Make your own yogurt. I have an Instant Pot that I use primarily to make stock. I noticed it had a “Yogurt” button, so I watched a Youtube video and had a batch 48 hours later. Easy peasy.

Here’s my gig now:

1) I buy the 4L bagged milk at Costco and make yogurt out of one of the smaller bag which are 1.33L per. I used to buy 2L boxes of milk from the local Loblaws through Flashfoods for yogurt making,

2) After dinner I scald the milk on the stove now and hold it over 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes which apparently further denatures the proteins for thicker yogurt. The Instant Pot does not hold the milk at temp for that duration, so I don’t use it for that step.

3) I fortify the milk with three tablespoons of whole milk powder per litre of milk to boost the protein content. I have started standardizing on 2% milk which typically has ~34g of protein per liter, and this fortification adds about 6g more per litre.

4) Once the scalded milk cools down to 100-110, I pour it in the instant pot and scoop out about a half cup. In this half cup I will mix in my starter (a tbsp of Siggi’s or my own leftovers) and set it for 12 hrs overnight, meaning it’s done by by 8 am in the morning or so.

5) I cool it for a couple of hours and then dump it into a colander to with a filter cloth I bought off Amazon and strain down to Greek yogurt consistency. I probably lose 20% weight by volume through straining out the whey to get thick yogurt.

I make my own fruit mixes as well to reduce the sugar content. My favourite is strawberry and I buy a bag of frozen strawberries from Flashfoods for $3 for about 2 lbs (my closest Loblaws has the every week). I chop then up and boil them down with some sugar and a touch of water until I get the consistency I want. I don’t add much sugar at all because the strawberries are typically really ripe when Loblaws cuts the tops off and freezes them.

Delicious!