I make yogurt without my yogurt maker all the time. The microwave is simpler than the stovetop AND it was recommended in the yogurt making guide I got with my yogurt maker. I forget the lady's name but the author was Armenian. I take 1/2 gallon of 1% organic milk and put it in a Pyrex pitcher. I microwave it on high for 15 minutes. It bubbles but does not ""cook"". This kills off the miscellaneous bacteria in regular milk. Then, I use my yogurt thermometer and let it cool down to about 100 degrees (I forget the precise temp because the yogurt thermometer does not have numbers on it). I stir in one or two packets (5 - 10 gms total) of yogurt starter that I had previously mixed in warm but not hot milk from the pitcher. You could also use regular yogurt but I sometimes do this without any yogurt left in the house. We eat a LOT of it. Once the starter is stirred in, I put plastic wrap on the pitcher and place it in my oven. (the oven was previously heated to the bread proofing cycle around 90 degrees). I specifically bought this GE oven for that reason. I set the timer for 8 hours or leave it over night and poof, I have 1/2 gallon of yogurt that is normal texture. If I leave it longer it gets tangy like store bought yogurt. Liking Greek yogurt better, I generally strain the 1/2 gallon to get the solids. I place 2 sets of two paper towels in a mesh strainer and put that in a bigger bowl and dump the entire 1/2 gallon in. I gently cover even the top with paper towel to prevent a skin from forming. Over time, about 2 cups of liquid come out and I get the thick and creamy yogurt or yogurt cheese. The mixture comes apart from the paper towel very easily. I am sure cheese cloth would work better but I always have paper towel, but don't always have cheese cloth. (My Greek chef friends use cloth). If I want to thin it, that's easy and for parfait use, I thin it with apricot nectar, or other fruit juice. I keep this final yogurt in a yogurt cheese container or a flat ""snap lock"" box and it's dandy for weeks. It might need more liquid poured off in a week or so. YUM OH and so much cheaper than the store. If I buy store bought, I use Fage, the original yogurt from Greece. Some newer brands are grainy and terrible, or worse, I have gotten some with mold,, ICK!! I never buy Greek yogurt with junk in it because I like to add my own and control the sugars. I use it for cooking, salad dressing, dips and breakfast (with honey and nuts). It's the bomb and 1% is very low fat without having to add additional ingredients.

Yeah, you can do yogurt in a microwave. It's a place to heat the milk, then hold the temp for incubation of the rod bacilli added. The micro won't kill the culture unless you heat it too high. I don't use this method, but I do rise my yeast bread in the microwave (with live yeasties). If you're here, you know you're not making custard :)

You would not be able to make yogurt in a microwave because you are not ""cooking"" it, you are heating it to a certain low temp to allow the friendly bacterias such as, Lactobacillus and Acidophollus and sometimes Bifidobacterium to grow over a slow period of time. I think you are thinking of yogurt as you would custard which you can bake to firm up. Hope this helps...

I would add a few more suggestions: 1) If you're not using whole milk, add some powdered milk to the milk before heating it. 2) Add warm water to the slow cooker around the containers of milk. Fill to the level of the milk. Put your thermometer into the water. Check on it periodically through the glass lid of the slow cooker. Has anyone tried making yogurt in a microwave?

Yogurt is formed by the growth of two bacterial organisms in milk; Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus which turn the milk sugars into lactic acid. These are two separate bacteria that are active at different times during processing. Some times you will also find yogurt that contains other ""Probiotic"" cultures such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium infantis which are bacterium normally found in your intestines. Together these bacteria aid in digestion and the synthesis of vitamins. Here are the required steps. Heat milk to between 180 and 200 °F. Heating the milk is done for a few reasons. First, to sterilize/pasteurize the milk so that the yogurt bacteria/culture has a hospitable place to grow in. It is not desirable to incubate contaminating bacteria that might be present in the unsterilized milk. Heating should be done even with pasteurized milk to help make a smooth thick yogurt. Heating the milk also helps stop the whey from separating out quite as much. You must then cool milk to 115 °F and add yogurt culture. (If the milk is too hot it will kill the yogurt bacteria.) Stir in yogurt culture gently until dissolved. Hold temperature at 105 to 110 °F for approximately 8-10 hours. This allows your ""good"" bacteria to grow. The methods listed in the post are suitable for this. Finally, you must refrigerate the processed yogurt for at least two hours. Refrigeration help slow the continued bacterial growth. If yogurt is not refrigerated it will become sour.

Only half of the process is listed here!!! Yogurt is a two step process, and simply heating the mixture is not enough. After the heating process, whichever method you use, you need to chill it covered in the fridge for several hours before consumption. The heat grows a Strep bacteria, the cold converts that into lactobacillus.(aka the good stuff) Also with each successive batch, your culture will be stronger, and it won't need as long to process.