Yoghurt/ice cream makers, are they worth it?

emmie

My birthday is coming up, trying to think of gadgets that would save me some money (already have breadmaker, and Mum is buying me slow cooker)

What abut ice cream and/or yoghurt maker? Anyone got one, are they worth it?

Thanks
Emmie

larmy16

emmie wrote:

My birthday is coming up, trying to think of gadgets that would save me some money (already have breadmaker, and Mum is buying me slow cooker)

What abut ice cream and/or yoghurt maker? Anyone got one, are they worth it?

Thanks
Emmie

I have a yoghurt maker the kind with six little glass jars which I got from a charity shop. Got another one for my sister for £2.50. So easy to use. If you can wait and are not sure about the money aspect why not browse some boot fairs, or charity shops, they are often at boot fairs especially.

The ice cream maker I would not bother with personally, due to lack of space and the fact that you can make ice cream without one (though you can yoghurt too of course), but they are pretty bulky bowl wise and I never have space in my freezer for that size of thing.

HTH

seraphina

I have an Easiyo yoghurt maker and I have gotten good use out of it. If you don't use the pre-prepared mix it takes a bit of trial and error to get it right but it does make nice "proper" yoghurt.

I would like an ice cream maker attachment for my Kenwood Chef - however we don't have the freezer space to keep the bowl cold though.

Ted_Hutchinson

I've got both a yoghurt maker and an ice cream maker

We use both regularly. Yoghurt maker at least once a week for plain yoghurts. Takes 3mins to heat 1 litre milk + milk powder in the microwave, stir in starter from last batch pour into jars leave 3hrs.

This type of icecream maker you have to put the container in the freezer first (this could be a problem if your freezer is brim full) but pouring in the cream and letting it churn by itself is no hassle. Makes top quality icecream but as we are both trying to lose weight this doesn't get used as often as the yoghurt maker. The great advantage is that you can make better ice cream than you can buy and we do this with bargain reduced end of date cream when it's at clearance prices. The problem is that even if the cream is reduced to 25p it still contains the same number of calories.

We wouldn't be without either. You can make yoghurt without a yoghurt maker but having it in individual jars makes storage in the fridge and use easier.

Both gadgets take up kitchen space but both earn their keep in this house.

loopyloulou_3

i have an easiyo and so does my mum and we love it!!

i use it about once a week and i do use the easiyo mix which i get from Julian Graves for about £1.49 a packet - which lasts me a week.

I think it tastes SOOOOOOO much better than other yogurt!

mirakl

I've both. I haven't used the ice cream maker all winter but I'm about to start using it again. I'd say definitely the yoghurt maker, perhaps the ice cream maker but remember it's not as simple as chucking all the ingredients into the maker and it does the rest for you. It's a bit of a pain in the neck the recipies are so complicated.

stuart264

Yoghurt Maker for sure, saved me a fortune with young children in the house.

Not convinced over the Easyo Powders through, I used to use a heated 1 litre Yoghurt maker from Lakeland that was an absolute godsend and much easier to use than those ones with seperate pots http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!3440_3441

black-saturn

I use my yogurt maker about twice a week. My children don't like it natural so I either mix fruit in with it or buy fruit coulis from the supermarket. Then they love it.

I've got an ice cream maker but I hardly use that. I instead use an empty ice cream tub, add the ingredients, mix them up and then half way through give it all another stir.

tim_n

Does that give good results? Even with my icecream maker I tend to find my icecream is very, very crystalised.

black-saturn

Yes I must admit it does come out quite crystalised.

hex2

I have an ice cream maker - a whole £10 from home bargains. It is great but I didnt buy ice cream before so now I spend money on ingredients (eg pistachios, cream, sugar and eggs). Not a saving, but a cheap luxury.

Tim - I haven't had a problem with crystals at all with my machine. It is just a frozen block at the bottom and a churner, and I have made various recipes without a problem.