Anyone own the Euro Cuisine yogurt maker?

[ang79]

Is it worth the money? We seem to go through a lot of yogurt (DH takes individual fruit on the bottom cups of the store brand to work a few times a week, and I've been buying the 32 oz. containers of Stonyfield for the the girls and I). I tried to make it over the weekend using the jars in the cooler of hot water recipe and it came out very runny and soupy, which makes for a huge mess when my 3 year old eats it (she likes it though!). My 5 yr. old did not like it, and DH only liked it when I strained whey off of it to make it more like Greek yogurt. Would a yogurt maker make the yogurt thicker? Would I be able to put fruit or jam or something on the bottom to make it like DH's fruit on bottom yogurt for him to take to work? Can you also put a wide dish in the warmer and use that instead of the little jars? Or can I use jelly jars in place of the glass ones it comes with if I want to make more?

Kohls.com has the two models of Euro Cuisine for a decent price right now after the extra 30% off and I have $10 of Kohls Cash I'll be able to redeem in a week, so I was thinking of getting one to see if it streamlines the process at all. I read some reviews on Amazon that said you don't need to heat the milk up before putting it into the warmer, has anyone tried that? Also debating if its worth the extra $10 for the automatic shut off or just to go w/ the cheaper version. Would love some input!

[doberbrat]

I bought it thinking that Id be able to just put milk in it and have it turn into yogurt (I mean it does say automatic right?)

but alas, you still have to boil the milk to 180 and let it cool to 100-110.

I dont think you can add in fruit until after its done.

I have found though that eventually, you get a groove going and it starts working out. For me, cooling to 105 is the magic number. and not adding too much starter.

eta:
Just looked at the kohls page - that double decker thing looks great. I solved the jar problem by buying a 4 cup pyrex bowl. I can get that plus 2 smaller glass jars in at teh same time. also, for thicker yogurt, use whole milk. I saw one person who used half and half to make greek style yogurt. When I make coconut milk yogurt, I add gelatin to thicken it.

[speo]

It sounds like you need a lot of yogurt. I got the Euro Cuisine maker with the jars as a gift and it is just frustrating for me. There are 7 jars. You'll need part of one of them as the starter for the next batch of yogurt. That really leaves 6 servings. And for our family we can go through that in 1-2 days. Then you might have to handwash the jars used that day to make more for the next day. And there is just more washing with the lids. I want one of the large 2 quart makers. I heat the milk on the stove and when I use the maker I end up with a nice yogurt consistency. It isn't too runny.