So you have an instant pot and you want to make yogurt. Everyone is making yummy yogurt in their Instant Pot’s right? Sadly, all the recipes you come across tell you to use the yogurt button and you don’t have that button because you have the Lux version. Well you too can make yogurt, no worries.
Here is is the basic process…
How to Make Yogurt in a Lux Instant Pot
Add a half gallon of milk (I prefer whole, organic) to the pot. Select the keep warm feature. In about 30-40 minutes it will be good and warm. I like to let it warm up more gradually and I like to make yogurt while I am doing other things…like house cleaning. Once warm, give it a good whisking and then press the saute button to heat it further until you get to 180-185 degrees. Use a thermometer to be sure.
Once it has reached full temperature remove the inner pot and allow it to cool to about 110 degrees. Once it has cooled sufficiently add two heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt and whisk. Put it back inside the instant pot, which is now turned off, seal the lid, and close the vent. Wrap the whole Instant Pot unit in a towel and allow it to sit for 8 hours or overnight. When done remove the pot, transfer to a glass storage bowl, and place in the refrigerator. Enjoy! You now have homemade yogurt!
This recipe makes super creamy yogurt. If you want thicker, greek style yogurt, simply let the yogurt strain through cheesecloth for a couple hours to remove the whey. This will leave you with a thicker yogurt.
I’ve read other recipes and they have you sanitize your pot with 1 cup water for 1 minute on the steam setting. Do you do this? If not, why not?
No I dont…my inner pot gets sanitized in the dishwasher before use.
Good point. I haven’t washed mine in the dishwasher yet.
Is wrapping it in a towel really necessary?
I use one because I don’t seal the pot and I want to keep the warmth inside.
I’m a little confused…in your instructions you said…”Put it back inside the instant pot, which is now turned off, seal the lid, and close the vent. Wrap the whole Instant Pot unit in a towel and allow it to sit for 8 hours or overnight”. Should I seal it?
I find this confusing because why even bother with an instant pot.. IFyou can set the time to 10 plus hours and set the temperature to 110, then bam.. you dont need towels. just set time and temp and go to bed, yogurt in the morning.
Do you have yogurt recipe that’s non dairy?
How can you culture non dairy????
I use Cultures for Health’s Vegan starter with canned coconut milk. Been letting it set on the counter for 2 days. Excited to see this and try it!
How long does it normally take to go from 180 down to 110?
I did it last night and it took about 20-25 minutes.
mine took an hour
Can one add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla to this recipe?
I like to no this to
Ummmm what were you trying to say??
Have you tried it with the sweetened condensed milk & vanilla?
I just made this recipe for the first time and I added a can of sweetened condensed milk. Wish me luck!!
Did you do it before or after the fermentation?
Thank you so much..I was gifted an loder Lux Instant Pot….and my yogurt maker died last week, I know I could do it with this thing…but all the recipes were for the duo…..
My yogurt will have been sitting in the pot for 8 hours at 11 pm this evening. Can I leave it until the morning or should I stay up and get it in the refrigerator at 11?
I leave mine overnight often.
Interesting. I was expecting that when doing yogurt with this model, some kind of low heat was necessary to culture the milk for 8 hours and assumed the “keep warm” or feature or the “less” warm in slow cooking mode would work. Does it really stay warm enough in OFF mode for 8 hours to make yogurt with regular (non liquidy) consistency?
Yes, I have been very happy with the consistency. I do not use the stay warm feature after adding the culture because it keeps it too warm. It is stay hot in my opinion and I do not want to kill my culture.
Made this last night and this morning woke up to beautiful, creamy yogurt. It is now straining in the refrigerator and I’m excited for Greek yogurt!!! Quick question, if I add pure vanilla during the process, will it still firm up?
Yes, you can add vanilla when you add the yogurt starter or anytime thereafter.
Thank you!!!
Vanilla extract is mainly alcohol, which kills your yogurt bacteria. Same with honey, which is sometimes used as an antiseptic. You might want to consider flavoring after the fermentation is complete.
So glad I found your site. I’ve had my Instant pot for years but never used it until recently. (I won it then forgot about it.) Anyway, all the recipes tell you to press the yogurt setting, well mine doesn’t have one! :/ So glad to have found your post. I’m off to the store to buy me some milk and a starter yogurt! Thanks again for the recipe. Wish me luck. :)
Can you use this recipe with coconut milk?
Do you have to continuously whisk when heating to 180? Or Just occasionally?
I stirred constantly with a wooden spoon, to prevent the bottom from burning and to move the heat from the bottom throughout the milk. I stirred some more while the pot was cooling in the sink full of cold water to speed the cooling process before adding in the culture.
I just made this and mine is super runny. Followed the directions to the tee. Will it firm up once I transfer to the fridge?
Mine too. Did you get an answer or try something different? Mine was watery actually, and ice cold. I’m wondering if the keep warm function would have been better to use?
Instant Pot “keep warm” is 145°F. It’s designed to be hot enough to kill bacteria, so that you don’t get food poisoning from the chicken stew that has been in your pot for hours simmering. It would wipe out your yogurt cultures if you used it. The yogurt bacteria want to be 110°-115°F in order to make yogurt.
Hello? That’s why you cool to 110 BEFORE adding the culture. Its clearly stated in the recipe above. You MUST use a thermometer, can’t guess.
I used to make yogurt with my crock pot. Would turn it off and wrap in a little down blanket overnight. If it wasn’t warm enough, it would be runny. I’d check before bed and if the pot felt like it was cooling down too much, I’d turn it on low for maybe 20 min then unplug. Keeping it warm enough for long enough seemed to be the key. I think putting it in the fridge while still runny will stop it from thickening. :)
I previously made my yogurt in a crock pot. It was also wrapped in a towel to promote the culture growth for 8 to 12 hrs. Worked fine for regular yogurt. I like it creamy and never use cheesecloth. I have heard from others to MAKE SURE YOU DONT ADD EXTRA YOGURT AS A STARTER, it can lead to runnier yogurt. When doing a half gallon I use no more than 1/4 cup. Looking forward to trying the instant pot.
I just unwrapped the Instant Pot after letting it sit for 8 hours. I poured the contents into a glass bowl. It looks just like milk. Is it going to thicken or did it not work? I put the bowl in the refrigerator. Will something miraculous happen?
In the refrigerator for 4 hours. Still a runny mess.
I hope you were able to salvage your yogurt! I am making mine for the first time tonight in the instant pot, but I have been making my own yogurt for a couple of years now. The consensus on different Instant Pot yogurt sites seems to be that it is crucial to bring up the temperature to 180-185F to be successful. One site said if it looks like milk, to bring it back up to 185, add new starter and try again. Others have said this works.
I tried again with a new half gallon of milk and new Face yogurt. Same crap result. I am in the midst of trying again. Seriously, so disgusted with myself that I wasted more ingredients on a recipe that doesn’t work. Yes, I used a thermometer. Yes I brought it to the correct temperature. Yes, I let it cool to the proper temperature and then added 2 T of yogurt with live cultures. Left it in the pot wrapped in towels for 8 hours.
dont toss… next time bring back to temp, add more yogurt starter. warm some towels in the dryer to help keep it at proper temp during sitting time. toss back in dry if they cool off. keep checking your temp and trying to keep it around 110.
make sure when you hit “yogurt” to do the incubation time, you adjust the time to 8 or 10 hours via the ADJUST button, not the “-” and “+” buttons because then the instant pot goes down to “low heat” instead of the middle ground / normal heat setting. See ?
Use it for smoothies
You boil milk to 180 have to have to check with thermometer then cool down to 110 before adding starter, I use a little more then a tb. check to see 110 with thermometer. Then set on about 9 to 10 hours comes out better if you leave in a little longer, I do over night.
I did that. It didn’t work. I just got a mini one with a yogurt button. I’ll try again with that.
This was a big disappointment-it still looks like milk and followed the recipe exactly:(
Has anyone made cold start yogurt? I’m wanting to make it and don’t know settings! Thanks
It come out good, but doesn’t have the tang I like from milk boiled and cooled
thank you so much! all these people on You tube saying their making yogurt, but only with their yogurt button!
I followed the recipe to a T and it turned out beautifully! Thank you!!!
One thing to remember about making yogurt, You must not move, bump, nor disturb the yogurt for 8 hours or it will return to liquid.
At this point can you use the whey to culture raw veggies?
When I used to make yogurt, incubating in quart jars set in a soft cooler with a heating pad set on low stuck in the lining of the cooler, it worked, but what a lot of babysitting I had to do to keep it at the right temp. Can’t wait to start with the Instant Pot. Also… I added about 1/3 cup of powdered milk to the 180 degree milk. My little trick to thicken it; probably not correct, but it helped.
We have a small B&B and our guests LOVE this yogurt! I have gotten so many compliments on it! No more store bought yogurt for our guests… only the best for them…. and the best is right here! :)