MYO - Home Yogurt

Okay... so this blog has focused heavily on my garden recently. As a first time gardener everything about seeds, vegetables and flowers growing is fascinating me so I hope you'll forgive me for the one-track-mind. However, gardening isn't all I do around this place to steer myself onto a more sustainable and simple lifestyle.

Every Sunday I make yogurt to take in for lunches during the week using a 'cheater's device called an 'Easiyo'.

Sweetened Greek yogurt on top of smooshed mulberries.

Easiyo is a NZ company which has made home yogurt making easier. They sell a thermos-like device, canisters to fit it and little sachets of yogurt powder mix, containing the live culture, flavours and milk powder.

I've attempted making yogurt from scratch before but both times were failures... You see the trick with yogurt making is to keep your brew at the right temperature for the live cultures to do their work in turning the lactose into yogurt. If it's too cold, the culture will die. Likewise, if it's too hot.

The Easiyo device is half filled with boiling water and a custom sized canister, filled with the yogurt powder mixed thoroughly with water, is inserted. The boiling water gets the mix to just the right temperature and the thermos keeps it at that temperature while the bacteria do their thing.

Yummy, firm Greek yogurt after 8 hours in the thermos.

I do all this in the evening, it takes less than 5 minutes. Then in the morning I open the thermos, pull out the canister and find perfect Greek Yogurt every time!

You can buy all kinds of flavoured Easiyo sachets but I always use the unsweetened Greek yogurt. The fact that it is plain means I can use it for cooking, further process it to make soft cheese (haven't done this yet) or sweeten it with jams, sauces and honey.

Lunch - Greek yogurt with a generous dollop of Manuka honey.

Why bother with making your own?

1) Freshly made yogurt means the healthy, good-for-you live cultures are in the billions instead of the millions you find in yogurts that have been sitting on shelving.

2) It is cheaper. One yogurt sachet makes 1L and costs less than buying a 1L tub of cold yogurt from the supermarket.

3) If making from scratch, you know that your yogurt is entirely free of preservatives and other chemicals.

4) If making from scratch, you eliminate one more bit of plastic packaging from your household waste.

I live in hope that one day soon I will make yogurt from scratch, using lemon juice and milk to get a culture started. Given that my first two failed attempts were due to temperature fluctuations I hope the thermos idea will help moderate the heat so I will have success.

(Please note- I am not sponsored or supported by Easiyo in any way. I just absolutely love their yogurt maker! This entry is an honest review of their products from my perspective.)