You read that right. You can easily make yogurt in the oven. You don’t even have to turn the heat on.
Since it takes about 40 minutes to prepare it, and because yogurt is quite popular in this household, I make 4 litres at a time.
What you need:
4 litres of 3.25% whole milk
20 g of yogurt starter (I use four-5g packets of Yogourmet probiotic starter, but you can use regular yogurt starter too)
500 ml (2 cups) milk powder (I use the No Name skim milk powder)
Steps:
First, you have to put the 4 litres of milk in a large pot, and put the pot on the stove at medium heat (halfway between the off position and maximum heat). Use a candy thermometer to bring the milk to a temperature of 82°C (180°F). This may take 10-15 minutes.
I use a wood spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot every 1-2 minutes so that the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
While you are heating the milk, you can start preparing your starter by mixing the yogurt starter with the milk powder in a mixing bowl.
Once the milk has reached the desired temperature, pour some cold water in a sink, add a few ice cubes and put the pot in the sink. Your goal is to cool the milk to about 48°C (118°F).
Take about 750ml to a litre (3-4 cups) of milk from the pot and pour it in the mixing bowl, and stir. Then pour the content of the mixing bowl into the pot with the rest of the milk.
At this point, you have milk and a balanced blend of bacteria that will only produce yogurt if it is kept in a warm place (40-45°C, or 104-113°F) for several hours. You could use an instant pot, crock pot or a yogurt incubator, but I use an oven with the light on. I’ve had very good and consistent results using that method.
Pour the milk in glass containers (I use 1.8L IKEA containers) and put in the oven for 12-16 hours. Make sure the light stays on for the entire time. Leaving the milk in the oven for a longer period of time may produce firmer yogurt.
At the end of the incubation period, put the containers in the refrigerator without stirring their content.
Your yogurt should be ready in about 3-4 hours.