Yoghurt maker

[HappyTeacher75]

Can anyone recommend a good one?
I'm baffled by the variety.
Electric vs hot water?
Several small pots or one big one?
Can you always start off with 'old' yoghurt or do you need the starter stuff?
Tips most gratefully recieved.

I have a Lakeland electric yoghurt maker and it is in regular use. I have owned a couple of Easiyo hot water ones in the past and found that, over time, they became unreliable. The pre-made mixes were extortionate. The electric one is brilliant and never lets me down, although mine is an older model. Lakeland has updated theirs now, so no idea if it's as good - it might be better!

I start with a spoonful of plain bio yoghurt as a starter to make the first batch, then just keep using a spoonful of what I've made to make the next one and so on. Sometimes I have to start again as the quality does deteriorate over time, or sometimes I just have a week when I eat less yoghurt and by the time I want to reserve some, it's gone off.

UHT whole milk has always produced the best results for me. No messing about with boiling milk. I add 2 or 3 tablespoons of milk powder to thicken it. I find Nido dissolves really well, but any will do, if you don't mind a bit of stirring.

I bought my SIL (at her request)one of the makers where you decant the yoghurt into little bottles and she never uses it as she finds it too much of a faff.

this house uses a 'Von Chef' bought from ebay. What works:

fresh full fat milk - don't freeze it and defrost it first. Semi skimmed not as good.
Aldi Greek style yogurt (not the fat-free kind, the real stuff) as a starter. Reusing the home made stuff as a starter doesn't work well.

get the milk up to the right temperature, ( a meat thermometer will do to measure) cool it, put in the yogurt maker, add the yogurt, plug in, come back some hours later, job done. We make one big pot which lasts about six days, it doesn't keep forever so don't make more than you can use.

Thanks for replying!

Like these?

www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Yoghurt-Machine-Strainer-Containers/dp/B07GB4ZQJY/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp?psc=1&keywords=lakeland+yoghurt+maker&sprefix=lakeland+yo&pd_rd_i=B07GB4ZQJY&qid=1588270825&cv_ct_cx=lakeland+yoghurt+maker&dchild=1&pf_rd_p=af4cd232-4fe0-4957-898c-6e1167682d5d&pd_rd_wg=c8evn&pf_rd_r=XN2W3YWCAPNK1VN9HQJD&pd_rd_w=QKQ5w&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&pd_rd_r=3d0e4254-b6b4-40d2-936a-cb919cf19a89&sr=1-1-718396de-69ac-46a0-9195-9669ab0086b2

www.lakeland.co.uk/3440/Lakeland-Electric-1L-Yogurt-Maker