I have been making yogurt in the crockpot (Thanks to Suzanne) weekly for about a year now.  In all that time I have only had one failure. The tricks are to use a plain yogurt (you can flavor later) that has no sugar, cornstarch, pectin etc. Just milk and live cultures. I sometimes use whole fat yogurt for my culture and sometimes 2%. I always use skim milk. The whole fat culture yields a slightly thicker yogurt a little quicker.

It is important to heat milk to 180* because that kills off whatever prevents yogurt from thickening. Any hotter kills off what causes it to thicken.  Let cool to 116* before adding yogurt, otherwise it kills the live cultures. I temper the yogurt with about a half cup of the hot milk before stirring the yogurt in. Stir well and then I pour into a crock pot that has been prewarmed.  I usually put it on low while the milk is cooling to 116* and turn it off when I pour the mixture into the crockpot. I wrap in a couple of big towels and keep it warm for a few hours. 2% yogurt takes about 8 hours to thicken and whole fat yogurt takes anywhere from 4-6 hours. Summertime yogurt is good to go a little quicker than wintertime yogurt.

I eat daily with fresh fruit and in the fall with fresh cranberry relish.

I hope this helps

Sandra 

Question for Cindy or whomever————–what size crock pot are you all using?  I have a rather large crock pot (I think 5.5qt or such, not sure).  It seems like it would be too big for a 1/2 gallon of milk.  Could you do a double batch, or would that be too much?

I use a 2 quart crock pot.  I can't imagine that size would matter. Once the milk and yogurt are mixed and poured into the crock it is just a matter of keeping it slightly warm (maybe 98-105) for a period of time long enough for it to thicken. You can just as easily make a half gallon, a qt is perfect for me,as that is what I use each week.  At the end of the week the yogurt is beginning to separate but still tastes fine.

I don't keep a cup of yogurt back as my next starter, after a couple of batches it begins to weaken and is no longer viable as a starter.  So, I just go ahead and buy a small container of yogut each week.   It is still much cheaper. The large containers at my store are only 3 cups as opposed to the 4 cups I make and they charge a good deal more than one small container and a qt. of milk costs. Recently I was on a vacation and the thing I missed most about home was my daily yogurt.

I wish you much success. Let us know how it goes.

Sandra

Greek Yogurt, as far as I can tell, has had some of the whey drained off to produce a thicker yogurt. 

I drain it occasionally but not very often, the whey is great for making bread or just to drink.

Yogurt with fresh fruit as a midmorning snack has helped me cut back on the amount of food I eat at lunch and I feel so much healthier for it.

Let us know how yours turns out!

Sandra