Why People Kind-Of-Like The Salton YM9 Yogurt Maker

My oven has better temperature control
I was going to buy this yogurt maker, but after I read a review that said there was no thermostat in this machine, despite what the manufacturer claims (someone actually took it apart and looked!) - I decided to do further research. What I found was that I already had everything I needed to make my own yogurt - my oven. My oven has better temperature control and it doesn't take up counter space.

I found a method that works really well for lazy people like me
Making yogurt basically involves mixing milk with a "starter" (usually plain, unpasteurized yogurt) and keeping it at a temperature where the "good" bacteria will multiply and turn the rest of the milk into yogurt. Everything needs to be really clean so you don't introduce "bad" bacteria into the mix. Other methods I had heard about involved scalding the milk and sterilizing the containers and everything else -- sounded like a pain. But I found a method that works really well for lazy people like me, with no scalding and no sterilization, and no special equipment:

For the thicker American style
Get a quart-size carton of milk and some yogurt, both at room temperature. Open the milk carton, pour some out to make room in the carton, and add 1/2 c. of plain yogurt with live cultures (like Straus Creamery or Dannon plain yogurt). Close up the carton again, clip shut, and shake it gently to mix up the milk and yogurt. As for the milk you poured out (you saved it right?), that's going to be your starter for the next batch, so add a couple teaspoons of yogurt to that, give it a good stir, and cover tightly. Get an old (but clean!) bath towel and wrap both in it. Place on a cookie sheet and place in 110 degree F oven. "Bake" at 110 degrees overnight - around 12 hours - remove from oven and refrigerate. Perfect European-style yogurt! (For the thicker American style, add powdered milk along with your yogurt "starter.") Best of all, there's no need to pre-heat/scald the milk (not necessary if you use pasteurized milk) and no cleaning (since you make the yogurt right in the paper milk carton straight from the store). Any size milk carton will work -- just adjust the amount of starter accordingly.

We go through 4 quarts of yogurt a week, so I make 2 big milk cartons' worth each time. If I used the Salton, I would have to run it four times to get the same amount of yogurt.



I had to buy tools to make it work
Okay, I like my yogurt plain and I love to snack my raw carrots with the yogurt cheese I make out of my self made yogurt and a gold (coffee) filter. This unit does the job, is easy to clean and it is priced for the price conscious.

My only problem is that the Salton Company lies when they say that this thing has a thermostat. It doesn't. I am german (born and raised in Heidelberg) and that makes me kind of pedantic. So I measure the temperature of my yogurt during processing... and this yogurt maker, lacking a thermostate and just heating up to what the people at Salton thought would result in the correct temperature, overheats the yogurt by quite a few degrees in a warm environment.

That might not constitue a problem for you if you live constantly in winter up north in Vermont, but for me down here in Florida it means that I have to regulate the amperage (strength of the electrical current) down under the use of a six bucks HomeDepot tool. So I am able to make yogurt, but I had to buy tools to make it work.

The Machine is easy to clean and the container (I don't know why nobody seems to like it) inside is very useful and survives the top rack of my dishwasher.


The details are a little lacking
I have successfully made numerous pots of yogurt with this yogurt maker. The basic machine works well and reliably, however the details are a little lacking. The lid to the pot doesn't fit well, which can be a nuisance if you intend to use the yogurt straight out of the pot. The spoon is entirely irrelevant. The cable does not clip into the underside of the machine. And I was disappointed to find that the timer does not turn the machine off, it simply reminds you what time you started / intend to finish the yogurt. Having said all that, it does do the job.


I solved the problem by plugging the yogurt maker into an external dimmer switch
I bought this yogurt maker with the expectation that it would maintain the correct temperature for making yogurt. It seems to me that I read that the optimum temperature for making yogurt is between 100F and 110F. Unfortunately, my digital cooking thermometer was registering 128F after a few hours. The outside of the box for this product states that it is thermostatically controlled. I opened the yogurt maker with screwdriver and it does not contain a thermostat, just a couple of heating wires. I solved the problem by plugging the yogurt maker into an external dimmer switch that I bought from a home improvement store and reducing the power to about 75%. This method works, however, I'm disappointed that I had to go to this measure to correct the temperature.