easiest instant pot yogurt

I have been making yogurt for many years and the easiest instant pot yogurt is by far the best yet. It has taken me far too long to buy an instant pot. I am learning about doing so much in it, but this is the winner for me.

What I love about it the most is that it takes the guesswork out of time, and temperature control and I can make it in a big batch. I only have to do this once a week or every ten days, and this is a huge time saver for me.

first things first

The instant pot has a yogurt setting on it, make sure yours does too as not all the models do have the yogurt setting.

pasteurization – easy steps

1. REMOVE the seal in the lid. You do not need this at all in any of the steps when making the yogurt. In making the easiest instant pot yogurt you do not want the smells to infuse into the yogurt. These smells linger in the seal and are fine when cooking food but are not pleasant in a yogurt.
2. Wash out the inner pot thoroughly.
3. Put it in the cooker – this may sound crazy – but – people have forgotten to do this and have caused huge problems for themselves. Don’t be one of them.
4. Pour in your milk. You can use fresh or long-life milk. Some instruction guides allow you to skip the pasteurization step when you use long-life milk. I do not skip this step. By ‘re-pasteurizing, the milk will both help towards thickening the yogurt and ensuring all the unnecessary bugs are dead. I pour in about 4 liters at a time now.
5. Put the lid on. The pressure cooking lid is removable throughout yogurt making for easy access. There is no need to remove the lid, but you can and this will not affect the finished product.
6. Press the yogurt setting button.
7. When the temperature flashes, turn the dial to toggle to High. This is regulated so you do not have to worry about it scalding, boiling over, or getting hot enough to get rid of the bugs not needed! This is FANTASTIC!
8. The progress bar will then show that it is Pre-heating. The display shows End when pasteurization is complete. Milk must reach a minimum of 72°C/ 161°F to pasteurize properly. This is FANTASTIC.
9. When it is done, it beeps.
10. I remove the inner pot and cover the pot with a clean tea towel. I do not want anything to fly into it or fall into it! Neither do you;)

adding in the cultures – just as easy

1. Using a thermometer, allow the milk to cool to just below 43°C / 110°F. Make sure it has cooled to this temperature. If you add the starter in when it is hotter, then you will kill the good yogurt bacteria and you will end up with sour milk!
2. You can add your starter culture to the milk or plain yogurt with active cultures can be used as a starter. I have used both and love both methods.
3. Place and close the pressure cooking lid. REMEMBER – the seal has been removed and should not be added in at any stage.

fermentation – keeping it simple

1. Press the Yogurt button.
2. When the temperature light flashes, turn the dial to toggle to Low or Custom.
3. To set a custom temperature, select Custom, then turn the dial to set the temperature.
4. Press the dial to make your selection and go to the next field.
5. When the time flashes, turn the dial to adjust the cooking time.
6. An 8-hour fermentation period is standard but may vary based on your recipe and flavor preferences. I mostly use a 16-hour ferment, we like our yogurt to be a little tangy.
7. The instant pot remembers your selection and so each time you can use your preferred length of ferment.
8. Touch the Start button to begin.
9. The display shows On and the progress bar shows Pre-heating.
10. When fermentation is complete, the display shows the End

easiest instant pot yogurt – great tips

The thicker the milk, the thicker the yogurt!
For even thicker yogurt, pasteurize your milk twice before fermenting.

Another tip for making thicker yogurt is to add powdered milk to the milk.
For the thickest yogurt, use a cheesecloth to strain out the liquid whey and get rich Greek-style yogurt.

My go-to is to simply strain it through a cloth till it reaches the consistency I am looking for. Very easy to do.
The longer you ferment your milk, the tangier the yogurt will be.
Cool your fresh yogurt, then put it in the fridge (covered) for 12 to 24 hours to allow the flavors to develop.

why make your own yogurt

Firstly because it is healthy for you and you know what is in the yogurt. And now it is super easy to do.

We love plain yogurt but realize that to find yogurt without a thickener of some sort is really difficult.

I can reuse the glass jars over and over and over again, NO MORE PLASTIC WASTE. YEAH!!!

I started on this journey because most of our food is simple, real food with ingredients that we recognize and we wanted our yogurt to be that too.

When I want it thicker, I simply strain it through a cloth and let the whey drip away until it is the consistency I am looking for.

easiest instant pot yogurt – enjoy

We love yogurt.

It is such a versatile product.

I think we have some every single day.

Mostly for breakfast in a smoothie or in overnight oats.

At snack time, it is delicious with fruit.

With meals, I often use it as part of making a salad dressing or a dip. We also use it in our simple flatbread recipe (flour + yogurt + salt + baking powder) – they are great when you are needing bread in a hurry.

What do you make with yogurt?

Can you eat it?

Do you make your own?

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