Instant Pot Yogurt without the Yogurt button

You will need...

• Whole Milk (Supposedly, you'll need to add some gelatin if you use 2%, but I've never tried)
• 6-8oz of plain yogurt. NOT GREEK YOGURT. Also, make sure that it says something about active cultures on the container. Also, you can save yogurt from a previous batch. This is your starter. 
• Instant Read Thermometer
• Instant Pot (or a pot on the stove and a way to keep the milk at 110% for hours)
• A sink halfwayish filled with cold water. Ice would not be amiss. 
• Patience.

1. Dump the milk in the Instant Pot. Half gallon or a gallon, doesn't really matter. I do a full gallon cause......... kids.
2. Put the lid on the Instant Pot, press the Keep Warm button and let it sit for 40 minutes. 
3. After 40 minutes, take off the lid. I add a splash of vanilla extract, but I don't know if that really makes a difference in taste. Switch the Instant Pot to Saute and start stirring.
4. Once the milk gets to 180°F, take the pot out of the Instant Pot and put it in the sink. Stir and/or let it sit until it gets to 110°F. Remove from the water. Take a cup (roughly, amount is not important) of the cooled milk and add to a bowl with the yogurt starter. Mix it up, then add to the rest of the milk. 
5. Return the pot to the Instant Pot, and use the Keep Warm button to get the temp back to 110°F, if necessary. 
6. Turn off and unplug the Instant Pot. Wrap it up in a beach towel, making sure to get the towel tucked under the unit. 
7. Let it sit for anywhere from 6 - 24 hours. The milk should yogurtify in about 3 hours. The longer it sits after 6 hours, the tangier it will get, and the less lactose it will contain. I let it sit for 12 hours. I will admit it's more for convenience on my end, more than anything. 
8. After the period of time you have chosen, take the pot out of the Instant Pot. I cover the top with plastic wrap. You can move it to another bowl. Whatever works for you. Toss it in the fridge for about 2 hours. 
9. You now have yogurt! 

If you want Greek Yogurt! 

1. Line a fine mesh or similar colander with 2 or 3 layers of paper towels or a flour sack towel, or cheesecloth. I use flour sack because it's washable, thus reusable. 
2. Add the yogurt. Cover the top of the yogurt. 
3. Put the colander in another bowl and toss in the fridge. 
4. After an hour, scrape the yogurt off the sides and stir. Dump the whey from the bottom bowl if there's too much. 
5. After another hour, you have greek yogurt!

Fruit on the Bottom! 

       You can do jam or jelly on the bottom of the container you're putting the yogurt in, but I didn't like adding sugar. 

You will need... 

• Fruit of your choice, fresh or frozen
• Small silicone ice cube tray... like really tiny, depending on the container you're using. I also found that my silicone muffin trays worked really well with the 1/2 cup round containers I was using. 

1. Dump the fruit into a pot. Cook at low heat and stir until the fruit breaks down and turns into a soupy mass. You may need to add a touch of water if you're using fresh fruit. Congrats, now you have a compote. 
2. This step is optional. To make things easier on my last attempt, I ran the compote through the blender. The kids don't like finding whole berries in their yogurt, and it made it easier to put into the ice cube trays. 
3. Put the compote into the trays and freeze (or not, I guess, if you want). Everything here depends on the tray and the container you are using. The half cup rounds demanded a very thin layer of compote in the muffin tray, or it wouldn't fit well in the container. But, then, if I tried to freeze excess compote, the disks would break easily. When I moved to the mini ice cube trays, I had to make sure that I filled the mold about halfway up. Any more, and the compote cube would be too high in the container and not melt right. 
4. Put the frozen compote (or non frozen, I guess) in the bottom of the container, and fill with yogurt. Let it sit in the fridge awhile to let the compote thaw, and you have greek fruit on the bottom yogurt!