14 Reasons To Buy A Yoghurt Maker

Often classed as a superfood, yoghurts have been consumed for thousands of years. Yoghurt is even recommended by doctors after a course of antibiotics to replace probiotics in the gut. The problem is many commercially made yoghurts contain ingredients that are not particularly healthy.

Too much sugar, artificial flavourings, colourings, preservatives, thickening agents and so on. We make it a rule in our house, never eat anything we can’t pronounce. Then there’s the price issue, to get the best price deal, we often have to purchase way more than we initially wanted because it’s buy one get one free. Except because it was a 12-pack, we end up with 24 yoghurts in the fridge possibly with a short use by date.

According to one yoghurt maker manufacturer, there has been a 49% increase in demand for their yoghurt maker in the past 12 month trading period. They attribute environmental concerns and the desire to reduce plastic wastes for the growth in popularity of yoghurt makers. So why buy a yoghurt maker?

Why Has The Demand For Yoghurt Makers Increased By 49% In The Last 12 Months?

There is no single reason for the increase in sales of yoghurt makers, we gathered our own data, and here are the results:

1. No Nasty Additives
   Yoghurt is made from milk and a probiotic (live) culture. Shop bought yoghurt is made from milk, probiotic culture, and any number of other totally unnecessary ingredients. Like Fructose, Modified Corn Starch, Carrageenan, Sodium Citrate, Lactic Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Acesulfame, Sucralose, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), and so on.
   
   Many can be identified as preservatives, sweeteners, thickeners, etc, but not only are they not necessary, some are down right detrimental to our health and well-being. Without getting too alarmist, it has been noted by many scientific studies that HFCS is a leading cause of diabetes. Many preservatives can lead to various cancers and organ failures, the list of horrendous and totally unnecessary ingredients is one of the main factors in the increased growth of the yoghurt maker sales.
2. Reduced Sugar Intake
   Commercially made yoghurts on the whole contain far too much sugar, and sugar products (HFCS, Fructose, Sucrose etc),. Sweetness is one of the sensations that keeps us coming back for more. In many ways a high sugar intake is far more derogatory to health than a high fat intake. Some High fructose Corn Syrups are more than 90% fructose, this can lead to obesity and cardiovascular disease.
3. Use Of Preferred Milk
   Using a yoghurt maker allows you to use your preferred milk. It is possible to make yoghurt from whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, skimmed-milk, goats milk, ewes milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, soya milk, or your own personal preference.
4. Reduced Carbon Footprint
   If you can source local milk, from a local farm, you will dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of your yoghurt.
5. Create Your Own Favourite Flavours
   Buying a 12-pack of yoghurt, you are guaranteed to get at least 2 flavours that are unpopular with your family. Making your own yoghurt allows you to make yoghurts flavoured with your family favourites. Plus natural flavourings as opposed to chemicals. 
6. Much Cheaper Than Store Bought
   One litre of milk makes just over 750 grams of yoghurt. One litre of organic whole milk costs around £1.40, a 475 gram tub of organic yoghurt costs around £2.95 – The total price for 750 grams of organic yoghurt would be £4.66. In this case, home made yoghurt works out £3.26 cheaper than store bought, plus you know exactly what goes into homemade yoghurt.
7. Environmentally Friendlier
   Yoghurt makers are supplied with their own reusable glass storage containers. No single use plastics, no cardboard packaging, and no foil lids to deal with. Also the amount of energy used is insignificant compared with factory energy usage, transport, etc.
8. Easy To Use
   Yoghurt makers come with full, easy to follow operating instructions,most models once set up, it’s just a waiting game. Many people leave the yoghurt maker overnight so they can appreciate fresh yoghurt for breakfast.
9. Reasonably Inexpensive To Buy
   The entry level price for a yoghurt maker is around £15. If you are prepared to pay double that price you can get a decent model. Spend £50 and you can buy a yoghurt maker with intelligent controls, constant fermentation temperature, made from glass and stainless steel.
10. Tastes Better
    As you add all your own ingredients, with no unnecessary additives, your yoghurts will be tastier, healthier and full of flavour.
11. Specifically Made For Yoghurt Making
    There are many kitchen appliances that incorporate a yoghurt making function, so why bother with a yoghurt maker? Yoghurt makers are designed specifically for making yoghurt. If for instance you try to make yoghurt in a multicooker, it probably won’t be as good as yoghurt made in a specifically designed yoghurt maker. 
12. Small, Compact Design
    As yoghurt makers are small, they don’t take up too much space on the work top and can be stored in a cupboard easily.
13. Not Just Yoghurts
    Many yoghurt makers also double up as cheese makers. Not hard cheese like cheddar, but soft cheese, cottage cheese and ricotta like cheeses. All for around £25.
14. Extremely Cheap Running Costs
    Yoghurt makers tend to be powered by motors running on between 9 to 20-Watts. At 16 pence per unit of electricity, a 9 Watt yoghurt maker would cost just under 1 ½ pence per hour  to run. A 20 Watt model charged at the same rate would cost 3.2 pence per hour to run.

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