Homemade Yoghurt Revisited plus Win a Yoghurt Maker!

I've written about making my own yoghurt before - in fact, it was in my first year of blogging that my Mum treated me to an electric yoghurt maker which I still use for making our own yoghurt and then byproducts, such as homemade curd cheeses and whey, which is great for so many things but I have tended to use it for lacto-fermenting (I learnt about this with Nourishing Traditions).  
I love making my own yoghurt and definitely save a lot of money by making my own as we go through so much of it from making raita to go with curries, sauces, salad dressings, I use it in baking and also Cameron is a fiend for sweet cravings after a meal so yoghurt is a good way to steer him from a less healthy option.

In the months  that followed my post it was wonderful to hear and read that I'd inspired other people to try making their own yoghurt, too.




When I talk to people about making yoghurt at home and describe the process, they often comment that it could be made in a flask, using no electricity at all.  This is absolutely correct but it's harder to control the temperature that way.  

Recently I was asked if I wanted to try out the EasiYo Yoghurt maker from www.YoghurtDirect.co.uk, which is kind of like a specially designed flask for unplugged yoghurt making.  The baffle in the yoghurt maker controls the release of heat from hot water around the yoghurt jar to make perfect conditions for the live cultures to thrive.

The jar that holds the yoghurt is a really convenient shape - it fits in the fridge door, and it has a tight seal so you can shake to mix the base and water together.




What has put me off trying the EasiYo system in the past has been the packets of dried yoghurt base but I have been pleasantly surprised by a few things about it - the milk comes from free range cows, the flavoured varieties are sweetened with sugar - which may sound like a bad thing but so many pre-made yoghurts you can buy in the supermarkets contain artificial sweeteners and if I had to choose between the two I'd always rather it be sugar - there are no artificial colours and best of all is that there are also plain and organic varieties among the many EasiYo yoghurt bases to try.
I tried the lemon flavoured yoghurt and the 'Yogurt base n bits Greek 'n Coconut Style' - they were both delicious and thick.

The packets are around £2-3 to buy and make 1 litre of yoghurt which is a lot more than I would spend making yoghurt from scratch in my electric yoghurt maker (although I have no idea who much the electricity costs to run it).  You can save money by buying in bulk but I also cannot see a reason why you couldn't use your own starter and the milk of your choice to make yoghurt in the EasiYo without the base sachets because the cultures and slowly released heat would still be present.




Overall, I think the EasiYo yoghurt maker is really great - good quality, well designed and the packets are perfect for beginners and for when you fancy changing things up with flavours.  I think it'd be perfect for having fresh yoghurt whilst camping too, because the base is dried and only requires water and time.  I'm definitely going to continue to experiment with mine.

Fancy having a go at making your own yoghurt?
The lovely people at Yoghurt Direct have offered up an extra yoghurt maker for me to giveaway!  For a chance to win it, simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite flavour of yoghurt.

The winner will be picked at random and announced at the bottom of this post on Friday 1st March 2013. This giveaway is restricted to those in the UK - apologies if you're further afield.

This giveaway is now closed and the lucky winner of a yoghurt maker is Gail - congratulations!
Send me an email with your details and I'll arrange for delivery :o)