We go through a lot of yoghurt at our house, especially now that I'm experiencing serious smoothie cravings, so I've been experimenting with ways to stretch our store-bought Greek yoghurt sachets further, without sacrificing taste or texture.
Here is my new yoghurt-making routine, which allows me to stretch one yoghurt sachet into four 1KG batches of thick, creamy yoghurt.
Firstly I recommend getting yourself an EasiYo yoghurt maker. Yoghurt-making is a breeze with these things! You can often find them at Op shops for about $3, or brand new from the supermarket they will cost you about $20 - still not breaking the bank.
Here's how I make my yoghurt x4.
Step 1 - Make up a batch of yoghurt using half an EasiYo or Hansells sachet and half a sachet's worth of (cheaper) plain whole milk powder. (Store the other half sachet in the fridge until you're ready to use it.)
Step 2 - Eat this batch of yoghurt almost to the bottom, but while there are still a few tablespoons left in your container, fill it back up with one cup of plain whole milk powder whisked with filterered water. Make a second batch of yoghurt in your EasiYo yoghurt maker with this and eat it all the way down.
Step 3 - Repeat step 1 with the second half of your yoghurt sachet to make your third batch of yoghurt.
Step 4 - Repeat step 2 to make your fourth batch of yoghurt.
You could stretch your yoghurt further by continuing to use milk powder and water mixed with the last bit of yoghurt again and again, but I don't like the taste and texture as much after the first time doing this, so I'm happily sticking with my four lots.
If you give this technique a try, let me know how you get on.
I make yogurt using long life milk with 1/2 cup milk powder. To this I add two tablespoonfuls of plain yoghurt. I leave it overnight and it is always done by the morning. Lovely and thick and tasty.
ReplyDeleteHi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI bought a yoghurt maker and tried a full satchet to see what the taste was like - really nice and smooth. I then scooped out about 1/2 cup worth to make another batch, and used the cup of milk powder. I have left it in there for about 15 hours, and it is really runny with a lot of separation and I can still see and taste milk granules - doesn't taste like yogurt at all. I am a real novice at this - can you make any suggestions as to what I have done wrong and how I can get a better result? Thanks heaps, loving reading all your posts
Rachel
1/2 a cup is far too much yogurt; if you add too much, there isn't enough food for the starter cultures, so none of them can live and create the yogurt. All you need is 2-3 tablespoons, depending on how old your yogurt is (the older it is, the more cultures have died, so the more yogurt you need).
DeleteI found this http://sustainablesuburbia.net/how-to-make-yoghurt-from-scratch-in-an-easiyo-yogurt-maker/ very helpful, I make my yogurt with milk powder and it turns out great! Happy yogurt making! :)
Hi Emma
ReplyDeleteI've discovered Caspian Sea yoghurt which is even better than easiyo on several fronts (and I've been using easiyo for 20 years so don't say that lightly). You just need to put a bit of the yoghurt into a litre or so of milk and leave it at room temp and it turns into yoghurt! It's meant to be more probiotic than other yoghurt and because you only use milk (or possibly milk powder and water, it might work) it works out much cheaper. No packaging, either, or even boiling the jug! You can buy it at www.waterkefir.co.nz (or I'd give you some for nothing if you were in Hamilton).
I blog at www.peacefulgreenday.com.
I would love to try Caspian Sea yoghurt sometime, to see if I like the taste. I really enjoy the taste of homemade Greek yoghurt.
DeleteHello Emma,
ReplyDeleteI have just come across your site while searching for Kefir (was given some grains today), and am enjoying what I have read so far.
The way I have been making yoghurt for a while, which will make a bought sachet go even further is:
Mix 1 Easiyo & 1 Hansells plain yoghurt sachets together & store in a clean dry container. (One brand has more cultures and the other is better at setting, but you could do this with only one brand)
Make yoghurt in Easiyo yoghurt maker using water, 1C Homebrand Full Cream milk powder (I'm assuming that if it's full cream it hasn't been homogenised), 1 Tablespoon yoghurt from previous batch (or bought plain yoghurt), 2 teaspoons of the sachet yoghurt starter. Stir gently.
If I make this in the evening it is set by the morning. It may not be quite as thick as your method, but you can add a bit of extra milk powder when you make it for extra thickness, and the purchased sachet/s last a long time.
I also came across the Caspian sea yoghurt link today and thought that this sounded interesting. Perhaps when I can get a good supply of fresh raw milk, I'll start making yoghurt properly and not using powdered milk.
Kind regards,
Angela
Angela, your technique sounds brilliant. I must try it! Thanks for the tip.
DeleteHi Emma, I had been thinking about doing this yesterday, and now your blog will save me having to experiment, plus will try out the suggestions of your commenters. I have just started my own blog at artygreeninparadise.blogspot.co.nz and am enjoying following your blog and others from NZ with a similar focus. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHansells yoghurt is really thick and creamy as indicated and is easy to make but oh dear the extra calories don't help the weight. Make sure you read the labels for the Nutrition content. I have now gained over 1.5kg eating the same as I would of Vaalia Low Fat Yogurt. I will switch back to Vaalia as I don't want the extra calories. Fat content is 1.9 with Vaalia as against 6.3 with Hansell's.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you buy the Hansells Lite Vanilla then?!!!
DeleteIt only contains 0.1g fat per serve of 100g so is the BEST option.
the Hansells light is super good, thanks
DeleteI think the problem with the Hansells is the sugar, not the fat. There is over 3 times the sugar in the plain Hansells as in the Vaalia, I am so disappointed as I bought a Hansells maker today and then read the nutritional information and was horrified!
ReplyDeleteThere is 'sugar' in the natural variants as well but this is Lactose ie milk sugar. Because it has been dried, so the naturally occurring sugars are concentrated compared to a fresh milk. The health benefits of eating yoghurt by far outweigh anything else.
DeleteHi, am new to yoghurt making. Can I use skim milk powder instead?
ReplyDeleteYes you can. It works well too. Thanks for the question, and good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi I am unsure if my other post was published but I would like to share a recipe for plain yogurt also using the Easiyo maker, Yogurt satchet and milk powder. Half fill the container with water, add one heaped teaspoon of yogurt satchet and one cup of milk powder. Mix well then top up with water and mix again. Leave for about 20 hours in the yogurt maker and the result should be nice thick plain yogurt costing around a dollar. A lovely lady from church shared this recipe with me. Thanks, Sharona.
ReplyDeleteHi. Can you do this with skim milk powder? I've tried Emma's way with skim milk powder & it's runny. But even when I use the Easiyo whole sachet (I use the light sachet) it's a little runny. Any tips appreciated. Thanks. Helen
DeleteHelen, I am sorry this is a late reply but I presume the runnyness issue is due to it being skim milk, If I was making it my way using the skim milk I would try putting one heaped to one and a half cup of milk powder. If you were using the whole satchet you could add more milk powder to the mix to see if you could make it thicker.
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ReplyDeleteHi'ya this is great for saving some yogurt starters! In our family we eat a lot of yogurt and we have to buy so many of those little sachets.
ReplyDeleteWe have a cym-100 yogurt maker of Cuisinart or Dash (we have two yogurt maker machines) but I guess that will do the same trick.
Thanks again Emma!
Hi Emma
ReplyDeleteI know you have sampled the trim healthy mama way of eating in the past (not sure if you still are !) but they had a new book out recently with a recipe called jigglegurt (my kids think this is hilarious!) and it uses super foods like gelatine to make your Greek yoghurt double. I tried to get away from using the sachets as wonderfully handy as they are to try and get less sugar and carbs and allowing me to use my choice of sweetener and flavourings. I've been using the microwave method from the blog salad-in-a-jar and it's been makinga great yield of Greek yoghurt without fail but not very purist of me. I'm simply tring to save money on Greek yoghurt so I don't have qualms in using the microwave to heat the milk and it takes 15-17 mins. But once i strain to Greek I then make it into jigglegurt it seems like extra steps but it's so handy using the microwave to begin with and saves time and mess! Thanks for an interesting post that I will save and the other commentators remarks are so helpful as well! Cheers
Can anyone help me? I need to increase my calcium intake as tablet I have to take daily makes that necessary. I regularly make yogurt from packets, Easiyo or Hansells. I've tried substituting milk for the water in the mix, it doesn't set overnight and I have to do it twice. It sets then but a bit too solid and texture not as good as I'm used to. Any suggestions? TIA
ReplyDeletePost mastectomy and need to take a tablet a day to block hormones, side effect of tablet is to strip calcium so need to boost calcium intake. Have been making yogurt from Easiyo and Hansells packets for years. Thought I would try using calcium boosted milk to mix the sachet powder with instead of water but have not had much success. Two mixes have not set overnight, left to set again with fresh boiling water, set but too firm and an unpleasant texture. Does the milk need to come up to room temperature? Or is it something else? I love yogurt but don't really want to switch to having to make from scratch. I enjoy the variety of flavours the sachets provide. Would love to know if anyone can shed some light on this for me. TIA.
ReplyDeleteSwiss share milkers in the Waikato use scalded and cooled fresh milk with only a 1/4 sachet of Easiyo. Thats their breakfast and they're proud of getting 4 litres of yoghurt from one packet. After breakfast they make a new batch and pop it into the fridge overnight ready for the next morning. It really is very tasty, light and smooth. May try some of the above tips as well. THANKS!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma, thanks for your blog.
ReplyDeleteI found that step one worked well. I used a half packet of vanilla yoghurt and half of full cream milk powder. I just added a little bit of sugar and a little bit of vanilla and found it less sweet than usual.
When I tried to do step 2, it didn't work- it didn't set properly. It's taste is ok- but it's just not set.
I don't know why or if I did something wrong (I don't think I did) but I think I'll be sticking to step 1 from now. It's still cheaper than using just 1 sachet per tub.