Euro Cuisine YM360 Yogurt Maker with Adjustable Time & Temperature Control - 2-Quart Glass Jar, FREE Thermometer & Cotton Strainer Bag, 2025 Edition, Black, Make Yummy Organic Probiotic Yogurt at Home

This unit works very well, I do like the large glass jar for making one big batch at a time. The entire kit is very nice, with good instruction manual, strainer bag, large glass jar (2qt), thermometer with red and green marks for heating milk and adding starter. I would like to experiment with different recipes and incubation time settings in the future. My first batch turned out great using the euro cuisine starter culture pack. save a lot on not buying store bought yogurt. Highly recommended

Pros: * I really wanted to like this as the form factor and amount it makes is ideal for our counter space. * Great temperature and time controls. * Made great yogurt, despite the extreme temp gradient mentioned below. Cons: * Poor Actual Control. Temp gradient was extreme and varied from about 115ºF at the bottom to 85ºF at the top. These measurements were taken after steady state should have been reached after more than 10 hrs and taken at the same time. * Unit stopped working after about 3 weeks of making yogurt returning an E01 error code. * Error Codes are not mentioned in the manual nor could I find during internet searches. I also tried contacting the company but couldn't get through during normal office hours. The manual says this is out of Los Angeles...so I am going to say this may be related to the fires and I can let this go...but it is still going back because my return window is closing!

I love the large glass jar. Half-gallon size makes it worth the thirty minutes to get the mix ready to do whatever it does in the yogurt maker. The little thermometer is marked in red for the high temp (so you heat your milk just enough) and the low temp (green) when it is safe to add your cultured starter. Wish I'd gotten one of these years ago! No squinting at the tiny little marks on the dial. Just red and green. We have a special child. His yogurt needs to be extra creamy so it is easier to keep on the spoon. This recipe works every time for me: Assemble: Yogurt maker & thermometer, 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, small ladle, one 6 oz. container of plain or vanilla store-bought yogurt with live culture, one envelope Knox unflavored gelatin, honey or sugar, milk, powdered milk, some kind of double-boiler set-up, something to stir the milk 1. Measure 56 ounces of any kind of milk into a double-boiler. I use a large saucepan seated in a short stew pot. Add two or three tablespoons of sugar or honey. Stir in about a half to two-thirds cup powdered instant milk if you want more protein in your yogurt. Makes it a little thicker, too. Stick the yogurt thermometer on the side of the saucepan. Begin heating. 2. Sprinkle the gelatin on top of about 1/3 cup of cold water in the measuring cup and let it soften. 3. Stir the milk gently. When the thermometer reaches the red mark (about 180), remove from heat. Pour out the hot water and add cold to cool the milk. I do this twice to speed things up. Stir the milk just a little while it's cooling. 4. Ladle about a cup of the warm milk into the gelatin in the Pyrex cup and stir to thoroughly dissolve the gelatin. Pour the gelatin mix into the milk and stir to mix. 5. Scrape the yogurt into the Pyrex cup. When (and not before!) the milk mixture cools down to the green mark (about 110), add several ladles of the cooled milk to the yogurt and stir to get the lumps out. Now add this thinned yogurt to the milk mix and stir gently. 6. Ladle/ pour the yogurt mixture into the glass jar. (Note: I removed the styrofoam liner in the top of the jar). Gently screw the lid on. Fits a little wonky, but it works. With one hand on top and one hand under the jar, move the glass jar to the yogurt maker. Plug it in. Figure eight hours for warming, and set the reminder using the marker on the lid. 7. At the end of the eight hours, unplug the unit. Remove the jar of yogurt and stick it in the frig to cool. I always make sure I get a good grip on the jar because the jar lid just has a personality of it's own. Not bad, just a little tiny cantankerous about getting in the groove - though not enough to be a complaint. This makes a creamy, smooth yogurt. Always works. My guys like it with a squirt or two of Nestle's Nesquik chocolate or strawberry syrups (no HFCS). Serve with some Fiber One cereal on top for crunch. Wonderful! You may also put jam in the bottom of the little wide-mouth 8 oz. canning jars and spoon yogurt on top. Seal with the plastic jar lids. You'll have single servings ready to go. Some folks save several ounces of the batch they've just made to start the next batch, but. . . . . it would get lost in my frig. Just easier to buy a 6 ounce container and know it's fresh.

12 May 2017 UPDATE 1) The plastic like insert in the lid is NOT glued in, it actually comes right out. So just remove it and throw it in the trash where it belongs. 2) I've made a few batches and checked the temp, and it consistently regulates at 105 degrees, as I reported before. This makes perfect yogurt! 3) The thermometer that comes with it seems to be consistently off a bit, but it is close enough to make great yogurt. ** NOTE ** the quality of your yogurt depends on the quality of your milk AND the quality of your culture. Look at the yogurt you are using for a culture. How many active cultures does it have in it? If I use non-fat milk and yogurt with just two different cultures (for example Wal-Mart Greek Yogurt - it's great yogurt, no artificial ingredients, but only has two different cultures), I get grainy yogurt. If I use 2% or whole milk and a yogurt with five or six different types of cultures in it, I get creamy smooth yogurt! Don't blame this machine if you are using non-fat milk and limited or dead cultures. Use 2% or whole milk, and 4 or more different cultures. Once you get a good batch of yogurt, then use it as a culture for the next batch, and be sure to use the same type and brand of milk. Check the temperature after a few hours to make sure it is correct, and you should get excellent yogurt from this machine. -------------------------------- 10 May 2017 First review. It maintains the temp at about 105 degrees, I get perfect yogurt in just six hours but usually let it run 8-12 hours, or overnight. This review is subject to change depending on how long it takes the unit to burn out, as there are a lot of reports that it only lasts a few months. We shall see. For now it works perfectly. I do notice a few things: 1) The lid of the glass jar does not stay on, and if you pick it up by the lid it could come off, dumping the jar all over the floor. There are minimal threads holding it on - where on earth did they get these jars from, and how hard would it have been to put some decent threads on the jar so the lid would stay on? 2) The lid has this plastic like insert. It looks like a perfect place for mildew and unwanted bacteria to grow. I do not use this lid because of this and # 1 above. 3) For the price of this thing, you would at least expect an on/off switch. Fifty bucks for a plastic shell and a heater element, how hard would it have been to put a power switch on the thing? 4) The thermometer that comes with it is not very accurate, and the needle sticks. The clip that it comes with holds it to the side of the pot very nicely. If you are picky, Go spend ten bucks on a nice digital food thermometer for more accurate measurement. In the end it is probably good enough, as I used to heat the milk to 185, not 180, and I get perfect yogurt doing this. The temps you heat the milk to, and cool it to, allow quite a bit of variance, so the thermometer that comes with this unit, while not a very good one, is good enough.

I've been making my own yogurt for years, since we returned from living in France and couldn't find good quality yogurt here. Homemade yogurt is what allows my lactose intolerant family to tolerate small amounts of dairy, which makes life a lot easier when you have kids. I have the Euro Cuisine maker with the little cups, but now with 4 in our house, I was having to make it nearly daily, so I bought this to make a larger quantity and be able to portion out bigger or smaller amounts (which is needed when you have toddlers.) This works as well as my other, but makes a much bigger batch. I did my recipe the same way as I did with the other machine, though only used 1 packet of starter for double the yogurt, and it worked very well. Since it doesn't have an auto shut off, I use a lamp timer I bought at the hardware store (just like I use with my other one, and have also even used to start the crock pot at the right time.) It works great. If you're expecting all sorts of bells and whistles, you won't get it, but you can get delicious, excellent quality yogurt for much less at home. Here's my recipe. I'm terrible at heating milk on the stove without scorching it, so I use the microwave. I have never had any trouble at all, and my yogurt comes out thick and rich like sour cream, without the astringent quality of commercial Greek yogurt. (The Greek yogurt we used to get at the greek resto that came from Greek markets in Chicago is very similar to mine.) This way, I don't have to worry about taking temperatures with the enclosed thermometer, or waiting until the milk is cool enough. In less than 10 minutes, I've got the yogurt culturing. Since I buy pasteurized milk, I'm not worried about bringing it to a boil (if you buy raw, you may want to.) 2 quarts milk (2% or whole) (I go for organic or buy mine at a local dairy, because the quality does make a difference) 3 cups powdered milk 1 packet Yogourmet yogurt starter Warm the milk in the microwave for 3 minutes (3.5 if your microwave is weak.) I do it in 2 batches with my big Pyrex, and add the second batch after mixing in the rest. Pour the first half in the tub, add the dry milk and whisk. Then add the starter and whisk again. Add the rest of the milk and whisk to combine. Cover and put it in the yogurt maker (turned on). Let culture for 8 hours; refrigerate. You can serve with honey, jam or fruit if you like, or just plain (I like it that way) and use in recipes.

Easy to use! Makes great yogurt! Simple! I used the recipe in the reviews of this product. It’s so easy to make good yogurt. Here’s the recipe again! Super creamy and simple! dfalco ***** Verified Purchase Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2018 bought ultra pasteurized whole milk. It's my favorite for plain Greek yogurt. I read that ultra pasteurized couldn't be used, but I'm here to tell you it makes delightful yogurt. I don't preheat it. No need, since the pathogens are already dead and the proteins already cooked in ultra pasteurized. And I don't buy fancy cultures online. I use about a cup of store bought 2% plain Greek yogurt as my starter, whisking it into about a cup and a half organic whole milk (don't even measure that precisely) right in the glass yogurt jar. Then fill the jar to the top with milk, no preheating required. Place it in the yogurt maker in the morning, and approximately 12 hours later, pour it into my Euro Cuisine Greek Yogurt Strainer, and place in the frig overnight. The next morning I have about 5 cups of thick and creamy yumminess. I like to add in frozen fruit and a touch of honey when I serve it. Absolutely outrageously thick and creamy...no preheating then cool down then timing and fussing. Just milk and yogurt, from the frig to the yogurt maker to the strainer to the storage container. Simple.

I decided to purchase the YM260 yogurt maker after enjoying several months of yogurt making with the YM80 model that I received as a gift. I appreciated the YM80 model – after all, it was a gift and it got me started on the satisfying road of home-made yogurt. But after a short time, I found the 6 oz jars of the YM80 model to be frustrating – the quantity is less than I like to eat at a sitting, they take up a lot of horizontal room in a fridge and in cabinets, and the small jars are hard to clean. Switching to the YM260 model has been a trade-off. While the YM80 model was silent during operation, the YM260 model does make a slight buzz. As long as it doesn’t get worse as some reviewers have reported, I can live with the sound, which alternates on and off in about 20 second increments. However, the plastic jar that comes with the model is unwieldy to remove. Other reviewers have suggested removing the yogurt first from the plastic container, but I followed advice to purchase the Wellbee’s 64 oz. glass jar, which has a neck shape that is easier to remove. (Note: if you have small hands, don’t secure the lid too tightly because it can be difficult to unscrew later). I have found a happy alternative use for the plastic container, however: I like to set up a container filled with soapy water in my sink to catch utensils as I cook, and this bucket is sturdy and large, without taking up too much space. Even though I have a wonderful, expensive, digital thermometer, I was pleased to have the clip-on thermometer that came with this package, which makes it easier to monitor the temperature of the milk as it is heating and cooling. I have verified the temperature with my digital thermometer, and they are consistent. On the subject of temperatures, I have also checked the temperature of the incubating milk, and it reaches about 105. While I never checked the temperature of the YM80 model, I am guessing that it reached a higher temperature, because the yogurt seemed to set faster than it does in the YM260. I have used the burlap bag for straining the yogurt, and found that the drawstrings make it easy to hang from the cabinet over the sink (secured with a Velcro strap). The small plastic bowl that comes in the kit is just silly. Unfortunately, it will go directly to Goodwill, where, hopefully, someone can find some use for it. As many other have noted, it is possible to make yogurt without a yogurt maker, but since those other methods are trial and error until you land on one that works for you consistently, a yogurt maker does build confidence and understanding of the process, while providing consistency.

Do not purchase this item! I have had this now for about two months. Until recently I had been making yogurts that required 100°F for 36 hours. When I started making a yogurt that required 109°F for 36 hours, the temperature went crazy. I set it at 108°F, because I had already proven that the thermostat or displayed temperature was off by 1°F at 100°F setting. With the display set at 108°F, the actual temperature exceeded 121°F, killing the bacteria in my yogurt batch. I attempted to re-set the temperature lower, to 105°F, but it increased. I looked on Amazon's site to find solutions, as my purchase was past 30 days for return approval. I could not get the links to work at all to the manufacturer. They requested that I test the unit, which I did. This particular unit is 6°F off, and spikes significantly. As of this review, they will not refund my money either. I have $75 tied up in this, now my second yogurt maker from Amazon. I returned the first one because it did not have adjustable temperature or timer. I am absolutely furious at this point and do not intend to purchase any yogurt maker from Amazon again! This is a piece of junk!