Homemade yoghurt economics

peckerdunne

I bought the Lakeland electric maker based on comments here. Made my first batch last night, turned out really well. I'd recommend it.

Kate78

I am vegan, so it's soy yogurt for me too

Definitely worth doing, pricewise.

*wanders off to dust off the yogurt maker*

Lizzieanne

I too have the Lakeland electric yoghurt maker, and I use a dollop of live yoghurt, UHT milk and a spoonful of dried skimmed milk powder, which thickens it really well (how much depends on how thick you want it to be). I picked up this tip on this forum a few years ago.

quintwins

Lou76 wrote: »

Jimjams, do you have a slow cooker? If so, you can make yoghurt in it, and it'd work out a lot cheaper than buying packets of the mix.

I found out how to make yoghurt in my slow cooker here: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

I had never made yoghurt before, by any method, and this worked perfect for me first time. I couldn't believe it when I wakened up to a [STRIKE]big[/STRIKE] massive pot of yoghurt in the morning. :rotfl:

If you haven't already got a slow cooker, it might be worth paying the £8.99 towards one, and at least that way, you'll be buying a multi-functional appliance that can be used, daily if required, for a lot more than 1 thing.

ETA: Slow cookers seem to be one of those items that people buy, use once, then throw in the back of a cupboard gather dust. Might be worth asking on your local freecycle if anyone has one they want rid of. I got mine from my Mum's friend who bought it, used it once... etc etc. lol

oh wow you learn something new everyday i'm def gonna try this my kids eat loads of yogurt lol

pandora205

Don't throw the liquid away - It's whey, that stuff my son pays all that money for in his protein shakes. You can reincorporate it in yoghurt or shakes, add it to bread making (its great for this) and even use as a hair treatment. Apparently, it's also good for marinades, putting on the compost heap and can be used to make ricotta (off to read up on this).

.... gosh one the latter point, I found an amazing website www.instructiables.com that covers this and a million other ideas. Have a look MSErs

blueberrypie

pandora205 wrote: »

Don't throw the liquid away - It's whey, that stuff my son pays all that money for in his protein shakes. You can reincorporate it in yoghurt or shakes, add it to bread making (its great for this) and even use as a hair treatment. Apparently, it's also good for marinades, putting on the compost heap and can be used to make ricotta (off to read up on this).

Great minds think alike - I just used some yogurt from my electric yogurt-maker to make soft cheese too - and it's lovely! And I too read about making ricotta from whey - but on a couple of sites I read that you can only make ricotta from the whey you get leftover from making hard cheeses, not yogurt. I might try anyway though. Anyone know more about this?

Kevie192

May I ask how you make soft cheese from yogurt?

Kevin

blueberrypie

Kevie192 wrote: »

May I ask how you make soft cheese from yogurt?

Kevin

I followed the instructions here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4788383_soft-cheese-yogurt.html

tiredwithtwins

I dont use an easiyo or electric yg maker - i just warm up to just-cooler-than-hand-hot a litre of ordinary milk, add a spoon of live yogurt and a spoon of skimmed milk powder and bung it all in an old thermos flask. leave it in the airing cupboard overnight and you get lovely thick creamy yoghurt the next morning :T at the cost of about £1/L

paulus_the_woodland_gnome

I have one of those Easiyo things. They work but what puts me off is the cost of the packets of dried yoghurt mix .From memory they are about
£2. 50 for 1litre! that may explain why I lost interest in it. The "equipment" is nothing more than a plastic container which is placed in an insulated container which is then filled with boiling water and left for 8 hours .(a flask ,then )

So actually there is no reason why I cant use my Easiyo flask and make yougurt your way, is there?

Bingo! another impulse buy recycled.