Crockpot Yogurt

In our home we go through a fair amount of yogurt, all of which can be quite expensive - along with having trouble to control the extra “stuff” in it. I was introduced by A Simple Wife With A Simple Life how to make homemade yogurt, I could not wait to try it!
This is best done as an overnight project.

All you need is:
A crockpot
1/2 gallon of whole milk
1/2 cup of plain yogurt (this will be your starter and will never need to buy again, I’ll explain more later)

How to:

Putting your crockpot on LOW, warm the 1/2 gallon of milk, for 2 hours.

Unplug the crockpot and let it sit for 3 hours. Do not remove cover.

After 3 hours, remove two cups of the crockpot milk and whisk together with 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (it does come out a bit 'runny', using 1/4 cup will make it thicker).

Stir the milk/yogurt mix into the crockpot with the rest of the milk.

Cover the crockpot with a thick bath towel and let sit for 8-10 hours.

After sitting, it is ready to eat, though warm.
I scooped it into Mason Jars and refrigerated for a few hours.

It is not as thick as store bought yogurt, but oh-so-yummy! You can strain it through some cheesecloth to remove some of the extra liquid if preferred.
I just make sure to enjoy it with a little bit of caution to not wear it - and sometimes thicken it up with flax seed.
Enjoy.

Some ways to flavorize the yogurt. (I know it isn’t a real word, but still fun)

For natural sweeteners you can add: maple syrup, honey, or agave
Mix in some of your favorite fruits, granola, or flax seed
*It is best to mix flavors into individual servings to keep it from not getting too watery as well as add some variety of flavor options to suit your taste buds in the moment.


Note: You can use low-fat milk for this recipe. As this is a new endeavor for me, I have not yet experimented with it. From what I have reviewed you can mix in a packet of unflavored gelatin or powdered milk during the step of mixing in the yogurt.