Yogurt in the Instant Pot 7in1 AND 6in1

I love making yogurt to have on hand for an occasional smoothie, but mostly to replace buttermilk in recipes like Buttermilk Pancakes, batter for fried chicken or Texas Sheath Cake. Because I make yogurt so often, I invested in the InstantPot DUO 7 in 1, which I LOVE using for this purpose, but I also discovered a way to do the tedious part of it in the LUX 6 in 1 for anyone interested in giving it a shot with that one.

Here's the basic idea in making yogurt:
Heat whole milk to 180℉ or greater .
Bring milk down to 115-120 ℉ and add a small portion of yogurt.
Keep the milk at that temperature for 6-8 hours.

Here's how I do it in the InstantPot.
First, what you need:

• 1-4 pint size or smaller jars
• Meat or candy thermometer
• Whole milk
• 1-2 Tbspn yogurt for starter
• 1 1/2 C water

Now, what to do:

Fill 1 pint, or smaller, jars with whole milk. Four jars will fit in the 6 quart pot, I only had 3 clean.

Fill IP with enough water to cover bottom and almost reach the trivet. Approx 1 1/2 Cups.

Place jars of milk into IP.

 

Close lid. Seal valve. Press Steam button for 1 minute. After approx 30 seconds, IP will beep and the process begins. 

 

After "Steam" cycle is complete and your IP has beeped, you can either let it come to a natural release, quick release or, my preferred method, just turn off your IP and wait a few minutes and then do quick release. Your milk has now reached it's target temperature of 180℉ or more. Usually, it's more.

I carefully remove the hot jars from the pot with an oven mitten and place on a cooling rack. Now the milk needs to cool to 115-120 ℉.

While the jars are cooling down a bit, I fill a pot or large bowl, large enough to hold the jars, halfway full with ice water. (This step isn't necessary, but speeds up the cooling process. You can just let them sit on the cooling rack until the temp reaches 115-120 ℉.)

Now I get my starter yogurt out. I use the yogurt from my previous batch, but if you run out or don't have any, you can use any brand, flavor or style (Greek or Regular)  from the store as well.

Once I set my very hot jars in the icy water, it took approximately 6 1/2 minutes to cool to the target temp of 120. Stir the milk with the thermometer while it's setting in the icy water to distribute the cooling method evenly. Remember, 115-120℉ is OK. Don't continue yet if the temp is above 120 and if you go under 115, reheat it ever so slightly by either putting it in a pot of very hot water or microwaving the jars just a minute at a time until you're at or above 120℉ and repeat the cooling process.

 

Now that you're at your target temp, add a small spoon of yogurt into each jar of  your heated milk and stir gently.

Now, here's where the 7 in 1 and 6 in 1 differ. The key at this point is to hold the milk with the yogurt culture at approx 100-120℉ for 6-8 hours while the milk ferments. There are numerous ways to do that. My favorite way, without the DUO IP, is to place the jars in a cooler with a few jars of very hot water. (I heat my water in my Keurig, pour them in thick glasses, jars or mugs and just place them in the cooler with the loosely covered jars of fermenting milk. This creates a very good "incubator" to hold the temp where it needs to be for a long period of time. If it's cool in the room, you may need to replace or reheat the hot water halfway through. I just reheat mine in the microwave. The milk can now ferment for about 6 1/2 hours into perfect yogurt.
Note: The longer the fermentation, the tangier the yogurt will be.
If you do have the 7 in 1 DUO (which will be explained in the next steps) and discover you need to use your IP while you're in the process of making yogurt, you can cancel the "Yogurt" on your IP, remove the jars and place in a cooler as explained above, continuing on with the time needed for fermentation.

 Now, how to continue the yogurt process in the DUO 7 in 1.

Now that the jars have the yogurt culture mixed in, place them back in the IP pot. You can use the same water at the bottom from the steaming process, or replace with the same amount.

 

Place lid on. Seal valve. Press "Yogurt" and set time for 6:30 (that's my favorite, however if you like tangier yogurt, you can do 8:00). Wait 30 seconds, IP will beep and process will begin. Now you're done until time is complete. The IP will start counting up (rather than the usual down) during this process.

6 1/2 hours later, IP will beep and this will display. Your yogurt is now complete. I recommend a quick release so that the yogurt won't continue to ferment, but it's no big deal to let it come to a natural release. So, if you're not able to get to it right away when it's done, that's totally fine.

  

 

Here's the yogurt all fermented. I like to pour off the liquid on top, but you can mix that in as well.
Note: The yogurt will solidify more as it cools.

Place lids on jars and store in refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.
Note: If you want to keep making yogurt, just make a mental note to save at least a Tablespoon for your starter. If you want to make yogurt but realize yours is pretty old and runny, it will still work just as well!

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions or other helpful hints, please leave a comment below!
Thanks!