Easiyo Yoghurt

http://www.easiyo.com/

We have always eaten a lot of unflavoured yoghurt - dessert or snacks for the kids, as a substitute for cream or sour cream, in dips etc.

I bought an EasiYo maker when T was a baby, but frequently ran out of the sachets, so it didn't get a lot of use. When we moved to live in town it was used again, but for a while now I've used powdered milk with a little of the starter in the sachet and it works well.

This is it :
*half fill the container with cool clean water - I use a water purifier, but if that wasn't available I'd boil it first as our mains water is truly foul.
*mix in 1 1/2 cups total of powdered milk (I use a combination of full fat and skim) plus 2 rounded dessert spoons of EasiYo mix.
*shake well then top up with water and place in the thermos section (after pouring boiling water in)
*leave for 5-6 hours and check for setting - leave until it is set to your preference, but I like to leave it the minimum amount of time as it is sweeter (more acidic the longer you leave it)

We use at least 1kg of this yoghurt a week; it costs around $1.35 for 1kg

Labneh is a yummy thing to make with plain yoghurt - line a seive with thin cotton fabric (an old linen teatowel is perfect) and pour in the yoghurt. Tie off the top to make a pudding shape and leave it in the fridge with the seive over a bowl. Leave for 24hrs to 3 days then use as a spread for bread, a dip (tzatziki made with this is divine), or make balls rolled in fresh herbs. Yum!

January 2008 - edited to add - I now use a yoghurt culture starter from Cheeselinks http://www.cheeselinks.com.au/ instead of the Esiyo sachet cultures. A few grains of this makes a batch of yoghurt, and one small packet will make up to 250L of yoghurt! It keeps in the freezer, but not indefinately, so is something to share with friends when you buy.