Lakeland Bulk Yogurt Maker > Reviews > Could be improved, Lakeland!

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Satisfactory
Durability	Satisfactory
User's Manual	Fair
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Produces excellent yoghurt very cheaply .
Disadvantages:	Container is difficult to clean and harder to fit in the fridge .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It crept up on us gradually. First we discovered that yoghurt is a pleasing alternative to cream or custard with puddings. Then we found that if you add some cumin it makes a good savoury topping for a jacket potato. A spoonful a day even seems to control a digestive problem suffered by one of our dogs. I found that I was buying more and more yoghurt.

I was using two or three 500gr pots of yoghurt each week at a cost of £1 to £1.40 per pot. Sometimes I would find that I ran out before the weekly shop so I decided that it would be simpler if I made the yoghurt myself. It isn't difficult to make as it's only sterilised milk plus some existing yoghurt left in a warm place until it clots. You can do it without buying a yoghurt maker and if you're interested Delia Smith gives you the details in her "Complete Cookery Course". I have done it and it does work. I also found it a bit of a faff, mainly because you have to use a cookery thermometer.

A couple of months ago I discovered the Lakeland Bulk Yoghurt Maker and this seemed like the answer to my prayers. Costing £18.95 it makes up to a litre of yoghurt in a self-contained unit. All you need is the milk, some fresh, natural yoghurt and a power supply. You'll need about nine hours to complete the process too.

The unit came in a simple cardboard box with no superfluous packaging. There's an instruction leaflet there too. It contains all the information you'll need to get started, but I think the layout could be improved. There's no way of locating particular information, such as all the ingredients you'll need, quickly. The information is in a strange order too. The first page covers little else but the types of milk you can use and the fact that some need to be boiled, simmered and cooled before you can use them. On the other hand, the fact that the yoghurt container should be washed before use doesn't appear until page two.

The yoghurt maker is essentially two separate units. The outer unit is 22cm tall and has a white base and a clear, domed, plastic lid. On the top of the lid is a dial and it's intended that you should set this to remind you of the time that the yoghurt will be ready. Personally I find this difficult to set and unnecessary. Given that clotting can be speeded up by switching the unit on for a few minutes before you add the ingredients or slowed down if you're in a cooler room the precise timing doesn't seem to be that important.

The base of the outer unit contains the warming element. I avoided calling it the heating element as yoghurt does not form if the temperature is much below 40ºC or much above 47ºC. You could not, for instance, use a slow cooker to make yoghurt as the temperature is too high. An indicator light tells you if the unit is switched on. There's 88cm of flex and a plug fitted with a 3amp fuse. When not in use this coils into the base of the unit and there's a groove on the base through which the flex is laid. I wish that the flex was slightly longer or shorter as there is always an annoying tail of flex left when it's fully coiled. That's a minor quibble though, and one which I can live with.

What I find harder to live with is the design of the inner unit. It comes in three parts – a clear plastic base, a white plastic, domed top and a "spoon". The plastic base has measures marked on the side. The only recipe given in the instruction leaflet requires 1½ pints of milk, but this is one measure which isn't marked on the container, so you need a separate measuring jug if you want to be accurate. The instruction leaflet speaks of the yoghurt maker being able to make "up to 1 litre of smooth creamy yoghurt" but gives no indication of how the ingredients should be varied to make different quantities.

It's difficult to be sure that the base unit is clean particularly as it can't be washed in a dishwasher. The easiest surface to wash by hand is one which is perfectly smooth, such as the rounded inner surface of a mixing bowl. The inner surface of this container has unnecessary ridges and corners where all sorts can lurk. Heating something gently is going to allow germs to multiply as well as yoghurt to form and this does concern me.

The domed top is slightly fiddly to fit onto the base. It doesn't attach firmly but rather sits in one, and only one, position. It's intended that the yoghurt should be stored in this container with the dome covering it, but together they are 17½cm high. Even in my rather large fridge I have only one shelf arrangement which will accommodate something of this height. It won't fit into any of the door shelves. You can, of course transfer the yoghurt to another container, but it's obviously more hygienic and less wasteful to keep the yoghurt in the original container. I'd like to have a clip-on lid which I could use in the fridge in place of the dome. I'd rather have this than the spoon.

The spoon is actually shaped rather like a shovel. There's no bowl to it. If you make thinner yoghurt with skimmed or semi-skimmed milk it simply runs off the spoon. It fits into a slot in the dome and a groove in the base, producing more difficult-to-clean ridges. I used it once.

Although the design of the unit is not good the yoghurt it makes is very good. It's certainly better than anything that's available in a shop. This is partly because fresh yoghurt has a natural sweetness which is lost as the yoghurt becomes older and more acid. Even the freshest yoghurt in the shops is going to be older than homemade yoghurt. Making it is simple. You need milk (heated and cooled if necessary – details are given) and the freshest unflavoured yoghurt you can buy. Put 10ml of yoghurt in the container and gently add the milk. Place the inner container in the outer container. Switch on and leave for eight hours. Don't even think about lifting the lid or stirring the yoghurt and you'll have thick, creamy yoghurt. If you like even thicker yoghurt you could add some milk powder at the beginning of the process.

Once the yoghurt has cooled it can be chilled and used as required. It should be used within five days, but it's never lasted long enough for me to test that! You can use it in cooking, add flavourings or use as it is. If you like the Greek-style yoghurts all you need to do is leave some of your own yoghurt in a strainer for a couple of hours in a cool place and you won't be paying the supermarket's exorbitant prices again. Lakeland Ltd sells a pack of two yoghurt strainers at £5.65. Personally I use a sieve lined with muslin.

The yoghurt maker is said to cost pennies to run. As you can use some of the current batch of yoghurt to start the next batch the cost of the yoghurt is little more than the price of the milk and a little effort.

I just wish they'd got the design right.

www.lakelandlimited.co.uk
Bulk Yoghurt Maker: Ref 3440 - £18.95
Extra bowl: Ref 3441 - £3.95
Yoghurt strainers: Ref 1278 - £5.65

If ordering by post or over the internet, please note that a charge of £2.95 will be added for postage and packing if your total order is less than £40. If you are visiting a Lakeland shop to make the purchase you might wish to telephone first to ensure that the yoghurt maker is in stock. You will find telephone numbers for all stores on the website or in the Lakeland catalogue.