Preparation of Yogurt in Instant Pot:
I love yogurt and could eat anything with yogurt – with rice, fruits, vegetables or simply as it is. I usually buy a tub of yogurt every week for my needs. I have tried preparing yogurt using different methods but then every time, either it didn’t ferment properly or too watery or it would have become so sour. Since I bought Instant Pot, life has turned to be a breeze. Mornings are stress-free and every day I could whip up some delicious desserts in few minutes. Recently, I came across the book – Instant Pot – All-Time Best Recipes and instantly bought it. I have been trying the basic recipes using IP like Rice, Dal, and yogurt. Yes, you can prepare Yogurt in IP without much effort using store-bought curd and milk. I didn’t use any culture or any fancy methods to prepare yogurt.
I used Costco whole milk and the Store bought – Desi Yogurt for the preparation. The result is thick and perfectly fermented yogurt overnight. Now, preparing yogurt at home is easy peasy and I have been relishing the homemade yogurt every day for my breakfast with summer fruits.
Recipe adapted from the book – Instant Pot – All-time Best Recipes
Instant Pot Mode
- Cooking Function: Yogurt
- Mode: Normal, More
Time:
- Hands-On: 10 Minutes
- Incubate: 8 hours
Ingredients:
- ½ Gallon Milk (I used Costco Whole Milk)
- ¼ cup thick yogurt, room temperature (I used Desi Yogurt from Indian Grocery stores)
Method:
- Strain the yogurt and drain the water from the yogurt
- The yogurt should be at room temperature
- Place yogurt in a bowl; stir well to avoid lumps and set aside
Heat the Milk:
- Pour milk into the inner pot of the instant pot.
- Close and lock the lid
- Turn the steam release handle to “Venting”
- Select [Yogurt] and select mode as “More”
- You will see the word “Boil” on the display of IP
- Ensure to stir the milk occasionally to prevent being burnt at the bottom of the pot
- Once the milk reaches the temperature – 180 F, the word “yogt” will appear on the display and IP will beep
- Open the lid. Ensure that the condensation on the lid doesn’t drip down
- Check for the temperature of the milk. It should be 180 F.
- If the temperature is less, press [Yogurt] and repeat the cycle
Cool the milk
- Remove the pot from the IP
- Cool down the milk until it reaches the temperature – 110 F to 115 F
- This approximately takes about 27 minutes
Inoculate the milk with Culture
- Stir yogurt with ½ cup of warm milk.
- Stir smooth after addition
- Pour the milk into the inner pot and stir well
- Place the inner pot in the IP
- Close and lock the lid
Incubate until fermented and set
- Turn the steam release handle to “Sealing” position. The position of the handle doesn’t matter in this phase
- Select the mode as “Normal”
- Set timer to 8 hours
- The machine will beep three times and the timer will begin to count up towards the time set.
- When the time is up, IP will beep and “yogt” will appear on the display
- The IP will go into the standby mode now
- If the yogurt is not set, set timer for another 1 or 2 hours
- Remove the pot from the IP after the yogurt is done
- Chill for 12 hours and serve yogurt as per your desire
Yogurt will have the texture of custard and tastes mildly tart. The yogurt will continue to thicken and become sour once it cools down.
Temperature is critical for the perfect yogurt. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the active cultures and if the milk is too cool, the yogurt won’t thicken properly. The yogurt culture should be at the room temperature.
I used Whole Milk for a thicker consistency and used whole fat yogurt for the preparation of yogurt.
Prepare yogurt at home using IP and enjoy homemade yogurt in your preferred way.
If you try the recipe (which I highly recommend personally), do let me know how they tasted in comments. If you like space, do like and follow my profile at here – Facebook, Google, Instagram
Thanks,
Karthi
