The Ferrari of Yogurt Makers

Yogurt. Healthy, nutritious, delicious, good for you, full of helpful probiotic bacteria that reduce symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Commercial yogurt tends to be full of sugar and extra add milk powder, making it less healthy and less digestible.

You can make your own, of course. There are many yogurt makers to be found on the market.

Few like this new one from Toshiba, though.

TOSHIBA TYM-1000 yoghurt maker.



On CNET Asia, Matsushita Shuji wrote:

Have you ever made yoghurt yourself? Oh, not that difficult. Everybody does it in South Asia in family kitchen, almost everyday. Sugar content in milk (lactose) can be fermented by the cocktail of genera Lactobacilli and Streptococci/Pediococci, and turns into lactic acid. This acid, in turn, works on the milk protein and makes it sticky, giving the distinctive yoghurt flavour.

Where can you find these dilligent microscopic workers, I mean, yoghurt culture? In the leftover from yesterday's yoghurt, of course. Pour the tiny portion of this old tired yoghurt into the fresh milk, and leave it in a quiet place overnight. Voila, the fresh yoghurt is ready for your breakfast.

The trick is, you need a stable temperature for the lactose fermentation. Too high a milk temperature, some nasty guys will shove in and the yoghurt will be spoilt. Too low, then bacillus does not propagate enough.

In hot hot South Asia, people utilize a simple ungrazed earthenware for yoghurt making. The heat loss of the vaporization through the porous vessel keeps the liquid temperature rather cool and constant.

In somewhat cooler clime, yoghurt making becomes pretty easy. Only things you need are a cheap heating element and a thermostat. Yes, almost the same primitive contraption as the aquarium heater you throw in to keep your pet piranhas alive and vicious. Check Amazon shopping site, there you'll find hundreds of cheap electric yoghurt makers with the price range from 20 to 50 US dollars.

TOSHIBA Consumers Marketing Corp. of Akihabara, a white goods sales channel of giant TOSHIBA group, released a new yoghurt maker which outshined all of those cheapos. With TYM-1000 NATURIA, you can set the temperature of fermentation, from 25 to 50 centigrade, every single degree.

Now, we can fine-tune the yoghurt making by setting the most suitable temperature for different culture of yoghurt. Ordinary generic yoghurt (around 40C), Caspian Sea (Georgian) yoghurt (27C), Kefir (drinkable yoghurt) at lower 25C. These starter cultures (in powdered form) are widely available in Japan.

OK, this model is only available in Japan for the time being. Maybe it will make its way to Europe and the U.S. As long as it gets you thinking about healthy stuff, my work is done.