Yoghurt/ice cream makers, are they worth it?

Ted_Hutchinson

Stratford_Bill wrote:

You certainly already own enough equipment to make yoghurt.
You boil up some milk, let it cool, when it is tepid, you stir in a carton of natural yoghurt, and leave it in the airing cupboard for a day or two. With the weather the way it is at the moment you won't even need the airing cupboard.
We have made yoghurt this way since 1978, and we are all still alive.
You do not actually need a patent yoghurt maker.

This is the traditional way of making it see Yoghurt, How to make it
For those who like the convienience of eating their yoghurt out of little pots and who don't want the risk of upsetting a bowlful of yoghurt in the airing cupboard a yoghurt maker is useful. You certainly don't NEED a yoghurt maker but considering it's only £15 and will last for years and years and years it's not a big deal.

sashacat

thanks, folks, I am going to try the method where I boil the milk and let it cool and also try to get a tchibo yogurt maker on e bay.

fudgem

I decided to give this a go last night, poured 500 ml of long life milk into a jug and warmed it in the microwave. I thought there was no point in boiling it since it had already been heat treated.
Taking it out of the microwave I caught my hand awkwardly with the door and the jug full of milk threw itself all over my kitchen. Half an hour of cleaning followed (stardrops:D - I love this forum) after which I started again from the beginning. Warmed the milk to 115 degrees, added a couple of tablespoons of dried milk and a teaspoon of natural yoghurt, which I warmed a bit first by standing it in a bowl of warm water. I read somewhere it helps.
Got a great result this morning, lovely thick creamy yoghurt:j

Stratford_Bill

fudgem wrote:

I decided to give this a go last night, poured 500 ml of long life milk into a jug and warmed it in the microwave. I thought there was no point in boiling it since it had already been heat treated.
Taking it out of the microwave I caught my hand awkwardly with the door and the jug full of milk threw itself all over my kitchen. Half an hour of cleaning followed (stardrops:D - I love this forum) after which I started again from the beginning. Warmed the milk to 115 degrees, added a couple of tablespoons of dried milk and a teaspoon of natural yoghurt, which I warmed a bit first by standing it in a bowl of warm water. I read somewhere it helps.
Got a great result this morning, lovely thick creamy yoghurt:j

And the moral of this tale...

...no good crying over spilt milk.

sticher

Hi, I have neither, but am considering buying an ice cream maker. The room in my freezer would be an issue however.

I can't seem to find a recipe for handmade ice cream (using just a blender and bowl). Would anyone mind posting one for me? Thanks.

Pink.

Hi stitcher,

Here are a couple of recipes for making ice cream without an ice cream maker:

Nougat ice cream

Mocha ice cream

Pink

sticher

Its taken me ages to find this thread again. Thanks Pink for the recipes!

dragonsoup

Both my ice cram maker and yoghurt maker are gadgets of the "used once" variety. In fact I know I still have them but I would be hard pushed to actually find them at the moment.

I would suggest that you either borrow one to see how you get on first or try your local charity shop or freecycle group to find ones belonging to someone like me!