Question: Homemade greek yogurt timing?

[aflyingbuttress]

So I'm trying my hand at making homemade greek yogurt and I am following a recipe given to me by another DS mama on a different thread I posted.

Per directions I heated milk to 180 degrees and cooled until 105 degrees before adding the yogurt. This process took forever. Perhaps because I have an old crockpot. I started at about 7:30 am and didn't get the yogurt in until around 3:00 pm.

First, is this normal or is it indeed slower because of my crockpot?

Second, since I didn't get the yogurt in until 3:00 and I have to give it at least 8 hours, the timing ends up being around 11:00 pm. I am usually in bed by that time. Can I take it out early? If not, can I leave it til morning (will it go bad)? Or should I just suck it up and take it out at 11:00?

[Leah52]

You can check it, it might be thick enough before then.

[CMamma]

Do you drip your yogurt, or is it all done in the crock? Just curious - I've never made a thick, Greek yogurt w/o dripping.

[aflyingbuttress]

Originally Posted by CMamma Do you drip your yogurt, or is it all done in the crock? Just curious - I've never made a thick, Greek yogurt w/o dripping.

Not sure what you mean by dripping. This is my first time making it so I am a novice. I warmed, then cooled the milk in the crock pot. Then I took out a cup of milk and whisked in 1/4 cup of yogurt, then added that back into the crock pot and whisked it all. I placed the crock pot, wrapped in a towel, in my oven and left it like that.

I did just check on it. It's been 7 hours and it was nice and thick. I put it in the fridge for the night in the crock pot. Tomorrow I will strain it using a cheesecloth.

[KLeeCW]

I don't make my yogurt, but I do buy plain yogurt and strain off the whey to make thick greek yogurt since it's cheaper than store bought greek yogurt. I have to imagine that even if your yogurt isn't greek yogurt consistency but is yogurt consistency that you could pull it early and strain it tomorrow using cheesecloth, a colander, and something heavy (like a plate with a jar on top).

[MaBacon]

I don't do the crock pot method (too many people say it turns out runny) I have a way to make it on the stove and let it sit in warm cooler (you can find it on my blog in my siggy if you want) it's pretty easy process. But to get greek yogurt you need to strain it no matter how you make it. So either hang in in cheesecloth or I usually just put a coffee filter in a strainer and take out what I want at the the time, let it strain for up to 30 min until I get it as thick as I want it for greek yogurt. The kids prefer it reg instead of as thick so this way everyone's happy. hope that helps!

[aflyingbuttress]

Originally Posted by KLeeCW I don't make my yogurt, but I do buy plain yogurt and strain off the whey to make thick greek yogurt since it's cheaper than store bought greek yogurt. I have to imagine that even if your yogurt isn't greek yogurt consistency but is yogurt consistency that you could pull it early and strain it tomorrow using cheesecloth, a colander, and something heavy (like a plate with a jar on top).

This is interesting. I never realized that was the only difference between regular yogurt and greek yogurt. I am going to pass that on to my brother and his girlfriend who eat greek yogurt daily and are also on a pretty tight budget. That's a great tip, thank you!

[aflyingbuttress]

Originally Posted by MaBacon I don't do the crock pot method (too many people say it turns out runny) I have a way to make it on the stove and let it sit in warm cooler (you can find it on my blog in my siggy if you want) it's pretty easy process. But to get greek yogurt you need to strain it no matter how you make it. So either hang in in cheesecloth or I usually just put a coffee filter in a strainer and take out what I want at the the time, let it strain for up to 30 min until I get it as thick as I want it for greek yogurt. The kids prefer it reg instead of as thick so this way everyone's happy. hope that helps!

That does help. I think I am going to try the stove top method next time. However, mine is straining right now and it did come out pretty thick. As for it being runny, I am not sure yet. Isn't that part of what the straining process helps?

[cbusbaby]

Originally Posted by aflyingbuttress So I'm trying my hand at making homemade greek yogurt and I am following a recipe given to me by another DS mama on a different thread I posted. Per directions I heated milk to 180 degrees and cooled until 105 degrees before adding the yogurt. This process took forever. Perhaps because I have an old crockpot. I started at about 7:30 am and didn't get the yogurt in until around 3:00 pm. First, is this normal or is it indeed slower because of my crockpot? Second, since I didn't get the yogurt in until 3:00 and I have to give it at least 8 hours, the timing ends up being around 11:00 pm. I am usually in bed by that time. Can I take it out early? If not, can I leave it til morning (will it go bad)? Or should I just suck it up and take it out at 11:00?

are you heating it up on the high setting? that usually heats mine up in about 2 hours. then to get it cool i unplug it, put the lid half on, and stir every once in a while. that takes about two hours too. you can leave it out overnight.

[Fashionably Green Baby]

I do mine on low and it does take a while. I always start it around 3pm and it is usually like 9ish or so when it is ready to go to the oven for the night. I have a system down now so I can get it in there and then go to bed and I put it in the fridge in the morning. You can probably just put the crockpot on high and make it go faster though. Mabacon's recipe gets lots of good reviews, I just stick to the crockpot because I have never had a bad batch and I don't have a cooler which her directions call for.

Glad to see you are giving it a try!