As you guys should know by now, I am becoming a health freak. And on that note, I will be eating yogurt everyday. Yogurt is really a very healthy snack, much better than drinking milk. For the uninitiated, yogurt is actually made from milk. So most of the benefits of milk is passed on to yogurt. However, due to the breakdown of the lactose and protein by the bacteria, yogurt is more easily digestible than milk. It can be taken by both the young and the old without any problems. Just like milk, it is a good source of calcium and can boost immunity against diseases. Of course, please understand that you should not think yogurt as some sort of miracle food which cures every known illness out there. It is good as a health supplement.

Anyway, in Singapore, all our foodstuff is expensive. I was browsing the local supermarkets the other day and I found that plain yogurt cost about S$7 for 500g of yogurt. And if you are looking at those yogurt with fillers like fruits, sugar and whatever, the amount of yogurt is actually much less. It got me wondering whether I can find alternatives to store bought yogurt. I was thinking of making my own homemade yogurt. The major problem is the temperature. Yogurt requires a certain range of temperature for the cultures to thrive and if it is too cold, the cultures will become inactive and if it is too warm, the cultures will die. So, to make yogurt you need a pretty good thermometer. And that my friends, can be very expensive (S$50 or so). Luckily, this morning I was at Phoon Huat and I saw this Easiyo Real Yogurt Maker. Sure, it is not the best solution, but it is very affordable and all the guesswork is already done for you. You have only to follow the instructions and you are supposed to get yogurt from their mix. The price of this set is S$30.60. Okay lah, not too expensive.Oh, this is a made in New Zealand product. I am a big fan of New Zealand and I hope to retire there, except it got too many cows.

Yes, cost me S$30.60. At least it comes with 2 sachets of yogurt mix!

The Easiyo Real Yogurt Maker Starter Pack. It is simply perfect every time. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best. And what is more surprising is that you get REAL yogurt! lol!

Yes, freshly made yogurt is REAL yogurt. Not that fake yogurt from China with Malemine which gives you a ton of proteins and kills children! And it is supposed to be fresher than the yogurt you buy from the stores! With Billions of LIVE cultures in every spoonful! It also includes Acidopilus which benefits your digestive and immune systems! Finally, it has more absorbable calcium than milk. That would be great.

Wow, 3 easy steps. First you mix their mix with water in the provided container. Then add boiling water to the big white flask and then you immerse the container with the mixture in the flask. Wait 12 hours and you get yogurt. Cool! You don’t need a thermometer!

Nice. This pack contains REAL yogurt Maker as opposed to the fake yogurt maker, a yogurt jar, 2 yogurt sachets (the mixture) and instruction booklet. Let’s confirm below whether the label has all the items there.

Looks like they are right on! Yogurt Jar or container, check. Flask, check. 2 Sachets of yogurt mix, check. Instruction booklet, check. Looks like the staff at Phoon Huat didn’t cheat me by stealing off one of the sachets. Just joking here. No offence to the staff of Phoon Huat who sold me the yogurt maker. He was nice enough to show me how to make the yogurt. Not many will be willing to do that, especially in Singapore.

This is the Yogurt jar where you will mix the mixture with cold water. Yes, it is just a normal plastic which has been treated to withstand heat.

Yes, 1kg yogurt jar. You will have to pour the sachet of yogurt mix into this jar, fill it up with cold water and then shake the hell out of it. Then you again have to fill the jar with more water to make it 1kg. I think I will be using bottled water.

That’s the flask where you pour boiling water and put the yogurt jar into. I am sure that they have figured out the correct amount of boiling water to be used to ensure that the temperature is suitable for the yogurt cultures to thrive. Hopefully, after a few hours, your mixture will turn into delicious and healthy yogurt for your entire family to enjoy.

Wow, Boysenberry! And to let you guys know, I have never heard of Boysenberry before. Sounds like some boy band from England, no? This sachet is to make 1kg of yogurt.

Looks like the ingredients consist of pasteurized whole and skim milk. So basically what this means is that this is actually just dried milk powder, boysenberry flavours and the dried form of the cultures! Hmmm….interesting. Oh by the way, the 1kg of yogurt contains 37% of the recommended daily intake of calcium, which is weird. It means that you have to take 3 kg of yogurt to get the daily recommended daily intake of calcium. If you eat so much yogurt, I think you will not be healthy. I think I might have read the information wronging, so please don’t quote me.

This is the Nectarine flavour. I think it means Mango or Peach flavour.Or maybe there is an actual Nectarine fruit which I have never heard before. Again. I must be living in some far off godforsaken land which has no fruits to speak of.

It is interesting to note that there are a lot of other flavours and styles in the Easiyo Yogurt mix range. There is the natural range (3.6% fat), which is high in protein and calcium and makes use of full cream milk. The flavours for this natural range include Strawberry, Vanilla, Banana, Boysenberry, Caramel, Mango, Nectarine and Peach. For the Reduced Fat Range (0.2%-1.8% fat). the flavours include Slimmers (should be very low fat), Strawberry, Vanilla, Berry and Apricot. They even have the Probiotic range, which contains Acidophilus, Bifidus and Casei cultures which help to maintain intestinal well being and a healthy immune system! Like that is not enough, they have the Specialty range, which is basically Greek, Greek ‘n’ Honey and Vanilla custard. From what I read on the Internet, it seems that a lot of experts like Greek Yogurt. Supposed to be the healthiest and the tastiest.

And they have toppings as well. Yes, that is toppings for your yogurt. I think they call it fruit squirt whereby you squirt out the fruit toppings from the sachet.

Well, guys who would know that there is so much interesting things out there in the world. I never expected myself to be making my own yogurt. In fact, I never thought that I would be brewing my own beer either. But as we get older, we start to not take things for granted. And the best part is that all these teaches me patience and allows me to understand more about what I am eating or drinking. Preservatives and additives will start to take a toll on our bodies as we get older and if we don’t start to eat right, we will all suffer the consequences of illness and health problems. Remember, nowadays the foods we eat are full of additives which may be harmful to us in the long term, so why not have homemade yogurt to help cleanse your body.