Yoghurt maker - is it worth it?

[HelenDamnation]

I was looking at a yoghurt maker today it's £15. The sachets of yoghurt base are between £1.50 and £2.50 each. I thought once you'd made yoghurt once you kept a little bit and used it as the starter, but the naice lady in the shop said nope you use a sachet of this each time.

Is there much advantage to homemade yoghurt when a sachet of starter is the same price as a family sized pot? Is there more to it than price?

I think it might be a lot cheaper to just make your own yoghurt without the fancy machine. You can look up recipes online, but basically all you need is milk and a bit of starter yoghurt...

Hmm I will have a look - thanks. I am such a sucker.

Don't bother with that nonsense. I make my own in the slow cooker but you can also do it without, just using a thermos flask or radiator

We eat a lot of yoghurt and I make 4 pints at a time for less than £2 including electricity.

Homemade yoghurt is a lot runnier than shop bought though, so if you like a thicker consistency I either strain the yoghurt through a muslin, which makes really thick and creamy greek style yoghurt but produces a lot of whey liquid (I use it to bake bread) or I add a cup of skimmed milk powder for every 2 pints of milk when I add the starter culture. The skimmed milk powder helps to thicken it quite a lot and there is no waste.

Enjoy!

If the yogurt maker is the type with a jar and a insulated outer shell, they are useful as they keep in the heat for the 12 hours you need it to set, so no electricity needed. But you can definately use it to make your own plain yogurt. Lots of online recipes, and agree about the adding of skim milk powder to thicken. I use the sachets as I like the flavours, but you can just add jam or fruit to plain.

I make it in my slow cooker this way and just use a spoon of live yoghurt from the corner shop to get things going.