easiyo yogurt maker any good? or make your own? (merged)

MimiJane

According to Easiyo, their yogurt lasts for up to 14 days in the fridge. We sometimes have it there for up to 10/12 days and it tastes absolutely fine.

eryn_kathleen

I'm contemplating buying an easiyo, but both my OH and I like fairly sweet, fruity, creamy yoghurts. We tend to buy Onken biopots or a Lidl version that I can't remember the name of.

I wouldn't use the easiyo sachets because they work out to be more expensive than the large pots of Onken we get at Costco.

What I'm wondering is - most people posting seem to eat theirs without sugar or fruit added. I've seen the sweetner mentioned, and I've got some splenda at home that would probably do. But what about, say, demerara sugar, regular granulated sugar, honey, golden syrup? I've got all of these at home, and I just want to know how flexible the system is for someone that likes sweet/mild yoghurt.

Secondly, fruit. Someone mentioned that they stir in some jam - does that work well? Has anyone made their own fruity jams/sauces to add? Which fruits work well? I'm afraid that my favourite - mango, passion fruit, and papaya - would make it too expensive!

Finally, frozen yoghurt - has anyone tried to make it?

Also, QVC are doing a pretty good deal on easiyo at the moment:
http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.825319/walk.yah.UKHG-UK14

rach

i stir in sugar free jam, i think its nice but i'm not keen on overly sweet yoghurts anyway - one of the reasons i got easiyo was being sick of the nasty atrificial flavours. i would say for sweetening you could try all the different things. i think its possible to put sugar in before you make it. i've had my easiyo a month or so and i woudn't be without it now - haven't bought a yoghurt since!

MimiJane

rach wrote:

i stir in sugar free jam, i think its nice but i'm not keen on overly sweet yoghurts anyway - one of the reasons i got easiyo was being sick of the nasty atrificial flavours. i would say for sweetening you could try all the different things. i think its possible to put sugar in before you make it. i've had my easiyo a month or so and i woudn't be without it now - haven't bought a yoghurt since!

If you're keen on using a "natural" sweetener, you could try Xylitol ("Perfect Sweet") from Holland & Barratt. It's made from Birch trees, is recommended by nutritionists, looks and tastes like sugar, is low in calories and great for dental care (no, I'm not on commission, but this stuff is great and you can even cook with it).

Luna69

jamjar, wrote:

Semi-skimmed milk is fine to give to a baby. It has a slightly reduced fat content, but has more calcium in than whole milk. As long as the baby has fat in other items, such as cheese, and still drinks millk, it will be OK.

Great thanks.. he does eat a lot of other things too.. in saying that he may not even like it! :rotfl:

We'll give it a go.. fingers crossed!

Yvonne x

retiredlady

kitaj wrote:

Yoghourt has to be just about the easiest thing ever to make, I can't believe anyone would mess around with Easyyo. If you want your yoghourt creamier than the standard yoghourt just add 1 tablespoonful of skimmed milk powder per pint of milk at the start, before you heat the milk. Hey presto thick creamy (cheap) yoghourt!

I bought the Easiyo maker last week and I have found it the easiest thing ever! :beer:
I use a litre of value semi skimmed UHT milk from Tesco, pour it into the container, add 2 tablespoons of silver spoon sweetener powder, 1 tablespoon value skim milk powder & a couple of tablespoons of yogurt from the last pot I made. No need to heat the milk up! Just put the lid on, give it a shake and then put this container into the Easiyo thingie with the boiling water. It takes me about 5 minutes including the time it takes for the water to boil!Hey Presto - 6 hours later I have lovely thick yogurt that tastes like the muller corner stuff.:j :j If you like a thicker yogurt just give it a stir at this point then put it in the fridge to chill down. It thickens even more as it gets colder.

For breakfast I have 28 grams of wheataflakes, chopped strawberries and whatever other fruit I fancy and about a cup of yogurt all mixed in. Heaven in a bowl! Low Fat and Sugar Free too!

All the best
Marion

hilary1

I went mad making yog last year with my electric yog maker from Lakeland then went of it and am now starting to use it again.

Can you use any 'bought' yoghurt to make your own, even flavoured ones?

And should I be adding sweetener to the youg as I havent before and it tastes the same as shop bought, We just add frozen fruits or toffee (or similar) flavouring to it, but then its not really cheap is it?

I'm wondering whether to get an Easio to save electric, so saving more money.

morganlefay

eryn_kathleen wrote:

I.

Secondly, fruit. Someone mentioned that they stir in some jam - does that work well? Has anyone made their own fruity jams/sauces to add? Which fruits work well? I'm afraid that my favourite - mango, passion fruit, and papaya - would make it too expensive!

Finally, frozen yoghurt - has anyone tried to make it?

I made damson jam in the summer and left it deliberately runny so we could put it in yog. it is quite delicious and I have more damsons in freezer. I think that any HM jam will have less sugar in than shop bought so you could make whatever is in season (a bit difficult in Feb I grant you - I've just made some nice marmalade but really don't fancy that in yog !) Also I was told that and French jam has les sugar in than Uk ones - but they're expensive of course. And you could just whizz any sort of tinned fruit you fancy whihc would be even healthire as presumably lower in sugar (if in juice not syrup) Aaaaah the possibilities are endless..........

Angelina-M

Well i've done sauces/syrups with tinned fruit and they've been great, however i'll use fresh fruit when its in season.

So now i've got this jar of cherries and i'm not sure how im supposed to make it into syrup? I cant just crush them up and add them as they only have a use by date of three days once the jar is open.

Would I just crush them up and procceed as if jam making ie adding water and sugar?

rach

hilary1 wrote:

I went mad making yog last year with my electric yog maker from Lakeland then went of it and am now starting to use it again.

Can you use any 'bought' yoghurt to make your own, even flavoured ones?

And should I be adding sweetener to the youg as I havent before and it tastes the same as shop bought, We just add frozen fruits or toffee (or similar) flavouring to it, but then its not really cheap is it?

I'm wondering whether to get an Easio to save electric, so saving more money.

it has to be marked as LIVE yoghurt, and needs to be plain! once you've made a batch you can use that to start the next batch. apparently you can only do that maybe 8 times and then it starts to taste a bit sour, so start again. i reckon i've done it about 6 times so far so will see what the lot i made last night tastes like.

you don;t have to add sweetener, some people do. usually i just eat mine as it is, if i fancy something sweeter i add some jam or splenda. i like it with grapes mixed in.

i'd stick with your elec one, i think they only use a v small amount of electric, so it would seem pointless to buy another to me!