Homemade Yogurt and Granola

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I've jumped on the homemade yogurt bandwagon!  I like yogurt and I've been willing to pay for the "expensive" Greek yogurt because I like the texture better.  I don't like the chalky or too-tart flavors of some of the national brands.  I also am trying to eat more cleanly--less processed stuff, more real stuff. It should come as no surprise that homemade is way better than store bought--that's true of pretty much any food.  I just didn't realize that it was this easy to do. 

Here's what you need.

Whole milk
Fage plain 2% yogurt for starter
Good kitchen thermometer
Instant Pot with Yogurt feature (or a Dash yogurt maker from Amazon)


You need the Instant Pot with the Yogurt function.  I add 8 cups of milk into the pot and press the button-it usually takes about 20 minutes before it beeps and should be around 180 degrees.   You heat the milk to mess with the protein structure in the milk, apparently to help yogurt be thick--not to kill off bacteria, pasteurization already did that.  I set up a paper towel next to the Pot with my wire whisk and thermometer and pull off any milk skin that forms and stir the milk before taking the temperature. 

Next you have to let the milk cool back down to between 105-110 degrees before you add your starter yogurt--otherwise its too hot and the bacteria in the starter yogurt will die.  Because I am impatient (or usually trying to get the whole process done before I go to bed) I fill my sink with some cold tap water and set the bowl of hot milk into the  until my thermometer reads 109-110 degrees (about 7 minutes).  If you are more patient, you can just let it sit on the counter until its the right temperature.  But don't get distracted by binging on Netflix.  If you let it drop below about 107, the starter won't start and you will end up with yogurt flavored milk instead of delicious, thick and creamy yogurt.


Now that its cooled down, you can add the starter yogurt--seems silly that you need yogurt to make yogurt--but you do.  Two or three tablespoons of plain yogurt for 8 cups of milk is enough!  Really--more doesn't help.  Stir it up and put your mixture into the Instant pot container.  Follow the directions on the pot (I hit the Yogurt button, adjust the time to 6-8 hours and put the lid on).  The machine incubates at about 100 degrees the whole time--perfect for yogurt bacteria to do their job of eating the lactose in the milk.  The longer you incubate the more tangy your yogurt will be.  I like about a 7 hour incubation--which is not tangy at all.

Make sure that your sealing ring for your pot doesn't smell like onions or cumin or something non-yogurty.  If it does, your yogurt will taste like onion.  Since the Instant Pot doesn't do the pressure mode for yogurt, you could potentially just remove the seal and put the lid on. You could also order a new sealing ring from Amazon and keep it just for yogurt making.





I take my finished, warm yogurt out of the machine when the time is up and carefully dump the contents into a strainer.  For straining,  I line my pasta drainer with a large coffee filter.  This lets the whey drain out--which leaves a concentrated, creamy and thick Greek-style yogurt.  If you want, after straining you can add vanilla or some sweetener.  I've tried adding sweetener before incubating and it just didn't work as well.

Even before straining, the yogurt is thick.

I get giant size coffee filters at a restaurant supply store

Top your tasty yogurt with fruit or honey or granola or all of those!

Just wait, you'll find yourself making yogurt every weekend.   If I start with 8 cups of milk, after I strain my yogurt I usually end up with about 5 cups of yogurt.  At my grocery, milk is about $2 a gallon and Fage is $1 per carton.  I can actually use the same container of Fage for two weekends, so for $3 I can get two batches of yogurt.


Possible errors.  Did your yogurt not set?  Did you use a starter yogurt that says contains live active cultures (not just "contains cultures")--or did the starter yogurt  have additives like gelatin?  Was the starter yogurt close to expiring?  Did you heat the milk past 185? Did you let the milk drop below 105?  Did you turn the machine on  :)  Is your thermometer accurate?  I have a really nice instant-read digital--temperature is the key point in this recipe, so make sure you have a good thermometer.


Homemade Granola

Why did I think this was hard?  I've never made it before, and its something that is really simple.
 
2 cups oats
1/2 c. sliced almonds
 2/3 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. honey
1 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup dried fruit of choice (craisen, apricot, mango)
1 Tbp. chia seed (optional)

Alternate:  Nutella (or any nut butter ) Granola
Increase to 2 3/4 C oats add 1/3 C. Nutella to the oil/honey mix.  Leave out the cinnamon and dried fruit. 

Preheat oven to 250 and line big rimmed cookie sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl add oatmeal, shredded coconut and almonds.  In a small microwave-safe bowl combine the oil, honey and microwave 30 seconds or until melted.  Add cinnamon and vanilla to melted mixture, stir well then dump into the oat mix.  Stir up really well and then spread onto the parchment.  Bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Remove from oven and cool completely.  Sprinkle on the dried fruit (don't bake the fruit, it will get way too dried out).  Store in a container with a lid.