From Milk to Greek Yogurt to Frozen Yogurt
I’m proud to share this article with…
- Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
- Finer Things Friday @ The Finer Things in Life
- Frugal Friday @ Life as Mom
- Food on Fridays @ Ann Kroeker’s blog
- Foodie Fridays @ Designs by Gollum
- Friday Feasts @ Mom Trends
- Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
- Tempt My Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace
- Tuesday’s at the Table @ All the Small Stuff
- Tackle it Tuesday @ 5 Minutes for Mom
Lately I’ve been on the search for some good crockpot recipes, you know, besides, pot roast. Imagine how delighted and excited I was when I found that someone has used their crockpot for making yogurt! I haven’t figured out how to deal with and purchase live cultures online, so I just purchased a container of yogurt (aka: starter) on my next shopping trip. Since it’s the weekend and you may have some time on your hands or inquisitive kids, I’m going to teach you how to go from milk all the way to frozen yogurt.
Turn Milk into Yogurt
Supplies
- 4 quart crockpot
- A few large towels
- 1/2 gallon milk – regular or raw, whole or low-fat
- 1 packet gelatin, arrowroot, or agar – it is suggested as a thickener if you use a lower fat milk
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Pour 1/2 gallon of milk into the crockpot/slow cooker
- Cook on low for 2.5 hours
- Unplug and let it set for 3 hours
- (At this point I check the temperature. The optimum temp for yogurt cultures is 108-112 degrees F.)
- Scoop out 2 cups warm milk and pour into a dish. Add the 1/2 cup yogurt and mix well.
- Add back into crockpot. Stir the mixture into the rest of the warm milk.
- Wrap the crockpot with towels and leave overnight or 8 hours.
- In the morning you’ll have yogurt! (NOTE: It’s quite a bit thinner than what you get at the store.)
You can enjoy the yogurt as it is or add in fruit. I like to stir honey into mine. Or you can go a step further…
Turn Yogurt into Greek Yogurt
This is actually quite easy! Next, you’ll learn how to make delicious, thick Greek Yogurt.
Supplies
- Cheesecloth (a couple layers)
- Colander
- Medium Bowl
Instructions
- Place the colander onto the medium bowl.
- Line the colander with the layered cheesecloth.
- Pour the yogurt into the lined colander.
- Let it set on the counter or in the fridge. Overnight the yogurt will separate. The whey will drip into the bowl leaving thick and creamy Greek yogurt in the colander for you in the morning.
This is delicious stuff! But yet, you can take it a step further. You can use the whey for baking and even making lemonade. You can also use the Greek yogurt to make wonderfully tart frozen yogurt!
Turn Greek Yogurt into Frozen Yogurt
Supplies
- Ice cream maker (at least 1 quart capacity)
- Mixing bowl
- 3 cups Greek yogurt (this is approximately 6 cups un-strained yogurt)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Instructions
- Mix together yogurt, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Last step: Sit down and enjoy a delicious bowl of frozen yogurt that contains no high fructose corn syrup or un-pronounceable ingredients. You deserve it!
Thanks for the tips! Making yogurt is on my list of things to do
Interesting. I’ve never thought about making my own yogurt before.
Oh wow… this looks like something I would like to try… and it just so happens that I bought a 4qt crock pot last week.
Thanks for the great tutorial!
ButterYum
Perfect timing! Thanks for stopping by. If you’re looking for more ways to use your new crock pot, Stephanie writes about using her slow cooker every day at A Year of Slow Cooking.
I’ve looked for a yogurt recipe for quite a while–this is great!
I have one of those nifty freezers that doesn’t use ice. This would be great to try in that. Thanks for something completely new!!
I’ve looked for a yogurt recipe that would work for me for quite a while now. I think I’ve just found it. Thanks. I hope you are having a wonderful day.
Thanks ~ I hope it works out for you!
I just posted about making our first batch of yogurt in our new yogurt maker! I am gonna have to try straining it longer to get the thicker yogurt! Great post! You can check ours out below:
http://findingtrueserenity.wordpress.com/?p=169&preview=true
Happy Frugal Friday!
Thanks for stopping by! I’ll head over to check it out…
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Oh, you have brought me back to the 70s when I grew sprouts in the kitchen windowsill and always made my own yogurt and sourdough bread.
Somewhere around here I still have the yogurt maker. . . we LOVE Greek yogurt, I may try this crock pot method. My grandmothers, who grew up in Norway, used to make something similar just leaving the milk out on the counter. I think I would have called that “spoiled milk” but they thought it was yogurt.
Thanks! Cass
Hi Cass, I ran across something the other day. There is a yogurt culture (powdered) that you can add to milk and just leave it out on the counter to yogurt-ify. Interesting though, maybe there’s some old technique they used. I have yet to try sourdough bread – do you make your own starters? And last weekend I purchased a sprouting kit, lol. I’m a little hesitant to try it, but I want to. I don’t know what I’ll use them for. The only thing that comes to mind right now is bread – Ezekiel-style!
Really cool lessons–like a little science experiment. Thanks so much for sharing with Momtrends.
Thank you! Every time I make any of these recipes, I think of how much fun my niece would have helping out
Making my own yogurt is something I have yet to attempt. Need to bookmark this for future reference!
LOVE making my own yogurt! Mine turns out a bit thicker but is just as easy.
If you have any good bean recipes, you may want to check out my carnival October 1. Details here: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/18/announcing-october-fest-carnival-of-super-foods/
Best,
Katie
Hi Katie! What milk do you use? I’ve heard of some people adding dried milk to make it thicker. And I have a couple bean recipes in mind, I just have to figure out which one I want to submit – thanks for the invite
I keep meaning to make greek yogurt….and then frozen yogurt….maybe now I’ll do it (because I can make lemonade out of the whey – how cool is that!!)
That’s FANTASTIC! I loved seeing the progression of one thing to the next recipe. Thank you for sharing with TATT!
This is just the coolest post!! What great instructions and recipes! Awesome. Thanks for sharing for TMTT.
Thanks! I was just going to show how to make the yogurt, but then thought maybe someone out there would like to have a fun weekend experimenting, lol.
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Wow – I just may have to give that a try. Thanks for making it look do-able. And thanks so much for swinging by my blog on my Sits Day last week:-)
Thanks! It’s a lot easier than one would think. I love seeing all the different blogs on SITS, thanks for stopping by!
What a great post! And what a great use for a crockpot.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I love Greek yogurt and am so excited about trying this. I just wanted to let you know that Mister Linky is up for this week’s Crock Pot Wednesday. I hope to see you there. Thanks for participating last week.
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Hi K, We eat a lot of yoghurt, and I make my own, since we dont get Greek Yoghurt here. Method is similar to yours,also wrapped in a towel but I put mine in the oven overnite, but you dont mention when to add the agaragar/gelatine. Does this make it firmer?
tks a lot for sharing, God bless
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