My somewhat sobering review of the best and worst brands of store yogurt has apparently resulted in some folks considering a switch to homemade.
If this is your thought process too because not a single yogurt brand is optimal (grassfed, organic, non-homogenized milk, 24-hour, no additives), I would recommend slow cooker yogurt as an ideal solution.
Most of us have this type of appliance already as it makes dinner a snap on busy days. In fact, nearly everyone I know who does a lot of home cooking has one.
Boom!
No need to buy another appliance to clutter up the kitchen countertop!
Making Yogurt in a Slow Cooker
Convenient, easy, and infinitely more nutritious, making yogurt in a slow cooker is also more probiotically active than nearly all brands from the store, organic included.
Yogurt made in a slow cooker is perfect for gut healing diets like GAPS and SCD.
It is also optimal for those on a ketogenic diet because it is much lower in carbs than store brands.
You don’t even need to buy starter culture!
What Type of Milk to Use
If you choose to forgo starter culture to save money, I recommend using dairy milk for making slow cooker yogurt.
Coconut yogurt requires a dairy free starter culture for the fermentation to take properly, in my experience.
With that in mind, which type of milk is best?
Of course, unpasteurized grass-fed milk is the most nutritious as it is completely unprocessed with all the nutrients, probiotics and enzymes intact.
However, not everyone can get easily obtain this type of milk. (1)
If that is your situation, I would recommend finding non-homogenized, aka cream top milk that is vat pasteurized and preferably packaged in glass.
Most health food stores can order some for you if they don’t already carry it on the shelf. Natural by Nature is a good organic grass-fed brand to ask for (be sure to specify the cream-top milk), although I’m sure there are plenty of others!
To Heat or Not to Heat
Yogurt made from raw milk that is heated no higher than 117 °F/47 °C during the fermentation process is the best of the best. This is because all enzymes and probiotics are preserved.
However, the results can be somewhat unpredictable.
This is because the probiotics naturally present in raw milk compete with the yogurt cultures during the fermentation process.
When the fermentation is successful, raw milk yogurt is a bit thinner than pasteurized yogurt. The texture is reminiscent of homemade dairy kefir.
Sometimes, the fermentation fails and you end up with sour milk most useful for cooking or baking.
When I make raw milk yogurt in my slow cooker, it turns out perfectly. However, in your neck of the woods, it might be less dependable.
If you want to ensure that your yogurt is very thick and perfect every time, I would suggest to boil the raw milk for a minute or two and then cool down to 110 °F/43 °C before you put it in the crockpot and add the cultures. Yes, this will destroy the probiotics.
But, the end result is more consistent with the scoopable texture many people prefer. Little damage to the milk proteins occurs from the slow heating process on the stovetop unlike the violent denaturing that occurs with regular or UHT pasteurization.
So, the decision is up to you. If you are using raw milk, the results are less predictable, although I can say that in my experience, slow cooker raw yogurt turns out amazing!
I hope this discussion makes sense! If you have further questions about it, please let me know in the comments.
With that, here is my recipe for making yogurt in a slow cooker. You can use either a crockpot or a Vita-Clay.
24 Hour Crockpot Yogurt
Crockpot yogurt is a bit more complicated than using other types of slow cookers like the Vita-Clay because some models don’t have a setting that keeps the milk at a constant 100-110 °F(38-43 °C).
Here are the suggested steps for making yogurt in a crockpot.
- Pour 2 quarts of milk into the crockpot, put on the lid and turn on low.
- After 2.5 hours, turn the crockpot off.
- Let the milk cool for 2-3 hours, checking the temperature after 2 hours with a food thermometer.
- When the milk is 110 °F/43 °C, whisk in 5 tablespoons of plain, whole milk organic yogurt or a packet of starter powder.
- Put the lid back on and wrap the crockpot in a thick bath towel.
- Leave for 24 hours.
- Spoon out yogurt into glass jars and refrigerate.
While this recipe works, there is some risk based on whether the milk will stay warm enough for 24 hours to ferment properly.
Temperature variations in your kitchen based on season and location leave open the possibility of fermentation failure.
For this reason, I recommend making slow cooker yogurt in a Vita-Clay. This reduces the risk of fermentation failure to virtually zero because the temperature remains constant at 110 °F/43 °C throughout the fermentation period. No enzymes are destroyed at this temperature, by the way, in case you choose to use unpasteurized milk.
If you must make yogurt in a crockpot, I would suggest doing it only during the warmer months!
How to Make Slow Cooker Yogurt
Method for making yogurt in a slow cooker that is more nutritious, lower in carbs and more probiotically active than any store brands.
Ingredients
- 1 quart grassfed milk raw or low temp pasteurized/non-homogenized
- 5 Tbl plain whole yogurt
- 4 Tbl 100% fruit jam optional
Instructions
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Add milk to Vita-Clay pot and stir in the plain whole milk yogurt.
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Put on the lid and turn on the yogurt setting.
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Leave for 24 hours. Note: If you are using the larger Vita-Clay models, you will have to reset the timer after 9 hours. The medium-sized and small slow cooker model (this is the one shown in the photo above), will continuously warm the milk at 110 F/ 43 C for 24 hours without resetting the timer.
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When the yogurt is finished, turn off the Vita-Clay and leave on the counter until room temperature. If making fruit yogurt, spoon in the optional jam and blend with a handheld blender. Enjoy some warm ... it's amazing!
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Place the pot in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours or longer.
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Transfer the yogurt into a glass mason jar and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
I recommend using fruit jam that does not contain added sugar.
Be sure to reserve 5 tablespoons of your finished yogurt to start the next batch!
I only have a vanilla yogurt I got from a farm could I start with that instead of plain ? Thanks
You cannot use a yogurt that is sweetened. It must be plain.
I have the 4 qt and 6 qt VitaClay cookers as we are a family of ten. Can the 24 hour raw yogurt recipe be doubled? A quart of yogurt doesn’t go very far around here. And yes, resetting is a pain, especially if you don’t plan properly and have to reset it at odd hours.
I don’t know if this will work. I only make the size batch indicated in this recipe.
Thanks! Will do.
I love your site by the way. I appreciate your readable content that has a perfect balance of practicality and science.
Hi Sarah:
Can you use a yogurt starter for the Vita-Clay personal size 24 hour yogurt recipe? How much starter granules are used?
Yes, you can use yogurt starter. Just follow the directions on the starter package you have. I just use some of my last yogurt batch as starter.
Hi Sarah,
Natural by Nature changed their packaging from grass-fed milk, now it says “grass based” instead, do you happen to know why or what that means?
Thanks,
Helen
It means its not 100% grassfed. Its a no-go.
And grassfed is a marketing term. All cattle is grassfed at some point, you want 100% grassfed. Preferably pastured.
What brand of plain, whole milk yogurt do you recommend to use as the starter for the first batch?
I like Cascadian Farms or Maple Hill.
I’m following your instructions perfectly for the raw milk yogurt but each time it comes out like milk and whey ☹️
You are using the small model? Also, what brand of plain, whole milk yogurt are you using as the starter?
Hi Sarah,
The Vitaclay recipe doesn’t say to heat milk on stove to 180 degrees & cool down to 115. I see most yogurt recipes have this step. Do you think it’s necessary? Also Vitaclay yogurt setting is at 110 degrees, not 115. What do you think about that? And how long do you think the yogurt can stay fresh in the fridge before going bad using their recipe?
Their recipe says to run for 9 hours which is the longest it will go on the model I have. Will there be a consistency difference due to that? I realize there would be less lactose in the yogurt.
Thanks
Helen
I use raw milk to make yogurt in my Vita-Clay and I never heat the milk first to keep the rawness intact (the Vitaclay yogurt setting stays low enough to achieve this as well). I ferment the yogurt for 24 hours in the personal Vitaclay model (I have all sizes of the Vita-Clay slow cookers..the smallest model does yogurt the most conveniently IMO because you don’t have to reset the timer to get to 24 hours). You can make yogurt in the larger model (which I use or bone broths and stews), but you will have to reset the timer multiple times as the max is 9 hours.
I do my yogurt in my instant pot I know Sarah(my food guru) has an issue with that with the metal leaching into the yogurt. And rightly so, but you can do yogurt in what is called POP(pot in pot) method where the yogurt is fermented in jars in the pot The yogurt doesn’t touch the metal this way I use pin jars ,fil them half way with milk add my inoculate and powdered milk (1.5 TBS per pint I use powdered goat milk ) cap the jar, shake, put jar in IP on a rack with 1.5 C water on bottom Fill the jars the rest of the way with milk do not cap put lid on pot and use yogurt function for 25 hours when done cap jars and refrigerate for another 24 hours yum
Be careful with powdered milk or any powdered dairy product, for that matter. The most common processes of making commercial milk powder denatures the proteins and causes significant nutrient loss. Denaturing the proteins leads the cholesterol to oxidize. And oxidized cholesterol is not good if you want to help avoid heart disease. I would check to see how the company makes the milk powder you use.
Can you substitute the whole milk yogurt with raw kefir?
Raw kefir doesn’t need to be warmed during the fermentation process like yogurt. You can ferment kefir right on the counter at room temperature.