Crockpot Recipe-Yogurt by Penny M.

Okay, sounds crazy, but I made yogurt this weekend... IN MY CROCK POT!!! It
is over the top delicious. I know some of you will really get excited over
this great tasting, uber-healthy money saving recipe! So here goes----

CROCK POT YOGURT

Ingredients;

-8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine,
but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized.

-1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (I just use
a whole container (about a cup) of organic store brand yogurt. You need to
have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter,
but it weakens with each use. You can also find a frozen active culture at
the health food store.)

-for flavor, if you choose to flavor it; frozen/fresh fruit, jam/jelly,
honey, vanilla or flavoring syrups

-thick bath towel (I just turned on the oven light and set the crock pot in
the oven at the incubation stage)

Directions;

Plug in your crock pot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk.
Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the milk and put it in a
bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump
back into the crock pot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crock pot. (I rinse off the condensation from the
lid and wipe it dry) Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the
way around the crock for insulation. (At this stage, I pull the crock pot
from the heating unit and set it in the oven with the light on for warmth,
don't turn on the oven... just the oven light.

Let it sit for 8 hours. Time it right and you can go to bed while the yogurt
incubates!

In the morning, (or eight hours later, the yogurt will have thickened--- it's
not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat
plain yogurt. You can do several things to control the thickness to your
desired taste. Personally, I'm fine with the thinner consistency, so I've
not messed with it and this is all hear-say... 1. Add non-fat powered milk
at the stage where you whisk in the live culture, I've read varying amounts
from 2 TBSPS to 1/2 cup. 2. Add a packet of non-flavored gelatin at the
whisk in live culture stage. 3. Lengthen the incubation (8 hour) stage. 4.
Pour your finished product into a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee
filter until you get the thickness you like.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will
last 7-10 days.

You can flavor it all at once, or as you go.

Supposedly, you can make your yogurt with lower fat milks and even non-fat
an lactose free milk. It will make a thinner yogurt. I also read the
following, but can't back it up... "For the lactose intolerant, lactose is
broken down through the fermenting period. So, you can use regular milk
while making yogurt but be sure to ferment for 24 hours minimum... result,
lactose free yogurt!" Also read that many lactose intolerant people can
handle yogurt, and this seems to be the case in our home.

Enjoy... and let me know of your successes.

Penny Midgley