Do I need to use Yogurt Thermometer for Making Yogurt?
Yes, you do! We still use a thermometer for yogurt making, even after many years of making yogurt at home. If you guess the temperature, you will not be accurate, and yogurt quality will suffer.
Too hot, and you will kill the yogurt starter culture bacteria. Too cold, and they will not have enough heat to incubate. Either way, if you get the temperature wrong, when you are heating the milk or adding the starter, you get a poor quality yogurt.
The best thermometer for yogurt making is a simple milk frothing thermometer with a large dial and a stainless steel shaft.
What is the Temperature for Making Yogurt?
In Celcius heat the milk to 90°C then cool it to 45°C before adding the yogurt starter culture. Then incubate it in a yogurt maker at a temperature range of 45°C - 36°C for 8 hours before being chilled to set and stop fermentation.
In Fahrenheit you should first heat the milk to 194°F and then cool it to 113°F before adding the yogurt starter culture.
TIP: This first heating to 90°C (194°F) helps bind the milk proteins and gives you a thicker yogurt.
Then it needs to incubate in a yogurt maker at temperature range of 113°F - 97°F for 8 hours before being chilled to set and stop fermentation.
Do you need a yogurt maker with temperature control?
All yogurt makers need to maintain a temperature range during incubation that keeps the yogurt starter happy and working.
Some yogurt makers do this through insulation that keeps the milk in the correct temperature range, and others do it with electric thermostats that heat the milk during incubation.
The yogurt maker can lose temperature over the 8 hour incubation but it should not start below 45°C (113°F) or end below 36°C (97°F) .
As long as the temperature of the yogurt maker stays within the temperature range a yogurt starter needs, then a non-electric insulated yogurt maker is the simplest solution.
A yogurt maker with adjustable temperature control offers incubation temperatures for culturing different products like rice wine, sauerkraut and heirloom yogurt starters.
However, in our experience, you only need one temperature for perfect yogurt and adjustable temperature settings on electric yogurt makers cause unreliable temperature changes.
Even electric yogurt makers with a single temperature setting can often overheat the yogurt starter culture and keep the milk too hot for quality incubation.
Can I Make Yogurt in my Insta Pot or Bread Maker?
A common problem with electric temperature-controlled yogurt makers and other home appliances like insta pots, air fryers, and bread makers is that their temperature settings are outside the range that yogurt bacteria like.
Insta pots run too hot, and bread makers run too cold to make great yogurt.
We haven’t met a multi-function appliance that has a good consistent temperature setting for yogurt making. Therefore, we recommend using a yogurt maker.
What if I want to make 24 Hour Yogurt SCD Yogurt?
Yogurt cultured for long periods at low temperatures has a poor texture, is often runny, lumpy, and overly sour. In addition, yogurt bacteria struggle to work at low temperatures, and unwanted yeasts and molds can grow.
It has become popular to follow this method to try and reduce carbohydrates in the finished yogurt, but there is no evidence that this is successful.
Incubate yogurt for the right time at the right temperature with a proper yogurt starter culture for safe homemade yogurt.
For a low carb yogurt, strain the chilled yogurt through cheesecloth to remove the carbs with the whey and concentrate the protein.
