Bulgarian yogurt in the Instant Pot
Learn how to make homemade Bulgarian yogurt in the Instant Pot. A delicious and healthy snack to always have on hand. Easy to make, and cheaper than store-bought, homemade yogurt is great to add beneficial probiotics to your diet.
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot with yogurt function
- 1 food thermometer optional
Ingredients
- 2 liters whole milk
- 1.5 grams (1/3 teaspoon) Bulgarian yogurt starter
- 1 tablespoon grass-fed gelatin powder optional
Instructions
- Heat the milk up. Pour 2 liters of milk into the Instant Pot. Press the "yogurt" button twice until it sets on "boil". You can put the lid on or leave it off. The pot will heat the milk to about 180°F (82°C). When it beeps, the milk is heated. You can check the temperature with a thermometer if you wish (just to be sure it's 180°F). Turn off the Instant Pot by pressing "cancel".
- Remove the film on top of the milk. If your milk has formed a think film on the surface during the heating process (totally normal), remove it with a spoon.
- Optional: if you want to add the gelatin powder to your batch of yogurt, this is moment to do so. While your milk heats up, add 1 tablespoon of gelatin to 1/2 cup of cold milk and let it bloom. Once the milk is hot, pour about 1 cup of hot milk into a separate container, add the bloomed gelatin, and whisk well until the gelatin powder is completely dissolved. Add the milk back into the Instant Pot and stir together.
- Let the milk cool off to about 105-115 °F. You can either leave it in the Instant Pot, take it our on the counter, or even place the stainless steel pot in your sink filled with cold water to speed up the process. You can whisk periodically and check the temperature with the food thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer, just test the milk with your (clean!) finger. The milk needs to be warm but not hot. If it's too hot to keep your finger in for 10 seconds, let it cool off longer.
- Add the starter. Once the milk is cooled, it's time to add the starter culture (or yogurt from previous batch). Take about 1 cup of milk out, add 1/3 teaspoon of your starter culture or 1/2 cup of yogurt, stir well until dissolved and then add back to the pot and stir together with the rest of the milk.
- Let's incubate! Put the pot back into the Instant Pot, place the lid on, and press the "yogurt" button. Set the timer to your desired incubation time (from 8 up to 24 hours). I usually incubate my yogurt for 15 hours and I find I like it the best.
- Once the incubation time is up, remove the pot and place it in the refrigerator. Let the yogurt set for at least 2 hours (or more if you added the gelatin). After this time, you can enjoy your yogurt, or strain it over a colander lined with a butter cloth to make it thicker (Greek yogurt-like).
Notes
To reduce sticking of the milk to the stainless steel pot, cool off the pot with cold water or ice before pouring the milk in.
Before making yogurt in the Instant Pot, remove the silicone ring on the cover, as it can harbor smells.
When making yogurt from your previous batch, use about 1/2 cup (100ml) of yogurt for every 2 liters of new milk. Use yogurt that is as fresh as possible: less than 7 days old, and ideally less than 4.