Yeah, if I ever get a chance to do a bit of traveling sometime, I'm heading up there with all the coolers that will fit in my trunk.
I use a double boiler for the scald.
When the milk reaches temp, I set the top of the double boiler in an ice bath and forget about it for a little while. The next time I think about it, it is usually down to inoculation temperature.
If I do this before bed, it can culture happily overnight. In the morning, it is done, but not cool (bleh), so it needs a little fridge time before I'll eat it.
None of the steps require my complete attention.
My yogurt maker is really quick. When I'm re-culturing off a relatively fresh batch, usually 2 hours or so...
Still...I rarely have that much time in the evenings...
Most days in life don't stand out, But life's about those days that will...
You can also incubate in the oven. Just leave the oven light on with the door closed (no peeking) and it should keep the yogurt warm enough overnight (unless your house is REALLY cold, like ours was this winter).
If you use larger containers, the yogurt will probably take longer unless you add more starter, too.
Ball makes a half-gallon glass jar. Get a 6-pack of those at your local ACE hardware and you can easily do a gallon at a time in glass. (We use these to store our goat's milk).
My new non-farm blog: Finding Freedom