Homemade Greek Yogurt

Ingredients

1 gallon whole milk
2 tbsp plain yogurt

I use an Instant Pot pressure cooker, though most electric pressure cookers will do exactly the same thing.

Turn on Saute mode, and pour one gallon of whole milk in pot. Heat to 180°F. Cover and stir occasionally so the milk does not burn.
Once at 180°F, place pot in cold bath to cool to 110°F.
Return to Instant Pot. Cover and put in Yogurt mode. As there is no pressurizing occurring, it does not need to be sealed. Additionally, I like to remove the rubber seal from the lid because it tends to smell like previously made meals. Yogurt should be made in as sterile/neutral environment as possible so as not to take on other undesirable flavors and bacteria.
In Yogurt mode, set the time. I always set it for 6 hours, and have had consistently satisfying results. As a general rule of thumb, the longer you leave it in, the more tangy/sour the yogurt will get. It is completely up to you. I have seen some people say they do it for up to 24 hours. Anything after 12 hours, and I find that it just tastes like sour cream to me.
At the end of the time, simply take the inner pot out with the lid, and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This will help set the yogurt and will give a pleasant, creamy texture.
At this point, you have yogurt that is ready to eat. If you want a more traditional Greek yogurt, you will need to strain the whey.
Many people use cheesecloth with a colander/strainer. I don’t usually have cheesecloth, so I use a dishtowel. Line the towel along a sieve/colander and place a bowl underneath. Pour the yogurt in and place in the fridge overnight.
When you wake up, the yogurt will be almost completely strained of all whey. It will remind you more of cream cheese at this point. Stir in some whey to thin out the yogurt to desired consistency.

What you have now is a plain Greek yogurt. Nothing fancy. But it gives the ultimate satisfaction knowing how every ingredient is used. I would suggest leaving it plain, then flavoring it in each individual serving. Some things you can pair it with:

Fruits: blueberries, raspberries, etc.
Peanut butter
Protein powder
Honey
Vanilla
Use as a marinade for certain cuisines

While the process may seem daunting at first, I promise the satisfaction you get from making your first batch will be twofold. It is a lot of time, but most of that time is just waiting. So you can start it in the morning, and go about the rest of your day, periodically checking in to transition to the next step.

Do you have to use whole milk?

Nope. But it will give you a tastier, creamier, yogurt. 2% is fine, and skim will still produce yogurt, but it will not be quite the same.

What if I buy already pasteurized milk?

Then you do not need to heat it to 180°F. You are ready to move straight to the incubation step!

Where do I get the yogurt starter?

If you are making your first ever batch of homemade yogurt, any store bought plain yogurt will do fine. All you need is 2 tbsp to get the process started. Once you make the yogurt, you will never need to buy yogurt again. You can now save 2 tbsp of yogurt from your homemade batch and use it as the starter for next time!

Can I use almond milk instead?

Short answer: no. This process does not work with something like almond milk. You need a thickener to do this, as the almond milk does not culture like cow milk.

How much money do I actually save?

Let’s do some math.

In this scenario, let’s say you eat a 24-oz of store-bought yogurt a week that costs around $4.

$4 x 52 = $208/year

Now, let’s say one gallon of milk costs $2.50 and yields 96-oz of yogurt. That is enough to cover 4 weeks.

$2.50 x 52/4 = $32.50/year.

That’s over an 80% cost savings for the year!