Best Healthy Low Sugar Yogurt

I started being interested in making yogurt after watching a movie called “That Sugar Film.” It’s a great documentary that explains why sugar is so bad for you, what it does to your body and how most of the mainstream processed products we find in our local grocery stores are laden with sugar even the “so called” low calorie or diet foods. In that documentary I learned that 4 grams of sugar is equal to 1 teaspoon. As a fan of yogurt for my lunch at work every day I began trying to find a yogurt that had low sugar content. That is nearly impossible. Most of the single serving yogurts that I enjoyed the taste of were on average about 15 grams of sugar.
The purchase of the yogurt maker – Cuisinart Electronic Yogurt Maker with Automatic Cooling was from Best Buy for about $120.00. My decision to purchase this unit was because it looked easy to use and it’s compact size. Plus there is a container including a lid that is transferred to your fridge once your yogurt is completed. The reviews online and on You tube were very good.
My first few tries with different recipe combination were not great but still edible. I tried not heating the milk but it never came out with a thicker consistency. I also tried with a culture, adding cornstarch, adding gelatin, and adding skim milk powder. I ate each batch that I made but I did find them quite sour tasting. Finally I found what works for me. I heat whole fat milk slowly till it gets to about 180 degrees, let it cool to 110 degrees. Then I mix in 6 ounces of Organic Meadow 3.8% fat yogurt. Place it in the Cusinart and set it for 6 hours. After 6 hours the unit will automatically go in to chill mode which is also an important step in the process. At this point I just leave it overnight. It doesn’t shut itself off so there in no worry about the yogurt not being cooled. Also it makes very little noise, you hardly notice it’s operating. Once you remove your yogurt from the unit there is no cleanup just shut it off and enjoy your freshly made yogurt.
With this recipe the yogurt consistency is just right and it makes about 6 or 7 servings (3/4 cup) When I am ready to serve I fill a single serve container and add my own ingredients to it such as currants, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, frozen blueberries or other fruits I have on hand. The beauty of it is that I can have a little more than the serving sizes in the store bought yogurts knowing that my homemade yogurt has very little sugar and other unwanted ingredients. I do recommend the Cuisinart Electronic Yogurt Maker with Automatic Cooling.