Buying a yogurt maker today- should I get the one with individ glass jars?

[cdlamis]

Xposted in Cooking because I need a fast answer since I am buying one this weekend! :)

What are the pros to this type vs the one that makes 1 lrg batch?
Any suggestions? I have never made yogurt before but am very excited about it. I plan on gettig this one:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/srch/index.cfm?submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=Go&words=yogurt

TIA~
Daniella
Mom to Julia 6/02
and Bella 12/04
"http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif"

[mommyoftwo]

The individual cups are great if you want to take the yogurt with you. Otherwise, I find it easier to just make a large batch and scoop out what I want. I don't even have a yogurt maker at the moment. I just make it in the oven. I turn the oven light on and it keeps the oven at just the right temp.

[JFC]

Jessica,

Any chance you want to share your recipe? I'd love to try out a recipe that doesn't require a yogurt maker. Thanks!

[mommyoftwo]

Sure thing. I'll get back to you after I get the girls to bed.

ETA: Okay, I'll type up detailed instructions and get them to you tomorrow. A few questions for you though. Are you wanting to make your own yogurt for the probiotic (acidophilus) benefits? Do you want to make fruit on the bottom yogurt? Are you just doing this so that you don't have to buy yogurt all the time? How often are you going to make yogurt? If you could answer these questions, it would let me know how to tailor your instructions. Thanks!

[MarisaSF]

>Are
>you just doing this so that you don't have to buy yogurt all
>the time?

This. For me, at least! We like just vanilla. I guess I'd like to make it once/week. Sounds like a pain for you to type it up. Is there a good recipe on line or in a book?
Sounds awesome!

[mommyoftwo]

I really don't mind. It's just that there are so many reasons to make yogurt and so many varieties that I wanted to know what to focus on. I'll also try to post a few links. It really is very easy to do once you know what to do.

[JFC]

Ack! I never thought of all the possibilities... I guess since this will be the first time I brave making it vs. buying it... whatever is easiest! ;-) Although the benefits of the probiotics would be great - if it doesn't make the process too much harder... thanks for taking the time to type this out - if it is too much, please feel free to say so! ;-)

[elliput]

I am interested also. Just plain yogurt is what I am interested in as that is what I get at the store.

[MarisaSF]

You're a gem. Thanks!

[mommyoftwo]

Here you go!

Basic Yogurt Instructions

What you need to get started:

food thermometer (candy thermometers work well)
plain yogurt with live active cultures and/or probiotics
4 cups milk
glass quart container (canning jars work well) or 4-6 8oz containers with lids
gas oven with pilot light or electric oven with light
microwave proof bowl or sauce pan

Thoroughly clean and sterilize everything you are going to use to make the yogurt. Running them through the dishwasher is fine with the drying cycle is fine. (I realize you can't do that with the thermometer. Just make sure it's clean.)

Heat milk in microwave or on stove (I prefer to use the stove because I'm not sure what nutrients in the milk might be destroyed in the microwave and I figure I'm making the yogurt to be healthy so why take the chance) to 180-185 degrees Farenheit scalding the milk. Let it cool to approximately 115-120 degrees. You will probably get a skin on top which you should remove. Stirring constantly while letting it cool may help you avoid the skin if it bothers you.

Take two tablespoons of plain yogurt or 3-4 Tablespoons of probiotics (don't worry, if you make yogurt every week you shouldn't have to do this often) and mix it with about a cup of milk to make the starter mixture. This is what is going to turn your milk into yogurt. If you are concerned about making sure you don't waste the probiotics, you can always add a little plain yogurt as well. You can also buy powdered yogurt starters at health food stores if you want.

Add starter mixture to the rest of the milk and stir thoroughly.

Pour in to quart jar or 8 oz jars. If you want fruit on the bottom yogurt, put a couple of tablespoons of jam in the bottom of the 8oz containers before pouring milk on top. Cover with lids or plastic wrap.

Put in oven and let it sit at a constant temp. You want to keep the yogurt between approximately 110-120 degrees. It should set in about 6-8 hours but depending on conditions may take more or less time. Try to keep the yogurt still because jiggling it will make it take longer. Milk with a higher fat content will generally form a thicker yogurt. If you want to eliminate as much lactose as possible, let it sit for 24 hours. It will be tangier in taste but almost all of the lactose will have been eliminated by the bacteria (it's what they feed on). You cannot use lactose free milk unless you add another source of sugar but like I said above, it's possible to eliminate almost all lactose. Save a couple of tablespoons of this yogurt for your starter. As long as you make yogurt every week or so, you should have no problems starting your next batch. Over time, yogurt can pick up contaminents from the air etc. Your yogurt will start to smell yeasty if this happens. Just make a new original starter following the instructions above.

There are other techniques to making yogurt without a yogurt maker such as a thermos or a container in a cooler with hot water. If anyone wants instructions on those variations, let me know. Not all ovens can hold a steady temperature in the right range. You may want to test your oven with water first so you don't waste ingredients.

Please let me know if anything is not clear or I left something out.

Jessica

[MarisaSF]

That's awesome. Thank you so much!
If I want more of a flavor than just "plain" (DD and I like vanilla), can I just add some vanilla extract during the process somewhere? Or do the probiotics and/or the starter mixes have different flavors?

[mommyoftwo]

Just add the flavor at the end. Actually, I'm not sure about vanilla, but I'm pretty sure you want to do it at the end. You'll want to add some sugar too probably because vanilla is pretty bitter tasting. I'll do a little looking and see if I can find a specific answer for you.

[mommyoftwo]

Okay, I stand corrected. If it is a liquid type flavoring (coffee, vanilla extract, lemon extract, almond extract, maple syrup, chocolate syrup etc) you add it before you pour the milk in the containers. You'll have to experiment with the amounts because the various recipes I found while googling just now varied substantially. My guess for a quart of vanilla yogurt would be a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/3-1/2 cup sugar. That's just a guess based on my basic knowledge of cooking so don't shoot me if that's not quite correct. For coffee flavor, I would probably add instant coffee granules. Much easier to get a strong flavor without watering down the milk. I would guess 1/3-1/2 cups for the syrups as well but you'll have to play with it to see what you like best.

[MarisaSF]

Thanks a million! Man, I'm getting hungry. :P
DH is going to be so happy. I hate throwing away the big yogurt containers and my new town doesn't recycle them, so I've been stashing them and using them for storage, but we can never tell what's in them. Plastic containers no more! :)

[mommyoftwo]

Let me know how it goes. I think I'm going to make some yogurt tomorrow. Typing this up is making me hungry for it. BTW, I like to make it at night and then it's ready in the morning.

[miki]

FYI--I have found that when using store bought plain yogurt as a starter, the texture of your finished product will vary depending on some of the additives, like pectin, that are added to give the yogurt its consistency. Sometimes it would turn out looking stringy and totally unappetizing even though the taste was fine. I had the best luck with a brand called Cascade that I found at the health food store. I didn't like the texture I got with Stonyfield Farms at all.

Also, I have an electric oven that doesn't have a temp setting below 200 degrees. Even turning it on for short periods at the lowest setting, I could not get a consistent temp inside the oven for the 6-8 hours I needed. Sadly, I had to toss a few batches so I broke down and bought a yogurt maker. It gives me much more consistent results.

[mommyoftwo]

My oven doesn't have a setting below 200 degrees either, but if I just leave the light on, it warms up the oven to the perfect temp and keeps it there. It does depend on your oven though so a little experimenting may be necessary. A crockpot on the warming setting can work too.

[JFC]

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jessica!!! You rock for taking all the time to type this out - I can't wait to give it a try!

[mommyoftwo]

No problem. Let me know if you have any trouble or have any other questions.

[Saccade]

I like the little cups so I can make lots of different flavors in small amounts (but then again I like variety). Besides, the little cups are cute. We have an ancient Salton.

ETA: Jessica, thanks for the tips!

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[Crunchymom]

I also used to make yogurt in my gas oven using the heat from just the pilot light. We just moved to a new apartment and we now have an electric oven, but it doesn't appear to have a light or maybe I just need a new light bulb. So I haven't made any yogurt here yet. I usually make 3 cups at a time and use 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt and 1 tsp of probiotics powdered mixed in as my starter. I always use whole milk and whole milk yogurt to start and it comes out sooo thick-- almost like custard! Yum!!!! Every day I have a bowl of yogurt sweetened with honey and then I add in a few spoonfuls of berries (I buy them frozen in bulk), some ground flaxseeds, and a handful of slivered almonds....delicious!!!!

[anamika]

You will probably get a skin on top which you
>should remove. Stirring constantly while letting it cool may
>help you avoid the skin if it bothers you.


I always leave the skin on - it's the best part of the yogurt :) Yummmmm! Now I feed it to my DD since it's mostly the fat, I think.

[Puddy73]

I've tried my Salton yogurt maker several times, but I've never had great results. The texture is almost gritty, not creamy. Salton's recipe calls for 1/2 cup of powdered milk to thicken the yogurt. Does anyone else follow this recipe, or is it better without the powdered milk?

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/08/03 & Finn 10/31/05

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." - Jimmy Buffett

[mommyoftwo]

Some recipes call for it but I never bother. We made yogurt growing up and we never used powdered milk. Like I said you will get the thickest yogurt with whole milk but you should still get satisfactory results with low fat or skim milk without adding anything.