Easiyo Yogurt Maker is as Easy as 1 - 2 - 3

When I was growing up in the 70s in Saudi Arabia we had a yogurt maker. It was a counter-top electronic unit that had six jars. My mom would make a tangy batch of thick yogurt and I would mix in jam to sweeten and flavor it. As I think back on it, I was the only one in the family who even ate yogurt. Nice of her to make it for me. Oh, we could buy it in the compound's commissary, but I learned my tightwad ways from my parents and it must have been cheaper for mom to make it than to buy it. After all, stuff like flavored yogurt would have had to have been flown in from Europe or the U.S.

Since I've been playing around with more cultured and fermented foods, it was inevitable that I would try my hand at yogurt making. Thing is, I wasn't interested in investing in some expensive electronic yogurt maker. Nor do I have the space in my small bungalow. I had been looking at the DIY ways of yogurt making by using a crockpot or an ice chest. It's very similar to people who make their homemade sous vide systems. 

Then I received an email that asked if I would like to try the Easiyo yogurt maker. I jumped on it. After all, I had come across it on the internet and liked that it was simple, not electronic, compact, and inexpensive. The size of a large thermos, it doesn't take up a lot of space.

Simple is an understatement. The Easiyo yogurt maker really does only take three steps. 1. Fill the inner container with cool water and the yogurt mix. 2. Shake well. 3. Pour boiling water into the outer container, around the inner one to insulate and culture it. Now just wait 8-12 hours and you're done! You end up with 35 ounces of creamy yogurt.

The Easiyo yogurt maker kit they sent me came with two packets of mix. I made the plain, low-fat one first. My only concern with my first batch was the thickness. I've been eating nothing but super thick Greek yogurt lately and so this was a bit on the thin side. Taste-wise it was a very mild yogurt, no real tang to it. But I enjoyed it in its own right because it was a nice, mild, creamy yogurt. I also found that it did get thicker over time.

That said, they do have a variety of mixes to choose from, including for Greek style. There are pre-flavored packs such as Orchard Fruits and Summer Fruits. But each 3-pack is $19.95 and so not really cost effective versus buying from the store. Another drawback, the mixes are not something you can just buy at your nearest store.

One way to get around that is to not use the packets and use a bit of yogurt culture from another batch. This is how it is traditionally made, much like sourdough starter and kombucha mother. You keep a little bit from a prior batch to culture and start the next batch and that goes on for perpetuity. Easiyo does not recommend you use their maker for this. After all, each such batch is like an experiment and then they don't get to sell you their mixes. Still, I will probably play with it anyway to try it out.

Regardless of how I make it in the future, I will continue to use the Easiyo yogurt maker for its ease of use and size. If you want simplicity, it can't be beat.