Yogurt Makers

I go through a lot of yogurt every week, and was thinking of buying a yogurt maker so that I can more easily make my own.

Does anyone have one that they would recommend?

I don't have one any more but I used to have one that just incubated the milk & culture at the right temperature.  If you want "proper" yoghurt, that's the kind I would recommend. (I forget the brand I had but this one appears to be the same: http://www.rosemaryconley.com/shop/healthy-cooking/rosemary-conley-yoghurt-maker.htm

A friend of mine had an Easy Yo that she loved but it involves using a powder and the resulting yoghurt, though quite nice, didn't really taste like yoghurt to me, more desserty. (yes, I am a yoghurt snob!!). I'd steer clear of anything that involves sachets.

You can actually make it fairly easily without a maker, it's just a question of being able to keep it at the correct temperature.  My father used to make it a lot when I was growing up.

I have a Lakeland electric one that gets a lot of use round here!

I love to use yoghurt in cooking, desserts and baking as well as for breakfasts.

I don't have one any more but I used to have one that just incubated the milk & culture at the right temperature.  If you want "proper" yoghurt, that's the kind I would recommend. (I forget the brand I had but this one appears to be the same: http://www.rosemaryconley.com/shop/healthy-cooking/rosemary-conley-yoghurt-maker.htm

A friend of mine had an Easy Yo that she loved but it involves using a powder and the resulting yoghurt, though quite nice, didn't really taste like yoghurt to me, more desserty. (yes, I am a yoghurt snob!!). I'd steer clear of anything that involves sachets.

You can actually make it fairly easily without a maker, it's just a question of being able to keep it at the correct temperature.  My father used to make it a lot when I was growing up.

Thanks Britwife! Yes, the first one you describe is absolutely what I'm looking for, and that one looks great! I did also come across the Easy Yo, but I agree, it's not something that I would like at all. I am just looking to make plain yogurt.

I came across only one on Amazon (Severin was the brand) but the reviews were quite mixed, so just looking to see if anyone has one they really like.

my electric one makes a relatively thin yoghurt that's perfect for cooking.  but when i want a more Greek-type yoghurt i just line a strainer with a piece of old muslin cloth (from when my girls were babies), tip the yoghurt in that and hang it over a bowl for a couple of hours.

I have a Lakeland electric one that gets a lot of use round here!

I love to use yoghurt in cooking, desserts and baking as well as for breakfasts.

Thanks! I'll have a look for it now. We have limited room for more appliances, but I'm pretty sure this one would get a lot of use, and end up saving some money as well. I have yogurt every morning for breakfast.

I also have the Lakeland yogurt maker. It works fine. The container takes up a fair bit of fridge space, so I keep moving the yogurt into smaller vessels as we make our way through it.

I used to make yogurt with a y. maker from (I think) Boots.  It was basically just an insulated plastic container.  You heated some milk to the right temp., added some "starter" (store bought yogurt) and put it in this container for overnight and you had yogurt.  I used to add a couple spoons of milk powder which would thicken it somewhat.  So you don't need a fancy electronic gadget and you probably don't even need a thermometer -- you can gauge the temperature of the milk with your finger!

another thing yoghurt fans might be interested in is a yoghurt "plant" - I only just recently found out (via my good friend Google of course!) that what it makes is technically not yoghurt but something called kefir. I could probably best describe the end result as a runny, sharpish tasting yoghurt. Anyway I had one of these "plants" when I lived in New Zealand, and they're so easy to use, but you have to keep using it or it will die. Wikipedia explains it much better than I can:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir

I have no idea where to get hold of one though!