Euro Cuisine YM80 Electric Yogurt Maker Machine- Promote Gut Health with Probiotic Rich Homemade Yogurt -Home Yogurt Incubator with Glass Jars, White

This is the most simple and wonderful yogurt maker I have ever owned. I got the top tier extender and use one cup canning / jelly jars in the bottom and the jars that came with the machine in the top. I wrap a bath mat over the machine so there is uniform heat in top and bottom and don't have to switch tiers as some recommend. If you are considering buying this product I encourage you to do so without any hesitation. AND there is no need for the timer (or even the "hour marker" that comes on the machine). Buy the "cheaper" "stripped" model without the timer. One other thing I found handy is I put a wet washcloth on the bottom before I put the jelly jars in and it seems to disperse the heat more evenly. I lay it across the round of the bottom and the four corners stick out a bit. PLEASE NOTE: the extender will NOT sit exactly sealed when you use the jelly jars on the bottom as they are a bit too tall. But using the bath mat makes a wonderful "blanket" and the slight gap makes NO difference in the yogurt. A further note - I wanted to make greek yogurt and read about all the "straining" and other effort necessary and was so discouraged. But I simply use greek yogurt culture for my starter and it makes VERY THICK yogurt without the fuss. My EASY recipe is - I do NOT heat the milk etc. I take room temp milk (from our cow), put 1/2 cup yogurt from the store or yogurt from one of the 6 oz jars that comes with the machine - in the bottom of a glass pyrex one quart pouring measuring pitcher, whisk in a little milk to disperse the yogurt, then add three cups of milk and whisk again. I then pour it into jars and place them into the machine and repeat until I've filled as many jars as I want to. I would give this gift to ANYONE who has a cow (or goat). I cannot say how it works with store bought milk as I have never used it. I do know friends who add a little dry milk powder to their milk to make it thicker - but the greek culture works great instead for me. Many people also make milk from almonds and coconuts and have success with yogurt that way - so maybe the storebought almond milk and coconut milk in the milk cartons would be great for yogurt too as an alternative to dairy. I hope this review encourages people to try this product and EAT LOTS OF YOGURT with full control of what goes into their bodies. This is a LOVELY, SIMPLE and well made machine. And the price is absolutely WONDERFUL. Another bonus - it has a TINY footprint and all the parts nest (upside down etc) very nicely so it fits easily in my cabinet and doesn't take up much space on my counter when in use. While it is bigger than my toaster, it fits where a toaster fits on a small counter. Another tip - I put the cardboard case that the jelly jars came in in my cabinet and as they are emptied they get put in there until refilled. I make sure that I eat the yogurt jars that came with the machine last as they are 6 oz vs the 8 oz jelly jars and save enough to make the number of jars I want. I only buy culture about once every three months - a quart of plain greek. I buy new when the culture gets a bit runny. I absolutely LOVE this little machine.

I bought the Euro Cuisine YM80 yogurt maker about 9 months ago. I wanted to really try it out before leaving a review. Disclaimer – I never made yogurt before owning this yogurt maker so I can not compare it to other yogurt makers or making it in a oven or crock pot. I love this yogurt maker and have been using it once to twice a week since I got it. I find that whether or not homemade yogurt is cheaper than store bought depends on your ingredients that you are using ie: organic milk vs. regular store brand milk. I was eating brand name and store name yogurt daily and it was getting costly. This really cuts down on the cost and tastes a lot better. (Partly tastes better since I am not using skim milk – I use either whole milk or 2% and it is wonderful.)The instructions with the yogurt maker are not necessary perfectly clear for a beginner. The area I found to be a little confusing is how long to incubate the yogurt. Example - Softer yogurt without boiling times: 8 hours for whole milk, 10 hours for 2%, and up to 12 hours for skim milk. Then under instructions it states: set time for yogurt – 8 hours for whole milk, etc. They do not give any time difference for using boiled milk or non-boiled. So that being said, I decided to boil my milk and use the times listed: 8 hours whole, 10 hours 2% and 12 hours for skim. (Haven’t bothered making the skim so I can’t say if that is accurate.)The yogurt maker has a hours reminder on the device. It does not turn off the yogurt maker and I am not sure if it was supposed to move during the incubating process but mine never did anything. I don’t bother with it. I just put a little sticky note in front of the device of my shut off time and set an alarm on my phone.I have been making yogurt with a 6 oz container of plain yogurt from the store. Then I make the next batch with a jar of my plain yogurt. I tried using a probiotic capsule that was a disaster and I ended up throwing out that batch. I have not tried using the freeze dried yogurt starter yet. I just priced it out and bought some that would equal $0.70 a batch and I would be able to reuse my yogurt at least once and maybe twice. I will update my review later after using it.Now after having this for awhile I have noticed I could not find any recipes for Coconut Yogurt which was my favorite. I came up with a recipe that has consistently delivered great resultsCoconut yogurt• 1 13.5 ounce can of Coconut Milk (I have used Goya)• Whole milk or 2% milk ( 4 cup measuring cup filled with contents of coconut milk – add the milk so that it comes up to the 4 cup point)• 1 scoop (1/3 cup) of dried instant non-fat milk (I have used Carnation milk)• 6 oz container of plain yogurt or yogurt starter• ½ teaspoon of coconut extract• 8 packets of Stevia in the Raw (or sugar)Add coconut milk, regular milk and dried milk to the saucepan and heat till the milk starts boiling and climbing up the pot. I place the pot in the sink with an ice bath to cool down faster. Cool to 95 degrees F (stir a few times to reduce hotspots – use a thermometer to check the temp). Then pour some of the liquid in the 4 cup measuring cup and add your starter. Blend til smooth and add back to the pot. I then add the coconut extract and sweetner. I put in the Eurocuisine containers and place in the yogurt maker. Incubation times depend on milk used – Whole milk is 8 hours and 2% is 9 hours. (The fat content in the coconut milk is similar to whole milk so I used that as a judge when deciding the times.)Please let me know if my review was helpful or if you enjoyed my recipe. Click the button below if this helped you at all. Thanks