Customer Reviews

Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker.

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Originally I ordered the Girmi yogurt maker but received the Euro Cuisine one instead. I called the company to see if it had been sent by mistake but was told that the Girmi yogurt machine does not have an indicator to let you know it's on - a real advantage. I kept the Euro Cuisine and love it! It made delicous yogurt on my first try.

The company representative spoke with me at length about making yogurt in this machine. You don't have to warm the milk if it's pasturized but it should be at room temperature along with the starter.

I warmed the milk anyway, and made sure the starter was at room temperature and then mixed the milk and the starter in a pitcher. It's easier to pour that way. I made 3 different kinds at once. Apricot, berry and vanilla. All were good. I did add a little sugar to the vanilla yogurt.

I would buy this machine again.

This is my first Amazon review ~ I would give this product 5 stars if it had an auto shut off and auto timer but for the price it is a beautiful yogurt maker. I am a first timer with making yogurt and had ordered the Eurocuisine AND the Donvier yogurtmaker because I was too impatient to wait for the Donvier to come (it was on a preorder basis from Amazon and the Eurocuisine was ready to ship)so I ordered both and thought I would give the Eurocuisine to my mom when the Donvier came. I must say that the very first time I made the yogurt in the Eurocuisine it came out extraordinary. The yogurt tastes like a dream! It is so good that I just cancelled my preorder for the Donvier Yogurtmaker. I was also made aware of the fact that the Donvier, as lovely as it might be, does not have glass jars like the Eurocuisine does, I believe they are plastic. While the Donvier does have the thermometer (the thermometer does not have the tempurature - it just tells you when the milk is cool enough to add the yogurt starter) auto shut off or auto timer - (the Eurocuisine has a manual timer that you set by hand - works for me!), I found the Eurocuisine just perfect. - I am so happy with this yogurtmaker I am ordering more glass jars so I can always have a supply of yogurt on hand.

I must say this is the best yogurt maker I have ever used in my life,It is such a fun and easy experience using this machine. The best aspect of the machine is that the jars are glass and NOT plastic. I recommend every one to buy one, I have allready bought five others for gifts. I love it!

This is one of my favorite purchases I have made lately. I use RAW goat's milk and it turns out the perfect consistency every time!!

After reading reviews on the Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker, I was a little confused on the timer. Actually, there is not a timer, but a reminder. You place the lid on top of the yogurt maker and match up the line with the appropriate number. For example, if you are making yogurt at 10:00 am, you would turn the lid to line up with the 4 to remind you the yogurt is ready at 4:00 pm or whatever time you want to remind yourself. No bells or whistles go off. It is kind of like a note to yourself, "Remember, I am done at 4:00 pm." I have left mine in as little as 6 hours and as much as 12. It is still perfect, every time!!

I have a large family and we eat yogurt a couple times a day. If you, also, have a large family, you might consider purchasing the extra jars. The jars are the perfect storage container for your yogurt and it doesn't make much sense to scrape out the yogurt and transfer to another container to be able to re-use the jars for your next batch. Having extra jars on hand is the perfect solution if you plan on making lots of creamy, yummy yogurt, regularly.

First batch in my new machine was a success! My two mistakes didn't alter the outcome: 1) I boiled the milk longer and hotter than the instructions advised, and 2) Let it cool 7 degrees below the 95 deg. recommendation. At that point I was concerned that I might have ruined it. After it cooled I strained the milk because I didn't stir it while it was boiling. Then I slowly poured almost half of it into a smaller bowl that contained 3/4 cup of the starter yogurt (Mountain High nonfat plain), whisking to mix thoroughly. Then poured that back into the larger container of remaining milk and whisked to blend. Instead of using the 6-oz. jars, I poured the mixture into a 1 1/2 qt. glass Pyrex bowl which fit perfectly in the unit. Heated it for 11 hours. Removed the unit's plastic lid and blotted the condensation from the top of the yogurt. To my happy surprise the yogurt was firm! I don't need the 6-oz. jars because large containers of yogurt better serve my purpose. This machine was priced right, and the shipment arrived sooner than expected. I liked the idea of being able to return it to Target if I had not been satisfied with it.

I've been eating two or three cups of yogurt per week for what must be twenty years. During the last year, I've moved away from the low-fat sweetened yogurt to just plain because I didn't want to eat the additives in store-bought yogurt anymore. When I started eating organic plain variety, I hated paying the high prices (about 1.50 per cup), and it still had additives and the clear, filmy whey stuff on top kind of grossed me out.

So, I decided I would try and make my own not only because I wanted to save money but I also wanted control over the ingredients. I looked at several machines, ultimately choosing the YM80 because of its price, the generally good reviews posted here, and its relatively small size. Gosh, was I surprised!

I'm very impressed with the quality of yogurt. The yogurt is the BEST I've eaten. My first batch had a smooth creamy consistency with a fresh, assertive tang. I decided to experiment and used goat's milk and a Greek organic yogurt starter.

It was positively delicious, and I was delighted by the results. I also like that you can add your own stuff like frozen blueberries and walnuts. But it tastes great just plain, and I'm now eating at least a cup a day, sometimes two, and I swear I think it's help my digestion--not real sure, just feels that way. I didn't know yogurt could be so easy to make or taste this good.

The YM80 works right out of the box. The 6 oz. glass (!) jars are sturdy, and the machine doesn't take up much space--very important for me. At first I thought the jars were too small, as I was accoustomed to eating 8 oz, but now I think the 6 oz. is perfect.

I have two minor complaints, neither of which affected the finished yogurt. One: It doesn't come with a cooking thermometer. I used an old one I had in the kitchen, and while the temperature wasn't very precise, the yogurt still came out just fine. The other complaint has to do with the sliding timer, which didn't work for me. But, I just let the machine stay on for about 10 hours, so it wasn't really a big deal.

Overall, I can endorse this machine without reservation. I won't ever buy store-bought yogurt again.

I love my new yogurt maker! I haven't had a problem with runny yogurt like some reviewers have, but it may be because I used 4 tbsp. of powdered milk and I let it incubate a little bit longer than instructed (on accident). The timer function is not an actual timer but it lets you mark the time when the yogurt will be ready so you don't have to walk around all day saying to yourself "yogurt at 6:00, yogurt at 6:00." It's simple and I've had spectacular results so far. I've also found that using Brown Cow plain yogurt as a starter yields a milder yogurt which is my preference. It's great for people that are lactose intolerant because for some reason, turning milk into yogurt makes it easier to digest. It's a great way to get in my 3 servings of dairy a day!

As has been already stated, the reasons for making your own yogurt are varied. After making four or five batches now the main reason for me is the ability to control the tartness. I personally do not enjoy a really sour yogurt. I want it to taste more like a creme fraiche and certainly do not want to add sugar or artificial sweeteners since those tend to change the flavor so much for me. I prefer to eat the yogurt plain.

What I do now is hold back one jar of the previous batch as a starter. Since the unit comes with seven jars, I take one of the empties and use it as a measuring cup. I put six jarfuls of whole milk in a large enamel or stainless saucepan and heat it to boiling, stirring constantly with a flat-ended wooden spoon to avoid scorching. Once it starts to rise up in the pan, quickly take it off of the heat, turn down the heat to simmer (very low) and return the milk to the stove. Cook it at a slow boil, stirring often with a flat wooden spoon, for another minute or two. This will make the finished yogurt more firm. My first batch came out rather runny as I didn't boil the milk.

Then I remove it from the heat and cover it to cool. At this point take the starter yogurt out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature. Then go do something else! Come back an hour or so later. Once you can touch the outside of the pan with your palms and it feels lukewarm - cool, mix your starter and some of the cooled milk in a small bowl to break up the yogurt as it has a tendency to clump when added to the milk straight and this will disperse it more evenly when you add this milky starter to the rest of the milk. You can whisk it also to break up the clumps.

Then I fill all of the jars, put them in the machine without their lids and set the machine for 5 hours. Yes, five hours only. The timer shuts it off at 5 hours and I then put the lids on the jars and place them in the fridge to chill overnight. (I usually start the whole process in the early afternoon, cook milk after lunch - around 2, put it in jars around 4 and it's done around 9). I have actually eaten a whole jar of yogurt as it came out of the warm machine...it was so delicious I couldn't wait.

The only thing better than this method is when I substitute one of the jarfuls of milk with light cream. It is sooo good all by itself! Dang, I think I'll have another right now!!!

A wonderfully simple and elegant tool. The first time I used it, my yogurt came out perfectly -- firm and creamy. I used 42 ounces of Horizon organic vitamin D milk. Yes, this is whole milk. But remember, when the food producers take something out of a food, they always put something possibly dodgy back in. Look at the ingredients on skim milk. Also, 6 ounces of whole milk is only 100 calories. And Horizon milk tastes great! Great ingredients make great food.

I boiled the milk, stirring frequently so as not to burn. It took about 20 minutes, but I just puttered around the kitchen during that time. Warm/hot milk smells heavenly! When it began to climb the sides, I took it off the heat, stuck in a candy thermometer, and set it in the sink which had cold water in it. I took 6 ounces of Stonyfield Greek style yogurt and placed it in the microwave. CAREFULLY warmed it, just a few seconds at at time until it was just barely warm so as not to kill the goodness.

Once the milked had cooled to about 97 fahrenheit (36 celsius) I spooned a small amount into the yogurt and whisked, repeating until the mixture was very smooth, then poured, while whisking, into the warm milk. Poured it into the containers and 8.5 hours later...perfection! It was lightly tart, firm and creamy. A little dab of honey and holy smoly!

At this point I have to make a couple of comments about what some other reviewers said. Lack of timer...really? Come now, it's not rocket science. Just take the time you start the machine and add how many hours you want it to cook. If you're afraid you'll forget, then use the numbers on the side and line the little line on the lid up to that number. If you are unable to start it at bedtime and shut it off in the morning, or your life is simply too busy to be home to shut it off, or you have significant memory problems (don't feel alone), then you probably should pay the extra 10.00 and purchase the one with the timer/shutoff. I can't help but think it is just one more thing to possibly go wrong. I'll take simple engineering anytime.

Also, since this is the same product sans the timer, I read the reviews for the YM100 also. Sigh.... The following are just my thoughts on those complaints.

The jars are a "nightmare" to clean with hand washing.
Seriously? Has life been that easy? Take the jar into the kitchen immediately after consuming contents, run some hot water in it, replace the lid and shake. If there is any slight remainder, shove a dishcloth in there and wipe it out. When it comes time to wash, run some dishwater, and violà!

Won't heat in the winter.
It's cold as whiz right now in my house -- old house, frigid outside. It worked perfectly fine. And washing your machine probably did stop it from working, bless you. Use a pitcher to pour and it won't make a mess. And if you're making a mess so big that wiping the machine with a damp cloth won't take care of it, then have someone steadier pour into the jars.

Leaking lids.
My first thought was to put a piece of plastic wrap over the jar and then add the lid. Another reviewer had thought of this. If your yogurt is leaking after that, you have some mighty thin yogurt. Which will not be the fault of the machine (another complaint).

And many timer issues. See above.

Just think things through, read the manual and things will be fine. I saw very few complaints about the basic unit not working properly. If you get the occasional lemon that resides in all product lines, just send it back and have it replaced.

To be honest, I have never been quite fond of store bought yogurt. I have always been told about the benefits of having yogurt in your diet and after reading "French Women Don't Get Fat", I though that I would give it a try. I was amazed by the quality of the yogurt and how easy it was to make. I followed the directions that were enclosed, but decided to make my own modifications. I used whole milk mixed with half and half (42oz in total). I boiled the mixture and when completed I only mixed in 2 tablespoons of store bought plain yogurt as a starter to a portion of the mixture (the directions say to use 6oz, but I was afraid that my home made yogurt would taste too much like the one I disliked so much from the store). I then mixed in the mixture with the yogurt to the remainder of the milk, filled the jars and turned on the machine. Six hours later, I had the opportunity to taste the creamiest yogurt that I had aver had. It was light, creamy and smooth. Simply the best! I added blueberries and a little honey to give it a little taste. I just can't put into words the quality and taste of the yogurt. I also loved that it came with glass jars with lids. I wasn't impressed with other yogurt makers that came with plastic ones. Now I will look forward to adding yogurt as a staple in my diet (and purchasing more jars so that I can always have this treat). I am also looking forward to experimenting with new flavors! I recommend the Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker to anyone who is not fully satisfied with the yogurt that they purchase at the supermarket and are looking for a healthier alternitive with better taste and less preservatives.