Join us on Saturdays (October 21st-March 30th) at the Carmel Winter Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to Noon! The market is at a NEW location this year: 611 3rd Avenue SW in Carmel. See you there!

Instant Pot Yogurt

Now that we have milk cows, we have a LOT of milk to find uses for.  So, I began making yogurt and have really enjoyed the recipe found at the link below.  It is a great way to enjoy probiotics without a ton of added sugar, commonly found in most commercial yogurts.  
Here is the link that I used.  And, here are a few notes:
1) When cooling the milk, you can speed up the process (so you are not waiting 30-45 minutes) buy putting the stainless steel insert in your sink (with the sink stopper in place) and then run cold water around the pot.  Doing it this way takes about 5 to 7 minutes, in my experience.  
2) I whisk the culture (just a small tub {~6 oz} of plain, yogurt) directly into the boiled, cooled milk.  (Once your yogurt is done, before adding any sweeteners, etc., save back about a half-cup or so to use as your next starter; stash it in the freezer until you are ready for it).  
3) We usually go with a 8 hour ferment time.  I do this typically overnight, so that it is ready in the morning.  
4) To strain the finished yogurt into a Greek-style yogurt, you can do this in a variety of ways~ I prefer the end-result best when using cheesecloth in my food mill for about an hour or so; however, this method takes longer, especially if doing the whole batch, and the cheesecloth cannot easily be re-used for multiple batches.  We often just use coffee filters nestled in a colander, suspended over a larger bowl.  
5) To add in fruit, freeze-dried works well, so that you are not adding in extra moisture.  If using freeze-dried fruits, allow a few hours mixed in the yogurt for them to re-hydrate.  Target has a good selection of freeze-dried fruits and each pouch (they have a 1 oz and 2 oz) lasts a few batches. Of course, you could also enjoy it with fresh fruit at the time of consumption.  To sweeten the yogurt, I typically add pure vanilla extract (a few tsp) and a small amount of honey (~1 TBSP for the entire batch).

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