Cheaper to make yoghurt??

rebekahR_2

Does it work out much cheaper to make yoghurt?? Noticing greek is going up a fair bit, wondering if I could do it (without poisoning myself) at home..I am no nigella

Is it simpler? any special apparatus needed? and how much does it cost you on average

at 1.70 per kg of Greek its getting wayy too pricey!

Any input would be fantastic

SilverBird_2

Hope this helps...

I use an electric yoghurt maker purchased around a year ago while it was on super special offer somewhere (and also bought a spare container for it). There's a similar one on offer at Lakeland at the moment (£14.99 during Feb 2013, plus £4.99 for an extra container).

It currently costs £14.50 to make 15 litres of wonderful thick 'n' creamy yoghurt that has a lovely smooth taste. So, each month... 15 litres of 4% uht milk @ 88p each, 50p for a new tub of live yoghurt to use as the starter and 50p for dried milk powder (a pack of Mr S's dried milk powder @ £1.01 lasts 2 months) and a guesstimate of 30p* for electricity = £14.50 / 15 = £0.966p for each 1 litre of yoghurt made, which is at least half the cost of the thicker, premium yoghurts. (Yes, you can find yoghurt in the supermarkets for 50p - 65p for a half litre but it doesn't come anywhere near the stuff my yoghurt maker produces.) The starter yoghurt is used to make the first 2 batches each month, after that I use 3 tbsps from one lot of yoghurt when mixing up the next lot.

Using UHT milk saves the bother of scalding fresh milk and then allowing time for it to cool down. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk doesn't work as well but I don't lose any sleep over using 4% uht milk.

You might not need to buy a new tub of starter yoghurt each month - just buy a new tub when the yoghurt you're making becomes too thin for your taste.

(No doubt there will be some of you who make yoghurt in a flask, or in a bowl kept in a warm place, etc., thus avoiding the cost of buying a specialist piece of equipment, and if that works for you then that's good, but I find the yoghurt maker gives reliable results with the minimum of effort.)

Prior to buying the electric yoghurt maker I used EasiYo, with reliable results, buying the satchets in bulk from an on-line supplier at a good price. However, I've now more than recouped the cost of buying the electric yoghurt maker and my only regret is that I didn't buy one sooner.

* Electric used is minimal - the rating plate states 9 - 10.5 watts - and I've allowed 30p for this in the calculations.