The Thickest, Silkiest Greek Yogurt in the Instant Pot!

Somebody in the Instant Pot Community shared a tip about using Fairlife Ultra-Filtered Milk to make yogurt in the magic pot. I used 2%, and you can see below how thick it was before I even put it in my new "Euro-strainer."

Of course, I had a near-catastrophe with what was apparently an old, weak starter. At five and a half hours, it was still just thick, warm milk, so I checked the temp (110F), added a 1/4 teaspoon of a different strain of dried cultures, stirred, and let it go another three and a half hours, and it set up perfectly! Yogurt crisis averted, leading to a second crisis: Too much yogurt! (Why didn't I make just half a gallon?)


 



To make yogurt in the Instant Pot, pour a gallon of milk into the liner, hit "yogurt" then right away, hit "adjust" until it says "boil." Cover with a glass lid. It will take maybe an hour to come up to about 185F. Then I like to turn it off and leave it sit (covered) for about 30 minutes.

Next, put the liner into a sink of cold water for a few minutes until it comes down to 110F. Scoop out a little of the warm milk into your starter (1/4 cup of prepared yogurt, or I use 1/4 teaspoon of dried starter cultures), then pour this mixture back into the pot along with sweetener of your choice (sugar, honey, maple syrup, stevia, etc--to taste, one half to one cup), and I use about a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste.

Stir well, cover with the lid, and press "yogurt." It will stay warm and do its thing for eight hours, then...it's yogurt! For Greek yogurt, strain through cheesecloth or a flour sack towel, or a special yogurt strainer until it reaches the desired consistency. You might want to whisk it until smooth at this point, and then put it in containers and into the fridge.



To strain, I have always strained my yogurt and skyr and ricotta and such in a damp flour sack towel tied to a kitchen cabinet knob over a bowl to catch the whey. It worked perfectly fine, but I splurged and bought an inexpensive ($16) yogurt strainer on Amazon and tried it out today after making a batch of yogurt in my magic pot. While not an absolutely essential cooking tool, it's so handy, and after about 7-8 hours in the fridge and then whisking to remove lumps, I ended up with the thickest, silkiest, Greek vanilla bean yogurt that I've ever made! Euro strainer FTW!







































There are few things in this life as sublime as my Greek Vanilla Bean Yogurt with homemade Nutty Maple and Brown Sugar Granola. Mmmmmm!