Dash Greek Yogurt Maker Machine with LCD Display + 2 BPA-Free Storage Containers with Lids: Perfect for Organic, Sweetened, Flavored, Plain, or Sugar Free Options for Baby, Kids, & Parfaits - Blue

Originally, I gave this dandy little machine three stars. I was a newbie to making yogurt when I wrote my first review and now that I have worked with this product awhile I think my review was unfair. So, I erased it and am starting over.At first, I thought making my own yogurt was too much trouble and good results were sporadic. But then, I moved part time to a place where lactose free yogurt made with real milk is impossible to get. There is plenty of soy, almond, coconut and who knows what available, but my husband says they taste terrible and only real milk yogurt has all the protein he wants and the flavor he likes. So, I got busy making yogurt for him with lactose free milk (2% or whole) and sometimes making regular milk Greek yogurt for myself.One reason I think I had poor results is because the plain yogurts I bought just didn't work. I tried all different kinds and usually only the expensive types worked. Then, I discovered the freeze dried cultures for reasonable prices. I use the Bulgarian which can be purchased here--twelve to a box for less than quality cups of yogurt in the store.Now, heating the milk. I hated this step and made okay yogurt without it. However, I think the yogurt is thicker when I heat the milk. All I do is pour a quart of milk into a large pan, stick on the stove burner, turn it to medium and wait until it boils. I don't use a thermometer or anything--just heat it to boiling which usually takes less than ten minutes. I go in and out of the kitchen. It doesn't hurt if it boils a couple of minutes unless it boils over. If you keep the heat on medium you most likely won't get a hard boil for awhile. Then, I remove from the heat and just let it cool. It doesn't have to be a exactly 109 degrees. Just feel the pan after a half hour or so. If it feels just slightly warmer than your hand that is perfect. If it is a little too cool--don't worry. Just stir in the starter thoroughly and dump in the Dash, stir again. Set it. I find eight hours makes non-tangy, delicious yogurt. Stick in the refrigerator until it is cold. If you don't get to the yogurt maker within a short time of it being done---don't worry. Stick it in the refrigerator anyway and it will probably be fine.I recently took my yogurt maker with me to a location where I knew I wouldn't be able to get lactose free or plain Greek yogurt. I made yogurt almost every day with this gadget and it was great! I took little packets of Bulgarian cultures with me.Shelf or ultra-pasteurized milk made the best yogurt of all. I was very surprised at that as I heard you can't make yogurt from it. I used the whole milk as that was all that was available.While this machine makes excellent Greek yogurt as good as Fage, my favorite, I don't think it saves any money. If you re-use your cultures it can save, but I never do because I haven't had any success even though I made sure the yogurt was room temperature.I have three yogurt makers--two Dash and the expensive Cuisinart that automatically starts cooling the yogurt when the time is up. I think the Dash makes thicker regular yogurt.If you want to make your own yogurt--don't give up. What works best for you will click-in and you will wonder why you thought it was hard. Good luck!

I love this yogurt maker. We eat A LOT of plain Greek yogurt that we doctor up with our own fresh fruit or fruit-only jam. We also use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. My homemade Greek yogurt is sweeter, milder, creamier, and significantly less expensive than what we used to buy in the store. Plus, I know exactly what's in my yogurt ... organic milk and yogurt cultures. No fillers. No sugar. No preservatives.7 cups of warmed milk + a scoop of yogurt + 8 hours brewing + 6 hours cooling + 2 hours straining = 1 quart of amazing Greek yogurt.The actual 'hands-on' time involved is only maybe 10-15 minutes. The rest of the time, the yogurt just sits there doing what it's doing.How easy is it? This is how to make the maximum amount of Greek yogurt possible from a single batch.Plug in the yogurt maker to preheat with the larger of the inserts inside. Put a plop (about 1/4 cup) of plain yogurt (unsweetened, unflavored ... homemade or store bought) in a small bowl. Heat 7 cups of milk in the top of a double boiler with a digital thermometer clipped on. Whisk when/if you think about it. Heat to 190ish degrees and hold that temperature for about 5 minutes. Dump from the double boiler into a batter bowl. Clip the digital thermometer to the batter bowl. Put bowl in a sink of ice water to cool to 110 degrees. Whisk if you want it to cool faster. At 110 degrees, scoop about 1/2 cup warm milk into the bowl with the yogurt. Whisk. Dump the yogurt/milk mix into the bowl of warm milk. Whisk. Remove insert from yogurt maker. (Trust me. You'll want to do this in case you dribble.) Pour the milk mixture into the insert. Replace insert in yogurt maker. Set yogurt maker timer for 8 hours and restart the yogurt maker. Set another timer that will ding to remind you when the yogurt is done. (The yogurt maker counts down but won't ding.) When time is up, dump yogurt back into batter bowl. Whisk. Cool in fridge for about 6 hours ... or more. (I often let it sit overnight depending on my schedule.) Once totally cooled, whisk again. Place strainer in the larger insert. Pour as much yogurt into the strainer as you can fit. Place insert and bowl with extra yogurt in fridge for about an hour. Pour strained yogurt into the bowl with the remaining unstrained yogurt. Whisk. Dump out whey. Pour all the yogurt back into the strainer. Strain for about another hour. Dump yogurt from strainer into a bowl for the fridge. Whisk. Refrigerate. Rinse strainer immediately so the yogurt won't dry up in all the tiny little holes. P.S. I know that I whisk a lot. You might not need to, but my yogurt is super creamy and maybe that's why or maybe it's just a coincidence. It only takes a few seconds, so I whisk.One time I left the yogurt in the strainer for about 24 hours (oops) and ended up with a very yummy yogurt cheese.EDIT (6/28) -- I still love this yogurt maker. In fact (confession) I love it so much that I bought a second one so I can make a double batch. BONUS ... I learned that I can make quark (soft, spreadable cheese) even easier than Greek yogurt. Ready for the recipe??? Bring one quart buttermilk to room temperature (about 70-77 degrees). Pour into the yogurt maker. Set timer for 12 hours. (I read 8-9 hours, but I just put in in after dinner and let it go all night.) Set another timer that dings (because the yogurt maker doesn't ding). Strain in the fridge until it reaches desired texture. I like to stir in a little salt after I finish draining it. You can eat plain or with any other sweet or savory mix ins.