Yolife Yogurt Maker (YL-210)
by Tribest
List Price:
Our Price: $39.95
You Save: $5.00 (11%)
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Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: TribestBrand: Tribest
Model: YL-210
Color: Black
Product features:
- Comes complete with seven 6 oz. glass jars to make creamy and delicious yogurt or use your own glass containers to make larger batches
- Time indicator to remind you when your yogurt will be ready
- Yogurt made fresh in yolife can contain much higher amounts of active cultures than store-bought yogurt that?s been sitting on store shelves
- Make yogurt in your Tribest Personal Blender blending containers for quick and easy smoothies
- 5-year warranty
- Tribest Green Star GS-1000 Juicer
- Green Star Complete Juice Extractor GS-2000
- Tribest Green Star 3000 Deluxe Juicer/Juice Extractor
- Green Star GP-E1503 Green Power Gold Juicer
- Tribest GPBEM04 Living With Green Star Book
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Yolife Yogurt Maker (YL-210)
Customer Review: So Far, So Good
Summary: 5 Stars
The Yolife: I now have it and have used it once, which is why I want to say, so far - so good.
I have just returned from living 20 years in Spain, and have been absolutely dismayed at the lack of decent yogurt in the USA... unless you spend an exorbitant price for the "natural yogurts" that have only milk and live cultures. SO! Time to investigate making my own! I had a yogurt maker 25 YEARS ago, and remember the hassle of all those little jars.... Hence my excitement to find this modern generation of yogurt makers that can do large batches!
I chose the Yolife over other "large batch" makers for a number of reasons:
- the floor of the heating unit is NOT pre-molded to nestle the individual serving jars; instead it has a flat surface that ANY container can sit upon without subsequent tipping problems
- the larger dome lid is both taller AND wider to accomodate larger containers as well as those that are wider at the top than the bottom - the short lid for the individual serving jars fits to the inside of the sidewall of the heating unit, the tall lid fits to the outside of the heating unit sidewall - that is how the larger one can nest over the shorter one for convenient storage
- I liked that it did not require "dedicated" containers that other large-batch models are built around and that some users found difficult to remove from the heating unit when the yogurt was done. I love the flexibility of using whatever size and/or number of containers I want, including a large bowl!
Temperature is a huge issue among the numerous postings on-line, so I first tested my little instant-read thermometer along side my old-faithful candy thermometer in a pot of boiling water. I do not live at sea-level, so I guess I am not surprised that they both registered somewhere around 205º F instead of 212º F... the point is that they both registered the same temp., and I thereby concluded I could probably trust the accuracy of the little instant-read one. After reading countless reviews of many of the brands of yogurt makers, including Yolife, I decided to measure the temperature of the yogurt as it was in process inside the the maker. Some people have registered temperatures high enough to kill the culture, which would be bad news if you use your own yogurt to start the next batch...and it's all dead! The unit held the temperature of the yogurt in one of the 4 pint jars at a steady 116º for the duration of my first test batch that lasted 4 1/2 hours. I am eager to see if, with longer incubation times (8 hours) to get a tarter yogurt, the temperature stays at 116º or rises... another reason that I say "so far, so good" to qualify my initial 5 star rating. As I do with any long duration heating appliance (like my crock pot) I set the Yolife unit on top of a cake-cooling rack to avoid overheating the counter top... perhaps the airflow underneath it helped it to not overheat the yogurt as some reviewers have found with this unit. Further testing required!
For my first yogurt-making experience, I poured 4 wide-mouth pint jars-worth of 2% milk into a pot that I could set into a larger pot of boiling water for a "water-bath" method of heating the milk which avoids scorching it. I used a canning screw ring to hold the milk pot away from the bottom of the water pot. It worked very well to simmer the water which maintained the milk at about 185º. Milk solids will still stick to the bottom and sides of the pot, but not scorch and ruin the flavor of the milk. I held this temperature for 20 minutes since I have read that doing so affects the structure of the milk proteins and results in a thicker product. Perhaps next time I will use the microwave method for heating, although I don't know how I will monitor the temperature of the milk over a 20 minute period since I don't have a temperature probe model microwave. Suggestions?
This milk was then added to the 4 pint-jars, two of which I made "plain" by only adding a heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt as starter (Mountain High brand original/natural) to each once the temperature was reduced to 110º. To the third jar I had added two Tablespoons of powdered milk (then poured in the hot milk, stirred, and allowed to cool to 110º before adding the starter culture); to the fourth jar I added two "slopping" Tablespoons of evaporated milk (then added the hot milk, and once cooled, the starter), the idea being that since I cannot STAND commercial yogurts with the additives that turn them into a slimy immitation of what real yogurt should be, these additions of milk would also help to make a creamier/thicker yogurt.
After 4 1/2 hours I could see everything had congealed nicely. Based on my internet yogurt-making readings, 4 hours is enough for a mild flavored yogurt, so I took the 4 jars out and put them in the fridge. After about 2 hours, one of the two "plain" jars was poured into a flour-sack lined sieve and set over a bowl in the fridge to try the Greek yogurt method.
Here are the results this morning:
Jar 1 Plain: drained for "Greek" yogurt, has resulted in a product only about 1/3 the volume of the original amount: I didn't expect such shrinkage. It is very thick & creamy (not as thick and heavy as cream cheese), and spreadable like not-too-soft butter - I took it out of the sac-cloth by hand as a lump and put it back into its clean jar. The flavor is very mild, due to the short incubation time. I could eat this "as is" with no addition of sweetening. I might let it drain over less time for more of a yogurt consistency, but this cheese-like consistency is also very nice.
Jar 2 Plain: Mild flavor, "lighter texture" or "finer" than jars 3 and 4 that have the additional milk products, but it is not too thin, either. Very mild flavor, ie not very "sour" or tart. If I wanted to go on a sweet-free diet, this would be the way to have my yogurt!
Jar 3 Powdered Milk: definitely "heavier", thicker or more substantive than the plain, but not massively so. The texture is very creamy without being grainy. Same result on mildness/lack of tartness.
Jar 4 Evaporated Milk: also "heavier"/thicker like the powdered milk, nice texture-not grainy. The only differences I note are (1) the color: not quite as pure white as the others due to the color of evaporated milk; and (2) there is a hint of difference in the flavor, which I attribute to the flavor of canned, evaporated milk, but if I didn't know that was how it was made I would probably not have detected anything. Overall mild flavor as the others.
I am very pleased with the results, but still remain curious about using skim milk rather than 2% (what I had on hand), what differences might result in doing a single LARGE container (like a crock) compared to smaller containers, handling the addition of flavors before incubation, and fun stuff like that! I definitely want to keep my eye on the incubation temperature with future batches since that is of concern both for this unit as well as other brands. Hopefully I will discover it is a non-issue with the Yolife unit I have. Hopefully in a few months I will remember to come back and up-date this review to confirm the reliability of the incubation temperature.
Description of Yolife Yogurt Maker (YL-210)
The Yolife Yogurt Maker is the fast and easy way to make fresh yogurt at home. In just 8-12 hours, Yolife can make nutritious yogurt from milk or soymilk with the convenient glass containers that are included. Or, you can choose to use your own larger containers to make up to 80 oz of yogurt at a time for the whole family. Simply add milk or soymilk, active cultures, and your favorite flavorings to make delicious and creamy yogurt at home. Yolife maintains the optimal environment for the active cultures to quickly turn your milk or soymilk into nutritious yogurt filled with beneficial probiotics.Yolife comes with seven convenient 6 oz glass jars so you can have fresh yogurt every day of the week. Unlike other yogurt makers, it also comes with a large cover so you can use your own larger containers for making up to 80 oz of fresh yogurt at a time. That means you can use your glass storage jars, food processing containers or other containers to make your fresh yogurt. Yolife can even make yogurt inside Tribest® Personal Blender® blending containers ? so you can make your yogurt, add fresh or frozen fruit, and instantly whip up a delicious blended smoothie.Specialty Appliances
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