Euro Cuisine YM260 Yogurt Maker with Adjustable Time & Temperature Control, 2-Quart Glass Jar, Free Thermometer & Cotton Strainer Bag, 2025 Edition, White, Make Yummy Organic Probiotic Yogurt at Home

I love the large glass jar. Half-gallon size makes it worth the thirty minutes to get the mix ready to do whatever it does in the yogurt maker. The little thermometer is marked in red for the high temp (so you heat your milk just enough) and the low temp (green) when it is safe to add your cultured starter. Wish I'd gotten one of these years ago! No squinting at the tiny little marks on the dial. Just red and green. We have a special child. His yogurt needs to be extra creamy so it is easier to keep on the spoon. This recipe works every time for me: Assemble: Yogurt maker & thermometer, 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, small ladle, one 6 oz. container of plain or vanilla store-bought yogurt with live culture, one envelope Knox unflavored gelatin, honey or sugar, milk, powdered milk, some kind of double-boiler set-up, something to stir the milk 1. Measure 56 ounces of any kind of milk into a double-boiler. I use a large saucepan seated in a short stew pot. Add two or three tablespoons of sugar or honey. Stir in about a half to two-thirds cup powdered instant milk if you want more protein in your yogurt. Makes it a little thicker, too. Stick the yogurt thermometer on the side of the saucepan. Begin heating. 2. Sprinkle the gelatin on top of about 1/3 cup of cold water in the measuring cup and let it soften. 3. Stir the milk gently. When the thermometer reaches the red mark (about 180), remove from heat. Pour out the hot water and add cold to cool the milk. I do this twice to speed things up. Stir the milk just a little while it's cooling. 4. Ladle about a cup of the warm milk into the gelatin in the Pyrex cup and stir to thoroughly dissolve the gelatin. Pour the gelatin mix into the milk and stir to mix. 5. Scrape the yogurt into the Pyrex cup. When (and not before!) the milk mixture cools down to the green mark (about 110), add several ladles of the cooled milk to the yogurt and stir to get the lumps out. Now add this thinned yogurt to the milk mix and stir gently. 6. Ladle/ pour the yogurt mixture into the glass jar. (Note: I removed the styrofoam liner in the top of the jar). Gently screw the lid on. Fits a little wonky, but it works. With one hand on top and one hand under the jar, move the glass jar to the yogurt maker. Plug it in. Figure eight hours for warming, and set the reminder using the marker on the lid. 7. At the end of the eight hours, unplug the unit. Remove the jar of yogurt and stick it in the frig to cool. I always make sure I get a good grip on the jar because the jar lid just has a personality of it's own. Not bad, just a little tiny cantankerous about getting in the groove - though not enough to be a complaint. This makes a creamy, smooth yogurt. Always works. My guys like it with a squirt or two of Nestle's Nesquik chocolate or strawberry syrups (no HFCS). Serve with some Fiber One cereal on top for crunch. Wonderful! You may also put jam in the bottom of the little wide-mouth 8 oz. canning jars and spoon yogurt on top. Seal with the plastic jar lids. You'll have single servings ready to go. Some folks save several ounces of the batch they've just made to start the next batch, but. . . . . it would get lost in my frig. Just easier to buy a 6 ounce container and know it's fresh.

12 May 2017 UPDATE 1) The plastic like insert in the lid is NOT glued in, it actually comes right out. So just remove it and throw it in the trash where it belongs. 2) I've made a few batches and checked the temp, and it consistently regulates at 105 degrees, as I reported before. This makes perfect yogurt! 3) The thermometer that comes with it seems to be consistently off a bit, but it is close enough to make great yogurt. ** NOTE ** the quality of your yogurt depends on the quality of your milk AND the quality of your culture. Look at the yogurt you are using for a culture. How many active cultures does it have in it? If I use non-fat milk and yogurt with just two different cultures (for example Wal-Mart Greek Yogurt - it's great yogurt, no artificial ingredients, but only has two different cultures), I get grainy yogurt. If I use 2% or whole milk and a yogurt with five or six different types of cultures in it, I get creamy smooth yogurt! Don't blame this machine if you are using non-fat milk and limited or dead cultures. Use 2% or whole milk, and 4 or more different cultures. Once you get a good batch of yogurt, then use it as a culture for the next batch, and be sure to use the same type and brand of milk. Check the temperature after a few hours to make sure it is correct, and you should get excellent yogurt from this machine. -------------------------------- 10 May 2017 First review. It maintains the temp at about 105 degrees, I get perfect yogurt in just six hours but usually let it run 8-12 hours, or overnight. This review is subject to change depending on how long it takes the unit to burn out, as there are a lot of reports that it only lasts a few months. We shall see. For now it works perfectly. I do notice a few things: 1) The lid of the glass jar does not stay on, and if you pick it up by the lid it could come off, dumping the jar all over the floor. There are minimal threads holding it on - where on earth did they get these jars from, and how hard would it have been to put some decent threads on the jar so the lid would stay on? 2) The lid has this plastic like insert. It looks like a perfect place for mildew and unwanted bacteria to grow. I do not use this lid because of this and # 1 above. 3) For the price of this thing, you would at least expect an on/off switch. Fifty bucks for a plastic shell and a heater element, how hard would it have been to put a power switch on the thing? 4) The thermometer that comes with it is not very accurate, and the needle sticks. The clip that it comes with holds it to the side of the pot very nicely. If you are picky, Go spend ten bucks on a nice digital food thermometer for more accurate measurement. In the end it is probably good enough, as I used to heat the milk to 185, not 180, and I get perfect yogurt doing this. The temps you heat the milk to, and cool it to, allow quite a bit of variance, so the thermometer that comes with this unit, while not a very good one, is good enough.

Pros: * I really wanted to like this as the form factor and amount it makes is ideal for our counter space. * Great temperature and time controls. * Made great yogurt, despite the extreme temp gradient mentioned below. Cons: * Poor Actual Control. Temp gradient was extreme and varied from about 115ºF at the bottom to 85ºF at the top. These measurements were taken after steady state should have been reached after more than 10 hrs and taken at the same time. * Unit stopped working after about 3 weeks of making yogurt returning an E01 error code. * Error Codes are not mentioned in the manual nor could I find during internet searches. I also tried contacting the company but couldn't get through during normal office hours. The manual says this is out of Los Angeles...so I am going to say this may be related to the fires and I can let this go...but it is still going back because my return window is closing!

I found a web site with pretty good directions that said to only use 1 tablespoon of yogurt to inoculate 1-2 quarts of milk, so I followed that one. however, I left the first batch (my last 5 cups of milk) too long, and it separated and was a little lumpy. funny, I had checked it at 6 hours, and it seemed fine, but I thought it was still too soon, so I went to sleep and didn't wake in time to unplug it when I should have. truth was that it was already done in 6 hours, because I made another batch today and checked it at 6 hours, and it was firm ... still left it for 7 hours and it is still very firm, so I unplugged the machine, this time, and put this last batch in the fridge. guess i'll find out in the morning, if it turned out as good as I think it did! also, I added a heaping tablespoon of raw honey to the second batch, while the milk was cooling and about 150 degrees. another thing I did was heat the milk hotter this time ... to over 190 degrees which really scared me, so I quickly did a search and found that some sources actually recommend heating the milk that hot! I added the heaping tablespoon of yogurt at about 115-120 degrees. you can find the web site I'm referring to by googling "foolproof homemade yogurt science" ... it's 'girls guide to butter' in the address, and the site is quite informative and very interesting. from all I've read, the problem with the first batch could be that with a yogurt maker that gets fairly hot, it would take less time (and I left it way too long the first time). also, I read that adding too much yogurt to the milk could make the finished yogurt too thin, as too much bacteria would be too crowded and not have enough room to ferment and grow. I'm still a novice at this, and I just hope my 2nd batch comes out better (not that the first one wasn't good). I did have to pour the first batch into a bowl and whip it with a whisk to smooth it out, tho. I've thought about adding a teaspoon of pectin to the hot milk but decided to see what happened without it first. if I learn more, i'll be back. I haven't made yogurt in over 20 years, so I'm having a lot of fun (and saving money)!! :) I'm making a bit of a mess of this review, but I wanted to get it in as quickly as possible (it's getting late). I forgot to add that because of reading reviews about how hard it is to remove the lid and raise the yogurt container out of the machine, I left the lid loose and then put the clear top on with a terry towel folded over it, to try to keep any extra heat from escaping the top. I thought that might make the yogurt maker run a little warmer? I don't know, but it seemed to work. sorry my review seems so jumbled (guess that's the way my mind works! lol) but I think I included most everything, except that I used a 1200 watt microwave at 60% power to heat the milk (approx. 10-12 min.??) in a 2-quart anchor measuring cup/batter bowl (pretty sure that's how it got so hot without starting to boil). also, I used 6 cups of whole milk and stonyfield organic whole milk plain, unflavored yogurt for the starter. :) I should come back to try and clean this review up some so it's easier to understand, but I've no time right now. lol as an aside, I really do question why a simple yogurt making machine would cost twice as much as my cone-filter coffee maker? and I love my simple, no-bells-and-whistles, coffee maker and think it's very well made. UPDATE 06/14/14: I had some yogurt for breakfast this morning, and both batches are delicious! the first, slightly separated and lumpy, batch that I had to whip smooth is mild flavored and totally awesome (seems very fluffy!), and the second batch is very firm, mild flavored, and only slightly (a tad) sweet. i usually always pour the separated whey off my yogurt every time i open the container ... saves from having to strain for greek style, and it works for me. i might end up buying a strainer, but i already have too many kitchen appliances as it is (and not enough counter space). right now, i would say that both batches of yogurt are perfect ... just slightly different, but both batches have a flavor that leaves me with a craving for more!! this IS the perfect yogurt flavor, especially the batch without the raw honey ... just love the "natural" yogurt taste! :)

I've been making my own yogurt for years, since we returned from living in France and couldn't find good quality yogurt here. Homemade yogurt is what allows my lactose intolerant family to tolerate small amounts of dairy, which makes life a lot easier when you have kids. I have the Euro Cuisine maker with the little cups, but now with 4 in our house, I was having to make it nearly daily, so I bought this to make a larger quantity and be able to portion out bigger or smaller amounts (which is needed when you have toddlers.) This works as well as my other, but makes a much bigger batch. I did my recipe the same way as I did with the other machine, though only used 1 packet of starter for double the yogurt, and it worked very well. Since it doesn't have an auto shut off, I use a lamp timer I bought at the hardware store (just like I use with my other one, and have also even used to start the crock pot at the right time.) It works great. If you're expecting all sorts of bells and whistles, you won't get it, but you can get delicious, excellent quality yogurt for much less at home. Here's my recipe. I'm terrible at heating milk on the stove without scorching it, so I use the microwave. I have never had any trouble at all, and my yogurt comes out thick and rich like sour cream, without the astringent quality of commercial Greek yogurt. (The Greek yogurt we used to get at the greek resto that came from Greek markets in Chicago is very similar to mine.) This way, I don't have to worry about taking temperatures with the enclosed thermometer, or waiting until the milk is cool enough. In less than 10 minutes, I've got the yogurt culturing. Since I buy pasteurized milk, I'm not worried about bringing it to a boil (if you buy raw, you may want to.) 2 quarts milk (2% or whole) (I go for organic or buy mine at a local dairy, because the quality does make a difference) 3 cups powdered milk 1 packet Yogourmet yogurt starter Warm the milk in the microwave for 3 minutes (3.5 if your microwave is weak.) I do it in 2 batches with my big Pyrex, and add the second batch after mixing in the rest. Pour the first half in the tub, add the dry milk and whisk. Then add the starter and whisk again. Add the rest of the milk and whisk to combine. Cover and put it in the yogurt maker (turned on). Let culture for 8 hours; refrigerate. You can serve with honey, jam or fruit if you like, or just plain (I like it that way) and use in recipes.

This unit works very well, I do like the large glass jar for making one big batch at a time. The entire kit is very nice, with good instruction manual, strainer bag, large glass jar (2qt), thermometer with red and green marks for heating milk and adding starter. I would like to experiment with different recipes and incubation time settings in the future. My first batch turned out great using the euro cuisine starter culture pack. save a lot on not buying store bought yogurt. Highly recommended

I've been using this yogurt maker for over a year. It works great. At first I was intimidated about making yogurt. Warming milk to precisely the right temp, cooling to exactly 110°, adding my yogurt starter, timing the yogurt maker stage. Now I've learned that great, creamy, Greek yogurt amazingness is absolutely base level simple. I've tried raw milk and whole milk. Raw milk isn't raw once I've heated it to 180° for yogurt making. So I've quit using raw milk. Regular whole milk isn't organic. So I've come to use store bought ultra pasteurized whole milk. It's my favorite for plain Greek yogurt. I read that ultra pasteurized couldn't be used, but I'm here to tell you it makes delightful yogurt. I don't preheat it. No need, since the pathogens are already dead and the proteins already cooked in ultra pasteurized. And I don't buy fancy cultures online. I use about a cup of store bought 2% plain Greek yogurt as my starter, whisking it into about a cup and a half organic whole milk (don't even measure that precisely) right in the glass yogurt jar. Then fill the jar to the top with milk, no preheating required. Place it in the yogurt maker in the morning, and approximately 12 hours later, pour it into my Euro Cuisine Greek Yogurt Strainer, and place in the frig overnight. The next morning I have about 5 cups of thick and creamy yumminess. I like to add in frozen fruit and a touch of honey when I serve it. Absolutely outrageously thick and creamy...no preheating then cool down then timing and fussing. Just milk and yogurt, from the frig to the yogurt maker to the strainer to the storage container. Simple.

I have now used this yogurt maker about four times, and it works quite well. The temperature it maintains is 103°, which is somewhat lower than the optimum range of 105-115°, according to my research. I start a batch at around 110-112°, and it slowly drifts back over the fermentation period to 103°, and that seems to be OK. A seven-hour fermentation time also seems about right. There is no timer to shut it off. If there was one I would give it a five-star rating. I also bought the glass jar to replace the plastic bucket that comes with it. It has two drawbacks: it doesn't quite hold two quarts of milk - about one cup short; and it is hard to empty out because of the narrowing at the top for the screw-on lid. I'll go back to the plastic bucket. Update: September 2015 I have now used this unit about every five days to make 2 qts. of yogurt. We eat a lot of it around here. In recent weeks the yogurt has been watery, and upon checking the temperature today I found, after 8 hours of fermenting, it was barely 90 °, nor the optimum of around 110°, which it never was even when new. So the unit has failed and produced two qts. of warm milk. It's done, and I'm sorry I bought it.

I needed to find a yogurt maker where the temperature and time can be set, so I settled on this one. For anyone who wants to make L. Reuteri “Super Yogurt”, you know it needs to be kept at 99f for 36 hrs. This can do that and after several attempts, I’m getting very good results. My first attempt separated into curds and whey very badly, so I wanted to see if it was because of this maker. I have a wireless meat thermometer, so I taped it to the edge of the jar. What I noticed was, every time I messed with the settings, it would get hotter. What I think is happening is this does not have a thermostat, so its not kicking in/off based on the content’s temperature. When you set the temp and time and hit “start”, its assuming the contents is cold, so it does some heating right away. So, even though I had it set to 100f, and the contents was at 100f, if I then turned it down to 98f, the contents would rise to 104f. ✳️ When I set the temperature and didn’t mess with it at all, it kept it right in range…and I watched it closely…until the battery in my thermometer ran out. ✳️ I was going to return it after the first batch but going on what I learned, I tried a second time (using the curds and whey from the first batch) and the second batch still separated a little, but much less. The 3rd, and subsequent batches, were perfect. L. Reuteri needs to be awakened and it might take you a few batches. What you see in my picture is my 5th batch. ✳️ I suggest when you make a batch, fill it up all the way (just under 2 quarts of scaled half and half – very important) and make sure its around 80f. Set it, forget, and harvest a perfect yogurt 36 hrs later. ✳️ Other comments. The thermometer it comes with is useless, but I used the cheese bag and that worked well. I love the size and convenience of this. It doesn’t take up much counter space and if I’m going to make a batch, I’m going to make 2 quarts every time. I was also very successful making this yogurt in my Sous Vide and InstaPot but I’m afraid of burning out my Sous Vide and the Instapot takes up too much room. That’s why I’m keeping this.

Arrived quickly after our order in perfect condition. We have been making yogurt for a few weeks without a yogurt maker and find with the yogurt maker, our yogurt is a little thicker because it keeps the yogurt at a more regular temperature. The container is convient as it can go straight from the yogurt maker to the fridge. Becareful with the lid though, if you use the lip that sticks out, the lid can come off allowing you to drop your yogurt. The lid is the same colour as the container so one may not expect that lip to be the lid, it seems like it should be the container so we've had a couple of people think they can carry it by the lid.

Temperature was all over the place and stopped heating up at all to make yogurt. I am returning after 3 tries.

I made the right choice in ordering this Yogurt Maker! Its yields a nice 2qt. Volume and takes up little space on my kitchen countertop! Very user-friendly and produces a nice yogurt which I put in a fine mesh strainer to make Greek Yogurt! I highly recommend this product!!

When I purchased this yogurt maker I thought that all I have to do was to put the milk and yogurt and turn the machine on, but no, you still have to go through the entire process of boiling the milk making sure it’s the right temperature and so forth. The only advantage to this is that you put the yogurt to cured in the machine for eight hours and you can stored it the same glass jar. I used my oven the bread proofing setting for eight hours. Overall it’s the same yogurt I used to make without the machine.