The Key to Making Creamier Yogurt

I’ve had hit and miss results making my own yogurt. I’m usually very attentive, making sure the milk doesn’t boil or get too cool before adding in my starter. There have been few times, when the stars aligned just so, that I’ve managed to make creamy, silky, buttery yogurt. I could never really figure out what I did, since all of the steps & ingredients were the same. Come to find out, those times when my yogurt turned out heavenly—I’d actually been less attentive. In fact, I’d completely forgotten about it and left it sitting on the counter for an hour or two (off heat).

How to Make Yogurt

1. Start with a good, organic whole milk. It doesn’t have to be whole milk, or organic, but I find that I’ve had more luck when it is.
2. Don't heat your milk above 190 F. Instant Pots are great for mindlessly heating your milk for yogurt—basically you just put your milk in and hit the Yogurt button. (If you do get it over 190 degrees, or your milk boils, then give up the idea of making yogurt and make ricotta instead. All is not lost.)
3. Cool your milk to 105 F. before adding your starter. Setting your bowl or pan of milk in another dish filled with ice speeds up the cooling process. Also, having a good thermometer that you can easily read is helpful. Depending on how much milk you used, it’ll cool down at different rates. I find that a gallon of milk cools from 150º (or more) to 105º in about an hour (when placed in a bowl of ice).
4. Use 5-6 oz. of a really good starter (a single serving of Siggi's plain skyr is an awesome starter, but any plain yogurt will work).
5. Add 4 drops of liquid rennet & whisk it all together. I use liquid vegetable rennet and it works fabulously.
6. Cook the yogurt at a low temp for 6-8 hours (in a crockpot or instant pot). If you want a more sour or tart yogurt, cook it longer.
7. **MOST IMPORTANT** Turn off the heat (or unplug the crock pot & remove the insert) and let it sit for 1-2 hours.

If there’s whey that has separated, you can pour it off or mix it back in. If you mix it back in, the yogurt will get a looser consistency.

If it's not as creamy as you like, get the beaters out and beat it for a couple of minutes.

For Thicker Greek-style Yogurt or Skyr:

Pour yogurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Stack the strainer inside a larger bowl and strain for 2-8 hours in the fridge.

If it's too thick, mix some of the whey back into the yogurt.

What to Do with the Whey

You can use the whey for lacto-fermentation, make lemonade, mix it with fruit juice & freeze to make popsicles, or just water your plants with it.