Making yoghurt from scratch is actually far easier than most people realise. The trickiest part is figuring out how to keep your yoghurt at an even temperature (of around 40 degrees Celsius) while it is forming.
And that’s where the Easiyo comes into it’s own.
Now, the Easiyo Yogurt Maker is sold with the assumption that you will buy the Easiyo sachets to make your yoghurt with, not make it from scratch, but there is absolutely no reason you need to do it that way.
What I tend to do is to keep a couple of their flavoured sachets in the cupboard for special treats (for flavours that I haven’t figured out how to make myself), or for when I run out of yoghurt for my starter or have no milk (or milk powder) to spare.
The rest of the time I make my yoghurt from scratch, using one of the following methods. My kids go through a lot of yoghurt, so making it from scratch saves me a lot of money, plus I like being in control of exactly what goes into it. (Note: I’ve now added a Making Yoghurt at Home FAQ & Troubleshooting guide.)
Making yoghurt from scratch using fresh milk
- Heat 1 litre of milk almost (but not quite) to boiling – look for the point when it is just slightly frothy on top but not yet foaming up (or use a milk thermometer if you have one). Organic milk is of course best, but not essential, and you can use anything from fat free milk to full cream (4%) milk. Heating the milk changes the protein to make it more conducive to making yoghurt with. It also kills off any bacteria that is growing in the milk and might compete with the yoghurt starter culture.
Cool the milk in the fridge until it is completely cold. Note, this is different to other methods of making yoghurt from scratch.* I tend to heat the milk before bed and leave it in the fridge overnight.- When the milk is completely cold, pour half of it into an Easiyo 1 litre container and add 1/2 cup of milk powder. This is not essential, but makes for a thicker yoghurt. Put the lid on tightly. Shake until mixed, the same way you would using an Easiyo sachet.
- Take about half a cup of the milk and mix it with 2-3 tbsp of yoghurt, until they are well blended. Make sure the yoghurt is not too old, as your starter bacteria may have died. Tip: If you don’t have any yoghurt left, you can use 2-3 tablespoons of any Easiyo packet as your yoghurt starter. I keep a packet in the cupboard for this purpose, and just keep it in a glass jar once it’s open. If you use a flavoured packet you will get a very mild flavour through your yoghurt.
- Add this mix and the rest of the milk to the yoghurt container and shake some more to mix thoroughly.
- Fill the Easiyo with boiling water, up to the top of the red baffle, just as for the usual Easiyo instructions.
- Put the container of milk into the Easiyo and leave for about 10 hours, depending how tangy and how well set you like your yoghurt (the longer you leave it the tangier and better set it gets). Then take it out and put it in the fridge to finish setting, for 6 hours (this will stop the culturing process).
Variation 1: Making yoghurt from scratch using powdered milk
The Yogurt Cookbook includes your basic “how to make yogurt” recipes at the front, but then also covers how to make yogurt cheese, how to make curd cheeses just with lemon juice and milk, including the Indian cream cheese, panir, and then has perhaps a hundred recipes that use yoghurt, from soup to main dishes to desserts.
This is basically the same as above, except without steps 1 & 2, and instead of 1/2 cup of milk powder, I use 1&1/3 to 1&1/2 cups of milk powder, 1 litre of cold water from the tap.
This is much quicker and also doesn’t involve me having to buy yet another litre of milk every two days (my family goes through a LOT of milk already!), but I can understand that food purists might prefer to use fresh milk.
Variation 2: Making yoghurt from scratch using UHT milk
In response to questions in the comments, I have now tried making yoghurt using UHT milk, and I have to confess, this is now my favourite option. It is exactly the same as option 1, without the heating and cooling of the milk, and works perfectly.
You can easily keep a litre or two of UHT milk in the cupboard, without having to clutter up your fridge. It’s probably not as economical as using powdered milk, but still far cheaper than buying ready made yoghurt or Easiyo sachets. And you can buy organic UHT milk at Aldi in Australia (usually). I know you can get organic powdered milk, but I haven’t sourced any yet.
Flavouring your Yoghurt
There are different ways of flavouring your yoghurt, which can be done either before setting or afterwards, when serving. One common method is to stir in some jam or some fresh fruit when serving. Unfortunately, half of my family won’t eat yoghurt this way, having gotten too use to the store bought extra sweet stuff. So for them, I sweeten before setting. The two preferred flavours I’ve made this way are lemon (which I love) and vanilla.
For either one of these you just added 2 tablespoons of sugar or honey and 1 teaspoon of vanilla or lemon essence. When I make the yoghurt with milk I stir in the sugar or honey when the milk is hot so as to dissolve it effectively. If I’m using water and milk powder I just heat up a couple of tablespoons of water and dissolve the sugar in that, before mixing in the milk powder and yoghurt. The essence can be added at the same time.
If you’re interested in reading more about fermented foods, Sharon’s Stonger’s book is highly recommended (5 stars with 63 reviews on Amazon) and includes a whole section on dairy, including more on yoghurt.
Experiment with the amount of sweetener you like to use. Two tablespoons is much less sweet than store bought yoghurt usually is, but still sweeter than some people like. Honey gives a quite different flavour compared to sugar. Do not use Xylitol, which seems to inhibit the bacteria from growing. I believe Stevia is the same. You can use them afterwards if you like.
You can also use a few tablespoons of one of the Easiyo sachets as your starter culture, to create a very mild flavour, or more for a stronger, sweeter flavour.
When adding berries or other fruit it is better to add it when serving, as the fruit will just sink to the bottom of the milk before the yoghurt sets (and could curdle your milk, depending on the fruit).
More questions? See my Yogurt FAQ and Troubleshooting page.
*Updated to add: The reason for cooling the milk all the way to cold is to ensure the heat from the boiling water is not enough to kill off the starter culture. However, my mother has reported only cooling to 40°C (which is the usual practice for making yogurt at home) with no issues.
Updated (again) to add: I’ve changed the instructions for making the powdered milk version from one and a quarter, to one and a third or one and a half cups of milk powder, because – in response to a comment below – I’ve started using more milk powder and found I prefer the consistency. I’ve also changed the instructions from 1-2 tbsp, to 2-3 tbsp of starter, because this seems to give a more consistent result, presumably because of the life cycle of the starter bacteria: if the yoghurt is a bit old, there won’t be as much left. On the other hand, two much culture doesn’t work – there’s too much competition for the “food” (milk sugars), so that it’s all gone before the yoghurt sets. So don’t overdo it.
You’ve made your own Yoghurt, would you like to get the stains out of your kids clothes with an easy DIY no-nasties spray?
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Hi….
I’ve been using the uht method for long and it always work wonder,sometimes when I get enough of yogurt I just need to freeze the starters from my previous batches ,then start all over again …oh I just tried using my 3 month old frozen yogurt from my previous batches and It turn out well also 🙂
So thanks for sharing this lovely information
That’s great Junny! I haven’t tried using frozen yoghurt, I will have to do that!
Hi there, just wondering if anyone has been making yoghurt without the sachets in the 500mL mini maker? I’ve tried just halving the 1L recipe for powdered milk (i.e. 2/3 – 3/4C of milk powder and about 2 spoons of yoghurt) but am yet to get a good result, and don’t want to waste much more yoghurt trying! I always let it set for at least 12 hours if not 14-15, right temp water etc. Any help much appreciated!
I’m surprised this isn’t working as well Liz – I have not used the mini maker, but I have experimented a bit with using the small tubs in my big one (inside the litre container), with good results.
I’m curious – have you used the mini maker with a full easiyo sachet? I only ask because sometimes, depending on your location, you can have an issue with the water going cold too quickly or being too hot.
There are other general troubleshooting options – fresher yoghurt, or more of it, for instance – if you haven’t already, try looking at my troubleshooting page, it might help: http://sustainablesuburbia.net/making-yogurt-at-home-faq-tips-tricks-and-troubleshooting/
Hi Kirsten. Can you tell us more about making a half batch in the EasyYo. I’ve tried simply halving the recipe (I use the powder milk method). No success.
To elaborate. I currently use 1&1/2 Cup milk power and 1/2 teaspoon of yogurt culture (powder). Works a treat.
I halved this, still using the Easyyo 1kg tub filling it half way.
I got sour milk. Perhaps less culture? Should I not be using the 1kg tub, and find a suitable sized jar?
Your advise and feedback will really help me along on this trial and error process.
Hi Liz,
I’ve actually had heaps of success making a 1 litre Easiyo in the mini maker. ( I only did it by pure accident as the on line company that I got it from was giving the 1 litre canister for free. Which at first I thought was counter productive but turned out to be a blessing in disguise)
All you have to do is prep the one litre satchel mix and as normal in the one lite canister. Take out the red triangle stand that usually goes in the mini maker. Fill hot water up to the line where the stand usually is placed. Now take off the red lid of your Easiyo container and very gently place the container inside the mini maker. Lastly place the mini maker lid on top and screw tight.
That’s it! You don’t need to use the large size Easiyo maker to make 1 litre yoghurt 🙂
Could you use fresh lemon juice to flavour the yogurt before setting?
I think Lemon juice would make your milk curdle Matthew, though I’m not 100% sure of that if you are using powdered milk. I suspect it still would though. I have used lemon essence though, with good success.
Hello,
I just got my Easiyo today. So glad that I have found your posts. Have you ever tried using non-dairy milk? I plan to use a regular plain milk yogurt for the starter. I can tolerate some dairy, just don’t want too much. I would like to eventually go with yogurt that is as dairy free as possible.
I can always use fat free and the powder milk if it won’t work.
Thank you for any input or ideas.
Hi, I’m slightly confused about the powdered milk method. Just to clarify, do I need to heat the milk first, like with the regular method, or will it work fine if I skip that out entirely?
Sorry if it’s a stupid question; I haven’t made yogurt before and I don’t want to stuff it up!
Hi Zoe,
It’s not a stupid question at all! No, you don’t need to heat the milk, as the drying process has the same effect 🙂
The milk *does* need to warm up to turn into yoghurt, but if you are using the easiyo thermos, that’s what the host water in the thermos does.
Happy yoghurt making! 🙂
Okay, thank you! 🙂
I haven’t got any plain yoghurt to use as a starter, could I use Greek yoghurt sachet. Also can I use yoghurt instead of buttermilk.
Hi Fran, Yes, you can certainly use a greek yoghurt sachet.
Are you asking if you can use yghurt instead of buttermilk in another recipe? In which case, I *think* the answer is yes, though it may depend on the recipe. I also *think* i have read of substituting whey (the liquid that comes out of yoghurt) instead of buttermilk – I would google it separately though 🙂
Hi! Planning to try with the UHT milk, am wondering if I strain the whey out after the 7-10 hours…would I get Greek yogurt?
You would certainly get thicker yoghurt, like Greek – I *think* real Greek yoghurt may use a particular strain of the yoghurt bacteria, but I am not actually clear on that, sorry.
Just tried making my first batch using the uht method and it turned out great. If I wanted a really thick yoghurt (the thick creamy Greek variety) do you think adding more milk powder would work? I was thinking of trying 2/3 – 3/4 cup of powdered milk to 1litre uht? Thanks!
Hi Julia
Yes, adding more milk powder can thicken it a bit, or adding some cream too.
All the best,
Kirsten
Hi Kirsten! I just discovered your site and am loving it! But I have lots of questions ?. I just inherited an EasiYo (never heard of it before) with no instructions and I live in the Philippines now and have no idea what to use as a starter. There is only UHT milk here and I understand you don’t have to heat it, but does that mean you just use it at room temperature without cooling too? It’s a little confusing trying to follow instructions from one process with comments below to incorporate without exact steps for the entire UHT process. I am afraid I will do something wrong. I’m a little nervous as this will be my first time ever of trying to make yoghurt. It is so expensive here! Thanks so much! …Tracy
Hi, I’m looking to make vanilla yoghurt using the UHT milk and was wondering when do I add in the sweetener as you mentioned with the other versions you mix it in while the milk is hot but seeing as you skip the heating process with the UHT milk at which time do you add the sweetener?
Hi Alecia,
It’s a bit tricky to get sugar to dissolve in cold milk, so I usually just heat up a little in the microwave and dissolve it in that.
Hi,
I’ve just tried the Esiyo yoghurt maker for the first time using their sachets. It worked beautifully. Once it has set and been in the fridge do you stir in the clear liquid that is sitting on the top of the set yoghurt?
Thanks
Jan
Hi Jan,
You can yes – that is the whey, and I usually just stir it in as I use it. Be aware though, that the “set” look of the yoghurt won’t come back after stirring 🙂
I realise this is an old blog post now but I only recently found this and wanted to say the uht milk worked a treat. I mixed 4 tablespoons of milk powder with the uht milk (aldi brand) and two or three tablespoons of my last batch of easiyo yoghurt. After 11 hours it was thick and smooth. A little tangier than the easiyo Greek yoghurt but I’ll just add a little honey or maple syrup. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for the feedback, so glad it’s worked so well for you 🙂
I lived in China for four years and, on and off, made weekly batches of yoghurt with uht milk in my easyo maker. Now I’m back in Au and plan to continue making my own yoghurt.
I too have certain family members who will not eat unsweetened yoghurt (*cough*husband). I always heard that adding sugar to the milk inhibits the fermentation, do you find that you get a runnier yoghurt when you do this?
Also, apart from extra milk powder I’ve never used thickeners. Do gelatine/pectin make a big difference? How do I use them?
Hi Jen,
I haven’t found adding sugar makes any difference, but I don’t add a lot…
I’ve never actually tried adding gelatine or pectin, though I believe they can make a pretty significant difference. Have you taken a look at my tips and tricks page? It has more info on getting thicker yoghurt: http://sustainablesuburbia.net/making-yogurt-at-home-faq-tips-tricks-and-troubleshooting/
Hi
I have been making cheap yoghurt in my easiyo thermos for many years using the above method of several spoons of easiyo powder , one and half to two cups of powdered milk and a litre of filtered tap water. Last few months the process has failed to produce yoghurt. Is easiyo putting less live culture in each foil sachet to force us into using the whole full sachet? What can I do ?
Hi really don’t know Wayne, I haven’t started having any trouble. Could it be something to do with your thermos? Is it still keeping the milk warm enough? That’s the only thing I can think of that would cause this change.
Hi,
I’ve recently bought an easiyo and would love to try your recipes. However, the biggest yogurt fan in my house is my 9 month old. I know not to put honey in any yogurt I make for her, but is there anything else in these recipes that I should avoid?
Hi Jen,
No there’s nothing else to worry about at all 🙂
enjoy!
My daughter is vegan, but loves the idea of being able to eat non-dairy yogurt. Has anyone had success with non-dairy options such as soy milk or almond milk?
Isn’t bacteria like some kind of little animal?
I wouldn’t think a vegan would want to eat them.
Do I need to use powdered milk or can I leave it out
Hi Karen,
The powdered milk will result in thicker yoghurt, but no, it is not essential – you can leave it out. 🙂
Cheers
Kirsten
Loving the info on this internet site, you have done outstanding job on the content.
There’s definately a lot to find out about this issue.
I like all the points you’ve made.
so to make it without the sachets do ustill need a small amount of satchet powder to make it turnout properly or is there an alternative
I would love more reviews on trials WITHOUT the sachets as I wouldn’t want to be dependant on them. I am thinking about buying the EasiYo (or a different one) but only If I can make yogurt with a bit of fresh yogurt and milkpowder to thicken it.
Please confirm that Greek yogurt can be made with the EasiYo with Greek yogurt from the (organic) store + milk powder. THANKS!
(If not, with what machine (with or without electricity) can I make my own yogurt with as less thought and doings as possible 🙂 ? )
HI Tessa,
There’s no reason this can’t work. I *believe* true Greek yoghurt has a specific culture, but that it works just the same. Some people also strain their yoghurt for an hour or two (using cheesecloth) to get a thicker result – “greek-style” yoghurt.
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http://hy I have tried making yogurt in my easiyo yogurt maker using fat free yogurt as my starter ,and skimmed milk but it failed miserably help .
Hi Joyce, skimmed/fat free milk tends to come out runnier, but it shouldn’t completely fail – take a look at my trouble shooting page here: http://sustainablesuburbia.net/making-yogurt-at-home-faq-tips-tricks-and-troubleshooting/
See if that helps, if not, let me know 🙂
I just wanted to say thank you for this thorough post. I have recently purchased an easiyo and have had some not-so-great results! After reading this I realise I wasn’t filling the easiyo up enough with boiling water, my starter yogurt was way too old, and I probably put too much starter yogurt in- thinking “more the better”…. I guess not in this case. Also i like the updates- we are all learning and trying to figure out our own way!!! Can’t wait to try again and get some good outcomes!!!!
Hi Julia,
Thanks for posting this. Looking forward to giving it a try.
Do you know if I could use almond milk instead of ordinary milk?
Thanks in anticipation!
Which powdered milk do you use. Full cream or Skimmed milk?
I usually use full cream, which will give you a thicker consistency, but you can use either.
I used fresh semi-skimmed, plus dried skimmed and got a fantastic result. See method below.
Hi, i just got myself the easiyo maker. Love this post as i find the easiyo sachet is expensive.
Love the UHT milk for yoghurt. But would like to know, is this using the same method as your original yoghurt making? Heat up the milk and keep in the fridge overnight? Still need to use milk powder?
Thank you
No, with the UHT milk it has already been heated, so you can just use it straight out of the carton 🙂
Thks. Will try and update.
I just made my best ever yoghurt from scratch because we no longer seem to have a local stockist of Easiyo Greek style. Now I realise I don’t need it anyway! Just used a small amount say 3 tablespoons of any greek yoghurt, added half litre of semi-skimmed (2%) fresh milk, enough cheap skimmed milk powder to make about 1 litre, gave it a good shake up to mix it in the easiyo container. Then topped up with more fresh semi-skimmed milk to fill the container. Left it for an hour to get up to room temperature. Stuck it in Easyo maker with boiling water as usual. left the whole thing in an airing cupboard for 24 hours. Voila! Fantastic thick and creamy yoghurt, no whey, much better than when I made it with full cream Channel Islands milk (c.5%) which actually turned out a bit thin with quite a lot of whey.
That’s great Simon, thanks so much for sharing that!
Simon. Did you add just add ‘dry’ skimmed milk powder onto the milk to the 1 litre mark OR did you mix it with liquid first and then added it?
No, dry skimmed milk powder takes a bit of mixing so I shook it up with about half the Easiyo container of 2% milk and the ‘starter’ yoghurt. Only once it was thoroughly mixed did I top the container with more 2% milk, I actually went past the ‘full’ line but got a great result. No water, if that’s what you’re asking.
Thank you for the clarification Simon.
Hello Simon.
I tried your method but did not get a great result. Maybe I did not add enough skimmed milk powder. Approximately how much did you add to your container?
Hi Kirsten, thanks for your great tips! I wanted to ask about using all milk (a2) instead of any powdered? Is that possible? And also why do we need to heat the milk if it’s already pasteurized? That process is supposed to kill any bad bacteria. Thanks ?
Hi Lindy,
Yes, you can certainly use all fresh milk, no powdered – it will just be a slightly runnier yoghurt is all.
the heating actually does something called denaturing the milk protein which makes it “yoghurt” (can you use that as a verb?) better – but you *can* use unheated milk, again, just a runnier end product. I seem to remember that there are different cultures that work better with milk that hasn’t been heated, but now I can’t remember if that’s for ordinary pasteursed milk, or actually for use with raw milk…
Thanks Kirsten.
Have been using the above method for nearly 12 months. It started off really well. Then earlier this year I noticed it is a lot more difficult to get a good batch. At first I thought it was the powdered milk, then maybe the hot weather, but that was not the problem. I am now suspecting the Easiyo packets have been engineered to discourage us from doing our own thing and therefore buy more easiyo packets. I can no longer use three or four table spoons of easiyo powder as a starter culture and expect a good result. However I can get a reasonable result by using existing yoghurt made from easiyo packets. But as I make more yoghurt and get further away from the original, the yoghurt is more runny. I almost always use Aldi full cream powered milk. I have tried Aldi skim powered milk and it has never worked. I would like your thoughts on this matter please.
Robert, I too noticed the potency decline of Easiyo yogurt about 12 months ago. They used to say on the packet to leave for 8-10 hours to set, now it says 12 hours. My remedy is to use 3 heaped tablespoons of the dry mix to 1 litre of cold milk made with one and a half cups of full cream powdered milk, and to leave it for at least 12 hours in the Easiyo thermos flask, sometimes 14 hours. That always produces lovely thick Greek style yogurt. Now I’m about to try making it using a few tablespoons of my prepared yogurt thanks to the great suggestions on this site.
I mean Variation 1 at top of page when I said above method .
My daughter is unable to have milk or skim milk but can have soy or coconut milk. Is there any way that you can use coconut milk and/or coconut cream to make yoghurt ?
As I website possessor I believe the written content here is rattling
superb, thanks for your efforts.
Could you use probiotic tablets or the probiotic yucult for these methods also could this be done with coconut cream or milk in the easi yo. Thanks
I haven’t tried it Leanda, but I think you could. Here’s someone else’s experience – she isn’t using the easiyo though, but it sounds like you wouldn’t actually need it… https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-2-ingredient-coconut-yogurt/
I have just bought the Easiyo maker and thoroughly enjoying it. I was shown a trick by my cousin which was to only use half the packet . I fill it half full with water add only half the packet then top up with any milk. I let mine sit for 24 hours. Yummy but I will look at using UHT milk once I start caravaning around Australia.
That sounds great Jeanette!
For the milk powder option, I understand that steps 1&2 can be skipped, but step three also mentions adding another 1/2 cup of powdered milk after cooling. Do we skip that bit too?
Yep! It replaces that 1/2 cup 🙂
Kirsten, can you please tell me if you have used the UHT Lactose Free milk and if so how did it go?
I haven’t actually tried it Paula. If you do, let us know how it goes.
Hi there, I am keen to give this a go as we go through A LOT of yoghurt a week with three kids. We are using the Easiyo and I love it but wanting to reduce waste and costs. The only thing I keep wondering though is the amount of beneficial bacteria that will end up in the yoghurt as they are obviously added into the sachets and when I only take a small amount I wouldn’t get the same effect? Is there an addon or something that you use or do you just accept the fact that it will be “less beneficial”? Thanks so much!
HI Britta,
The beneficial bacteria actually keep growing as long as the yoghurt is “yoghurting” so although you only start out with a little, you end up with a lot 🙂
Hello! Just wondering if anyone has tried to make a slimming world friendly yoghurt with their Easiyo?
Thanks
Hi Sarah,
Do you mean making a low fat version? There is actually a lot of evidence accumulating now that low fat milk it worse, from a slimming perspective, than full cream. The fats in full cream milk are actually protective.
As far as artificial sweeteners go, I’d recommend simply reducing the sugar/honey rather than using something artificial (and note that creamier yoghurt is much more palatable without sugar, or with less sugar, than low fat).
Hi! So excited to have found your post.
Just wondering if using Uht milk ( I buy lactose free milk this way by the case so I always have milk) is it necessary to use milk powder as well as starter yogurt? Or can I just use milk and yogurt?
Thank you
Hi Jackie,
The milk powder is not essential, but will make for a thicker yoghurt. However, I’m not entirely sure that lactose free milk will work, as the yoghurt culture usually feeds on the lactose.
How about some recipes for making oat milk and then yoghurt from homemade oat milk in an easiyo please?
Hi there, constantly i used to check blog posts here early
in the morning, since i enjoy to find out more and more.
First try using the Easiyo. It was Passionfruit greek style yogurt followed instructions but even after 24 hours it was still runny. Any tips? What am I doing wrong?