There is nothing better than enjoying a good bowl of yogurt in breakfast, and some people make it at home to ensure they have a non-stop supply of yogurt available. For this purpose, they utilize Instant Pot for making yogurt, but it doesn’t always turn out the best. This is because there are times when the yogurt turns out too runny. The thing is, you need to be extremely careful while making yogurt in Instant Pot to ensure it comes out thick. So, let’s see what can be done!
Why Is My Instant Pot Yogurt Runny?
Ranging from conventional pots to slow cookers, there are various pots for making yogurt, but Instant Pot is one of the most common options. So, if the yogurt is too thin, we have some tips that can help!
1. Thermometer
When it comes down to the runny texture of the yogurt, one needs to be extremely careful about the thermometer. For instance, if the thermometer is miscalculated, the yogurt culture’s temperature won’t be appropriate, resulting in a runny texture. In particular, the texture will be runny when the temperature goes down too much. So, make sure that you put the thermometer to good use and make sure it is properly calibrated and calculated.
2. Milk’s Use
The second reason behind runny yogurt is the overutilization of milk. In the majority of cases, the yogurt turns too runny when the ultra-pasteurized milk is used more than needed. In fact, it not only impacts the texture but the smell and flavor as well. Having said that, you must replace the over-pasteurized milk with raw milk for making yogurt to ensure the results come out favorable. In addition to over-pasteurized milk, many people use soy milk and almond milk for making yogurt, but those don’t work either.
On the other hand, when choosing the milk to create yogurt, you need to opt for the milk with higher protein and fat content to ensure the yogurt turns out creamier and thicker. For this purpose, you can also opt for organic milk because it has natural ingredients which don’t disturb the fermentation process. Even more, make sure that you don’t use raw cow milk because it doesn’t go through homogenizes and pasteurization, which will result in thin yogurt.
3. Incubation Environment
As simple as it may sound, making yogurt is not an easy task because you need to create a proper incubation environment, which includes proper time and temperature. This is because if the temperature is too high or low, both conditions can result in improper texture and consistency. For this reason, you need to use the manual, check the suitable time and temperature for making yogurt, and input those settings into the Instant Pot. All in all, when the incubation environment is properly created in the Instant Pot, the yogurt will turn out perfectly thick.
4. Starter Culture
Which starter you are using to make yogurt in an Instant Pot will directly impact the texture and consistency of the yogurt. To begin with, if you are using store-packed yogurt as a starter culture, make sure that it doesn’t have thickening agents, which results in a thin texture. On the other hand, you can only use homemade yogurt as a starter culture too many times because it weakens the strains.
5. Heat The Milk
When it comes down to making yogurt at home, you would know that it requires you to heat the milk. Having said that, if you don’t heat the milk for enough time, the yogurt will turn out thin. For this reason, you must heat the milk for a long time because it is important for the thickening and coagulation of the proteins. When heating the milk, make sure that you maintain the temperature ranging from 160-degrees Fahrenheit to 180-degrees Fahrenheit for over twenty-five minutes. Also, you can set the temperature and timer on your Instant Pot for heating the milk, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
6. Use Dry Milk Powder
If the damage is already done and the yogurt has become too thin, the only way to save yogurt is by adding dry milk powder. This is because it can add firmness to the yogurt’s texture, resulting in a thicker yogurt. To illustrate, if there is one liter of milk, add around 1/3rd cup of dry milk powder, and the yogurt will be thickened.