you use less than whole milk, it will still turn out, but it will be runnier.  I'm thinking.... drinkable yogurt.  Either way it is very yummy and healthy!

P.S.  I've never added dried milk, but I've read that you can add it to thicken the yogurt.

Thrifty Idea: Easy Home-made Yogurt Recipe

When I heard of people making home-made yogurt for the first time, I thought... eek... that seems kind of risky! But after hearing of several people making it at home, I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. It is very easy! You just need to give yourself 5 1/2 hours for mixing and setting and then 8 hours for it to completely finish setting. Read the recipe below to see what I mean, and then plan accordingly :-)

Here is the recipe:

SLOW-COOKER YOGURT

8 cups (half-gallon) of milk (The recipe recommends using whole milk until you get the hang of yogurt making, but 2 percent worked fine for us. Just don't use ultra-pasteurized "long-life'' milk.)

1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active-culture plain yogurt as a starter.

1 packet plain gelatin (optional, I don't use this, but it will give your yogurt more of a store-bought consistency if you are picky about that)

Plug in slow cooker and turn to low. Add the milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

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

Scoop out 2 cups of the warm milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in yogurt and gelatin. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crock-pot. Stir.

Put the lid back on the cooker. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around it.

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

Chill in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will be good for seven to 10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.

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