has anyone made soy yogurt in a EasiYo?

Spidergrrl

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I was reading about how even though you are supposed to buy the dairy packets for an EasiYo maker people were claiming online they could make it with soya milk. It was invented for dairy but i read on some forums/blogs that I found on google where people had tried it with soy.

If you don't know waht I mean click here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/11693/EasiYo-Starter-Kit

I like the idea of an easiyo because you don't have to faff about with heating the milk you just add your UHT carton of soya and some cultured yogurt and then fill the outer chamber with boiling water and put the lid on and presto! 8-12 hours later, 1 litre of yogurt, no muss no fuss.

But since I don't know anyone in real life (is this real life?) who has done it I wanted some advice before i shell out the £.

Anyone EasiYo out there?
 
I have just bought a yogurt maker from Lakeland which heats the milk automatically. You can use any milk you like , soya, oat, etc.

The EasiYo starter kits are very expensive and that is how they make their money.
 
It's a bog-standard yoghurt incubator, there's nothing about it that would make cows' milk essential. Shyvas hit the nail on the head, they don't make much money on the incubator which is a one-time purchase, they rely on customers coming back again and again for the cultures and ingredients.

I don't have experience making soy yoghurt but I suspect the incubation temperatures and times will be different to cows' milk. But if you have a tried and tested recipe, this incubator will work as well as any other :)
 
I have just bought a yogurt maker from Lakeland which heats the milk automatically. You can use any milk you like , soya, oat, etc.

The EasiYo starter kits are very expensive and that is how they make their money.
Yeah I just wanted something to do it for me and not have to heat it on the stove, let it cool, then wrap it in towels and put it in the airing cupboard and all that. Just pour it in and then wake up to yogurt. I would buy it for the thermos like bit and never buy their overpriced dairy packets.

Which yogurt maker did you get from lakeland? Like an electric one?
 
They only have one type of electric one which costs approx 20 P and it is garanteed for life.

Easy to use and you can get extra bowls too.
 
A friend gave me her old easiyo as she found the packets too pricy to deal with. it works exactly the same as when i used to do it the long way when you had to boil, cool, wrap up and find a warm place overnight with much less faffing about. BUT the yogurt still came out all runny until you drained it. I had this same problem when I did it the long way. 1 litre had to have 500ml drain away to get a decent creamy curd to it. But since I'm used to that I guess i don't mind. But I was hoping to get 1 litre of yogurt cheaper. But at least the easiyo was free.

I read online that the purer your soya milk--the less ingredients--the better/thicker your yogurt outcome. The 55p box of unsweetened soya milk I bought at sainsburys had several kinds of thickeners which i read can actually interfere with the yogurt gelling up and thickening. Waitrose brand 79p soya milk is just water, soya beans and calcium and vitamins so i will try it and see if it shows any difference in thickness.

The yogurt tastes good--creamy but you have to drain away so much liquid. I am going to try to save the liquid next time and use it in place of water when baking as it seems like pouring money down the drain.
 
A friend gave me her old easiyo as she found the packets too pricy to deal with. it works exactly the same as when i used to do it the long way when you had to boil, cool, wrap up and find a warm place overnight with much less faffing about. BUT the yogurt still came out all runny until you drained it. I had this same problem when I did it the long way. 1 litre had to have 500ml drain away to get a decent creamy curd to it. But since I'm used to that I guess i don't mind. But I was hoping to get 1 litre of yogurt cheaper. But at least the easiyo was free.

I read online that the purer your soya milk--the less ingredients--the better/thicker your yogurt outcome. The 55p box of unsweetened soya milk I bought at sainsburys had several kinds of thickeners which i read can actually interfere with the yogurt gelling up and thickening. Waitrose brand 79p soya milk is just water, soya beans and calcium and vitamins so i will try it and see if it shows any difference in thickness.

The yogurt tastes good--creamy but you have to drain away so much liquid. I am going to try to save the liquid next time and use it in place of water when baking as it seems like pouring money down the drain.

I'm not quite sure what you are draining ? Is it the liquid on the top of the set yogurt or are you straining it ?
 
The culture you're using will affect the thickness of the yoghurt. I guess you're limited with using only vegan yoghurts, but have you tried different brands added to the soy milk?

Temperature can also be an issue, if you're not incubating it at a sufficient temperature it will be more runny.
 
It was just exactly like when I did it the long way--it came out the texture of drinking yogurt and you had to tie it up in a bandana and squeeze the "whey" out to leave you some "curds" as it was really really liquidy. And it wasn't just liquid on top--the whole thing was liquid. But after draining off 500ml of "whey" the curds were really nice and creamy.

I tried letting it incubate longer--like 12 hours when teh recipe called for 8 but it was still runny.

I'm going to try again tonight with the less ingredient soya milk and see. Then I'll try a different brand of yogurt (there are only 2 that I can get--alpro and sojisun--curently using alpro) I don't feel too bad if this is a failure as I got the easyo maker for free.
 
It sounds like it is of normal consistency for the first batch. It thickens after the second one. Be careful not to incubate it for too long as it will have a sour taste.
One trick to make it thicken is to use 2 tbls of powdered milk. Much easier to find when you use cow's milk and not too easy when making with soya.
 
2nd batch definitely thicker--not thick mind you, but thicker. I have been making soy yogurt on and off for 8 years and it seems to always be thin and runny. This was thicker and I did a few substitutions--I using icing sugar instead of a liquid sweetener and added a pinch of salt as I read somewhere that could help/ Sadly, the soyamilk I was hoping to buy was unavailable--I really wanted a fortified one with not thickners--but i I got one with less thickners.

I thought about powdered soya milk but it was expensive and full of corn syrup solids so i won't be having that.

We'll see how much liquid needs to drain away when i get home as I've got it chilling in the fridge until after work.
 
You can always use the liquid in place of water in cooking, to avoid wasting it. Cows' milk whey is a great fertiliser, but I'm not sure if the same is true of plant milk whey.
 
It is going well now--each batch is thicker and has less "whey" to drain away. yesterday I drained away 250ml instead of 500ml to make it as thick as the first batch. I tried to use the "whey" in cooking but it gave it a weird sour taste. But I used to to think that about dairy whey as well.

I am defintely getting the hang of it--10 minutes in the evening before bed, put it in the fridge when i wake up, about 5minutes to drain it the next day. easy peasy.

Thanks for the advice. I am pleased with how it is going. We've really enjoyed eating the yogurt.
 
It is going well now--each batch is thicker and has less "whey" to drain away. yesterday I drained away 250ml instead of 500ml to make it as thick as the first batch. I tried to use the "whey" in cooking but it gave it a weird sour taste. But I used to to think that about dairy whey as well.

I am defintely getting the hang of it--10 minutes in the evening before bed, put it in the fridge when i wake up, about 5minutes to drain it the next day. easy peasy.

Thanks for the advice. I am pleased with how it is going. We've really enjoyed eating the yogurt.[/quote]

Me too. I always used to have yogurt for dessert. I have bought my-self an electric yogurt maker at Lakeland's but I need to find someone who can change the plug for me. Still waiting.:(
 
it has become so routine and I find I'm using the yogurt in sweet and savoury dishes. We had spicy curry with a raita last night follwed by peach frozen yogurt made in the vita mix. YUM.

Shyvas--sorry you need your plug changed--that's a bummer. Hope you get it fixed soon!
 
it has become so routine and I find I'm using the yogurt in sweet and savoury dishes. We had spicy curry with a raita last night follwed by peach frozen yogurt made in the vita mix. YUM.

Shyvas--sorry you need your plug changed--that's a bummer. Hope you get it fixed soon!

I have to do it everytime when I buy an appliance in the UK as French plugs are different. Oh well, it's still standing here and I can't use it ! :mad:
 
Oh my stars--did not realize you were in France. yes we had several US things that couldn't transfer over and had to just replace them with UK appliances when we moved overseas. Hope you get it fixed soon as cool yogurt is just the thing for hot weather.
 
it has become so routine and I find I'm using the yogurt in sweet and savoury dishes. We had spicy curry with a raita last night follwed by peach frozen yogurt made in the vita mix. YUM.

Shyvas--sorry you need your plug changed--that's a bummer. Hope you get it fixed soon!
Hi @Spidergrrl. I SO would love to be able to make vegan yogurt in the Easiyo. Can you explain how you do this please? TIA :)