How to make homemade yogurt using the Instant Pot yogurt setting

Two strawberry and blueberry yogurt parfaits in clear glasses surrounded by whole strawberries — Homemade yogurt lasts for two weeks in the fridge.jenifoto/Getty Images

Most Instant Pot models include the yogurt function, but check your appliance to make sure.
The yogurt function incubates milk, allowing bacteria in a starter to turn it into yogurt.
Strain homemade yogurt to make Greek yogurt or add your choice of flavorings.
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If you own an Instant Pot, there's a good chance you've used the pressure cooker setting to cook up meat, beans, soup, or grains. But what about all of those other buttons, like the mysterious yogurt setting?

The Instant Pot takes much of the guesswork out of making yogurt, especially during the incubation phase when it's important to keep yogurt at a specific temperature for several hours. This can be tricky without a device like the Instant Pot to constantly monitor the temperature.

While making yogurt takes some time, it's almost entirely hands-off, especially when you use an Instant Pot.

While you can pick up yogurt at the store, homemade is far superior. "Making something from scratch is always better than store-bought. You know what's in it and you can customize it to your taste," says Bruce Weinstein, co-author of several popular Instant Pot cookbooks including The Instant Pot Bible and Instant Pot Bible: Copycat Recipes.

Strain homemade yogurt to make Greek yogurt, embellish with sweeteners and fruit, or enjoy as-is. It keeps for a solid two weeks in the fridge and you can use the last bit of your yogurt as the starter for a whole new batch.

How does the Instant Pot yogurt setting work?

A bowl of plain yogurt topped with blueberries and raspberries — Use yogurt from your last batch as the starter for the next one.LOVE_LIFE/Getty Images

The yogurt setting on the Instant Pot had two modes, the boil mode and the incubate mode. Press the yogurt button until it says "boil" for the boil mode; press until it shows a timer for the incubate mode — it defaults to eight hours.

The boil mode is used first and brings the milk to the proper temperature to kill any bacteria, "in effect pasteurizing it at home [and] allowing you to add your own bacteria to make yogurt safely," says Weinstein.

After boiling, the milk is cooled to a specific temperature and the starter is added. The incubate mode is what turns the milk into yogurt, holding it between 110 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours, encouraging the good bacteria to grow. The bacteria causes the milk to thicken and gives yogurt its signature tang.

While the Instant Pot defaults to eight hours for incubation, your yogurt may be done in as little as a few hours. However, it's best to disturb the mixture as little as possible, since it is delicate in its early stages. If you prefer a less thick and less tangy yogurt, you can check it as early as five hours. Weinstein doesn't recommend leaving the yogurt to incubate for longer than ten hours.

How to make yogurt in an Instant Pot

The yogurt setting works in two stages.onurdongel/Getty Images

For the best yogurt, start with at least a quart of milk or up to a gallon. Don't add more than 2 quarts of liquid to the 3-quart Instant Pot. These instructions will work for all models that offer the yogurt setting.

Clean everything well. "You want to make sure you don't have any bad bacteria growing when you hit the incubation cycle," says Weinstein. Bad bacteria will compete with your good bacteria and your milk won't turn to yogurt. Give the inner pot, thermometer, whisk, and a small bowl a good wash with soap and warm water.
Boil the milk. Add the milk to the Instant Pot, secure the lid, and leave the steam release valve open. Press the yogurt button until it says "boil" and press start.
Check the temperature. Once the boil cycle is over and the Instant Pot beeps to signal it's done, check the temperature using a clean cooking thermometer. The milk should be at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's not quite hot enough, turn on the sauté setting to low and heat while stirring.
Cool the milk. Bring the milk temperature down to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're in a time crunch, move the inner pot to a large bowl with ice water to help the pot and the milk cool down faster. Check the milk temperature often to make sure the temperature doesn't go below 105 degrees.
Prepare the starter. If you are using a powdered starter, prepare it according to the package directions in a small mixing bowl. Or add liquid starter or plain yogurt with active cultures to a small bowl. You'll need about 2 tablespoons of yogurt per half gallon of milk.
Add the starter. Once the milk has reached 110 degrees, add about a cup of warm milk to the bowl with the starter or yogurt and whisk to combine. Add the mixture back to the warm milk in the inner pot and stir.
Incubate. If you used an ice bath, make sure the bottom and outside of the inner pot is dry and add it back to the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and select the yogurt setting until it displays a timer for 8:00 (eight hours). Press start.
Chill. After the time is up, check to make sure that the incubation was successful. The mixture will jiggle and smell like yogurt. Weinstein recommends then moving the inner pot to the fridge and chilling overnight to allow the yogurt to continue thickening up.
Strain (optional). Give the yogurt a whisk until it's creamy. If you'd like to make Greek yogurt, line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Add the yogurt and let it drain in the fridge for at least an hour. For super thick Greek yogurt, strain overnight.
Add flavorings (optional). If you'd like to flavor all or part of your yogurt with honey, agave, maple syrup, vanilla, or jam, you can add it now. Weinstein likes to add flavorings a serving at a time, since it gives you flexibility and adding things like fruit can shorten the shelf life.
Store. Transfer the yogurt to an airtight container or containers and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Troubleshooting Instant Pot yogurt

If you open the lid to your Instant Pot and you just find warm milk instead of yogurt, Weinstein says there are a couple of common reasons things went wrong.

Your starter might be bad, meaning the active cultures are no longer alive so they cannot turn the milk into yogurt. Or you got your temperatures wrong. If the milk is too hot when you add the starter, it will kill the bacteria; if it's too cold, the bacteria won't be encouraged to grow.

What if your Instant Pot doesn't have the yogurt setting?

While most Instant Pot models feature a yogurt button right on the front panel, there are some models that don't include it as a setting. "Instant Brands makes changes to machines all the time, adding features and taking them off," says Weinstein. For example, some Duo models include the yogurt setting while others have not. Weinstein suggests inspecting the panel and specific features before buying a model if you'd like to try the yogurt function.

If your Instant Pot model doesn't have the yogurt function, Weinstein doesn't recommend using the appliance for yogurt-making. "The yogurt setting is designed for success and safety. Trying to duplicate what that feature does on a machine without that feature is asking for trouble," says Weinstein.

Insider's takeaway

The Instant Pot's yogurt setting takes the guesswork out of homemade yogurt. In addition to milk, use a good starter or plain yogurt with active cultures. A thermometer is essential since the milk needs to be cooled to a specific temperature after cooling and before adding starter. Strain to make Greek yogurt, and store your homemade yogurt in the fridge for up to two weeks.

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