Instant Pot Yogurt #3

Well, I've done it.  #3 it is!  After having pretty much everyone taste it, it's been decided this 3rd attempt at making the perfect yogurt was the best batch so far!  I've had some accidents and some failures along the way, but it turned out so good that I have people who don't like yogurt saying they would eat it, and my 5-year old (picky eater) even likes it.  My 3-year old (eats everything) can't leave it alone, and my dad is taking it on the road with him while he's driving a semi!   Yay for healthy snacks!

So, in case you'd like to try your hand at it... here's what I did!

Instant Pot Yogurt #3

Ingredients & Items needed: 

• 2 quarts of whole milk
• 2 tablespoons of Noosa Yogurt
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 vanilla bean pod, split & scraped
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8qt) Instant Pot with yogurt function
• 1 IP liner
• 1 pressure cooker trivet
• 1 food thermometer
• 5 pint jars, washed & sterilized
• 5 pint jar lids

Pour your milk and sweetened condensed milk into the Instant Pot liner.  Stir until well incorporated then place liner into the Instant Pot base and push the "Yogurt" button until it reads "BOIL".  I leave the vent open. It isn't necessary to close it for the milk to heat up to the correct temperature, but you can if you would feel better about it.

** This step is important for thick yogurt, because it is denaturing the protein strands and allowing them to change shape to become longer and more "friendly" with their neighbors.  

While the milk is scalding, clear off a space large enough for your instant pot liner inside your refrigerator

Once the "BOIL" cycle is completed, allow the milk to rest for 5 minutes, in the base.  After 5 minutes open the lid (unless you've sealed it, in which case you need to vent the pressure).

Remove the Instant Pot liner from the base and rest it on the counter, on a hot pad and stir around to make sure everything is well blended etc until it reaches approximately 150*F.  Place the liner into the refrigerator and stir it every 10 minutes until it reaches an approximate temperature between 98-110*F.  

** Should be in the correct range within about 30 minutes.  If it gets too cold, it's alright, it will still make yogurt and you don't need to start over or anything. 
Once the temperature drops into the "happy zone" of 98-110*F, stir the vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract and the 2tbsp of Noosa Yogurt into the sweetened milk in the liner.

Now here, is where you have two options:  

1)  You can do as I do, and place the liner into the base with 1 cup of water and the trivet, bringing the water to a boil, turn the heat off, but don't remove the water or trivet.  While the water is heating up, pour the sweet milk mixture into the pint jars, keeping them in reserve on the counter until the water is finished boiling. Add 1-quart cold water, then place the jars (carefully so as to not burn yourself) into the liner, on top of the trivet so the jars do not come into direct heat with the heating element in the bottom of the pot. I then take the sprayer on the sink and fill the liner with water until the water is at the "shoulder" of the jars.  This produces a more even incubation throughout the entire batch rather than just the bottoms becoming thick and the top portion being thinner. The jars are now your incubation containers, and you need do nothing more except put a lid on them when they've completed the yogurt process. 

2)  You can leave all of the milk mixture inside the liner, place the liner into the base and use the liner as your yogurt incubation container. However if you do, you'll need to transfer the finished product into other containers once the process is complete, and moving the yogurt will disturb the proteins and produce a thinner yogurt, unless you choose to strain the whey off using a yogurt strainer from Amazon, in which case it will be thicker than thick.

Whichever option you choose, you are now going to cancel any prior instructions given to the pot so that it reads "OFF".  You are now going to press the "Yogurt" button one time, so that the heat setting is on "normal", then select "8 hours" (08:00) and put the lid on, walking away to allow the milk to incubate and change into yogurt for the next 8 hours! It's that easy!

Once the incubation process is completed, do not stir, or disturb in any way.  Simply pop your container(s) into the refrigerator and allow to chill for at least 4 hours or until the yogurt is an equal temperature throughout.

This recipe shouldn't require any straining, it turns out very thick for me when left undisturbed in the jars, but if it should turn out thinner for you and you wish to try to strain it, I will post instructions on how to do that as well, in a later post. 



Edit To Add:
For my fourth attempt at making yogurt, I chose to get creative by putting the flavoring in BEFORE it incubated.  The attached photo is from that batch, with two Luxurious Lemon, two Double Vanilla Bean & one Rockin' Raspberry.

Edit to add x2:
Recipes have now been tweaked for both coconut and strawberry as well as the raspberry and lemon.  

IP French Onion Soup

I had been told that the Instant Pot makes an amazing pot of French onion soup. But after several bloopers on the stove top years ago, I was uneasy trying this. My craving got the best of me however, and I am ever so glad it did!

I used Jeffrey's French Onion Soup recipe from his site pressureluckcooking.com.

I really didn't do very many things different, just cut it in half, doubled the garlic and pepper quantities, used Italian bread instead of croutons, & kept the bread on the side to be eaten as garlic cheese bread. But it turned out so fabulous that I have been "forced" to make it again in less than a week!  Below are my adjusted quantities. I followed the directions as Jeffrey has them written.

Instant Pot French Onion Soup - revised
1½ teaspoons of salted butter
1½ teaspoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of light brown sugar
One half from 4 big onions. Onions should be halved and sliced into ribbons (I used ½ of each: Vidalia/Sweet, Red, Yellow and Spanish)
2 cups of beef broth (1 can of beef broth is 2 cups of liquid)
½ cup of dry red wine (I used a pinot noir)
½ teaspoon dry thyme
½ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
1 loaf of Italian bread, sliced into rounds and toasted in the oven, or a package of your favorite croutons

** I chose to slice the bread and toast with cheese & garlic on top. Suggested cheeses include: Provolone, Mozzarella, Swiss/Gruyere and Asiago (optional)

Instructions:
1) Cut the onions so they are halved and then slice into strips (don’t dice!) and set aside in a bowl
2) Put the Instant Pot on Sauté and melt the butter and oil until it sizzles
3) Add the onions and brown sugar and stir regularly for about 10-15 minutes or until the onions have cooked down by about half and have become translucent and have a pasta-like consistency. Make sure they aren’t too firm or too mushy!
4) Add the broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaf, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Give it a stir and secure the lid.
5) Hit “Manual/Pressure Cook” or "Soup/Broth" for 8 minutes. Quick release when done. Adjust seasoning as needed.

** If intending to handle as I did, follow steps 6 & 7.

** If intending to handle as normal French onion soup, bake the Italian bread, cut into slices and toast, then follow steps 8-11.

** If intending to handle as Jeffrey did, he used croutons instead of bread as his case for the cheese on top of the soup.

6) Place the bread slices on a cookie sheet, spread with butter & sprinkle with garlic powder. Layer and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until cheese is beginning to golden up.
7) Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the garlic cheese bread on the side.

8) Preheat your oven to broil while quick releasing.
9) Ladle the soup into the crocks until it’s just below the brim. Lay one slice of toasted bread, or a layer of the croutons, on top of the soup so that it serves as a foundation for the cheese.
10) Seal with 1-2 slices of cheese (depending on how wide your crocks are, mine need 2 to cover it properly but many will only need 1). And then layer a slice of Swiss or some shredded Gruyere (and a few flakes of the Asiago, if using). Leave some of the Swiss a little over the edges so when it bakes, it coats some of the side of the crock. Peeling the cheese off while eating is one of the best parts of the french onion soup experience! Sprinkle lightly with some paprika.
11) Place the crock on a baking tray lined with tin foil and pop into the oven for 5 mins or until the top begins to bubble, turns slightly brown and forms a cheese-like crust. ENJOY!

Parmesan Garlic Italian chicken

My oldest wanted Italian chicken ... But I didn't have the exact stuff I would normally use, so I used what I had (link below) and he doesn't like it, but I sure do! This chicken and the gravy it produced is so good I could put it over basically anything... Biscuits, toast, mashed potatoes... It's wonderful...

What I did:
★ 1 cup water and the trivet (that came with my Instant pot) in the IP liner
★ 3 (large) frozen chicken breasts in a stainless steel 5qt PIP bowl
★ Poured the bottle of garlic parmesan Italian vinaigrette over it, so all exposed sides had been in contact with the vinaigrette. Then pressurized under the "meat/stew" button for 10+10 NPR.
★ After the first set of 10+10, I sliced it against the grain and put the sliced meat back into the bowl, pushing it down under the sauce and re-pressurized for 20+20 NPR.

** If I had cooked just one breast at a time, or had used racks to keep them from touching each other, the 10+10 NPR would've been effective to get them cooked thoroughly.

Momma's Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water, bone broth or chicken broth w/ 2 tsp (+/-) chicken base
• 6 cups potatoes, raw, peeled & cubed
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, peeled and sliced
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• A dash of pepper
• 1tsp garlic powder (not garlic salt!)
• 3 cups milk
• 1lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
• Salt to taste
• Corn starch & water for thickening

Instructions:

1. Pour the water or broth into the liner with the bouillon.  
2. Layer the potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, parsley,  in the liner.  Do not stir.
3. Push "Pressure cook" or "Soup/Broth" & set for 5 minutes with a 5 minute NPR.
4. Stir. Taste. Adjust seasoning (keeping in mind that the cheese will add salt)
5. Add cubed Velveeta to the top, pressure for 0 minutes, 2 minute NPR, QR remaining pressure.
6. Stir till melted and incorporated. 
7. Prepare corn starch slurry.
8. Push sauté & thicken using corn starch & water slurry, pouring it in slowly while stirring constantly, during a boil.
9. Turn off sauté as soon as it's thickened.
10. Serve with warm French bread, homemade bread, or biscuits.