ALDI Maison Electric Yoghurt Maker

Basic, no electronics, cheap simple limited lifespan – Very basic design, it has an ON/OFF switch on the front. I assumed there must be some smarts built into the unit because whenever I measured the temperature during the yoghurt incubation process, I was getting different results. I was fooled into believing the temperature was changing over the hours to get better results. Recently I noticed a… Read more

brown crusty mark on the inside flat surface, where the yoghurt containers sit. I tried cleaning. The crusty mark wasn't dried up yoghurt, it was cooked plastic. I know because I rubbed it until I noticed a hole and I could now see into the inside compartment where the elements must be.

I decided to unscrew the base and look inside.

There are 4 small Philips screws and one of them must be superglued to make it difficult to disassemble. That one thread was ripped out when I removed that one screw.

I thought one of the elements must have burnt out.

I have included a photo of discovery.

The 240 volt AC power wire enters the internal compartment. That power wire splits off to form a loop that passes through a toggle power switch. The wire now appears to be covered in a silicone sleeve and it loops back to the switch.

There are no elements just one loop of wire.

That is all there is. A silicone covered wire, presumably smallish gauge so that it heats up inside the silicone (I assume) burn proof sleeve.

The sleeve can obviously withstand the heat because it seems intact even though the plastic above it has been toasted enough to crumble.

No electronics, no thermostat inside.

Yoghurt maker: How to solve perceived overheating and maintain live cultures – I am writing this review because I have read that some people are experiencing problems with the product and I have experienced some problems but also found an easy way to resolve them. I bought this model of Aldi Yoghurt maker 11 years ago. It did work as described when it was new. Many years later I find it may work better if the yoghurt is… Read more ·  2

allowed to incubate for a longer time and produce a yoghurt with live cultures, but that means that we must consider how yoghurt must be made safely.

Our family has made our own yoghurt for many generations. That includes using our starter and saving some for the next batch of yoghurt. The process involved heating up the raw milk to a high enough temperature to kill off the bad bacteria and adding the starter when the milk had cooled down to 45 °C and wrapping everything in layers of blanket to keep the heat in the mixture for as long as possible. When we unwrapped it the next day, the mixture has cooled to room temperature and we had yoghurt. The steps in that procedure started back on the farm, but we are now many generations away from those days. Modern technology has been introduced over the years. The woollen blankets have been replaced with synthetic aircell insulation towels that wrap around an initial layer of shiny space (foil) blanket. We also improved the thermal efficiency by making our yoghurt mixture in a large insulated container.

The Aldi Maison yoghurt maker was purchased because it offered more technology than relying on an oversized food thermos to keep the yoghurt culture forming. The ALDI youghrt maker had a built-in heater element controlled by a thermostat which we assumed would keep the temperature between 36 and 48°C

Making yoghurt might seem easy when there are such yoghurt maker appliances.

There are safe ways to make yoghurt and there are dangerous ways because it is all about the good bacteria versus the bad bacteria.

Fresh milk, even though it is pasteurized can be risky to use if it isn't warmed to the correct temperature to kill off the bad bacteria before introducing the good bacteria for yoghurt making.

The opportunity to simplify the yoghurt making process because we are using a thermostat controlled incubator, to encourage the yoghurt culture to grow, could reduce the steps.

UHT full cream milk is available (at the same price as fresh pasteurized milk) and it means we don't have to heat the milk to kill off the milk bacteria.

Note: if we use Greek style yoghurt (ALDI brand is Lyttos) and UHT full cream milk, we can rely on the yoghurt making process to use up all the lactose in the milk.

The base of the yoghurt maker does seem to eventually heat up to a temperature that will kill the yoghurt culture. We were surprised by this.

Starting with room temperature UHT milk (1 litre) and Greek style yoghurt (2 - 4 tablespoons as starter), whisk slightly with a fork that was sterilised in a glass of boiled water. Pour the mixture into the glass mason jars. Leave lids off. Put the yoghurt maker cover on.

Overnight will get a result. Put the individual screw lids on each jar and store in the refrigerator. If you wanted a more tangy yoghurt then the amount of starter is the upper range (suggested above) when preparing the mixture. This yoghurt maker cannot be left on for many more hours to encourage thicker yoghurt, because it eventually heats up to 60°C.

I haven't found a reason for this final high temperature in the product manual, but it would definitely make the yoghurt safer if someone didn't use UHT milk as the base. The yoghurt would form its structures and thicken up while the temperature was in the yoghurt making range and then it would stop because the higher temperature would kill off all the bacteria. Unfortunately this also means the yoghurt that we just made doesn't provide the best quality starter for the next batch. There isn't any active cultures left.

I have modified our yoghurt making process (as shown in my pictures).

I don't use the little glass mason jars. I have two polypropylene plastic (food grade) rectangular shaped tubs with snap on lid. They are 500mL each and fit side by side in the yoghurt maker.

This is the ideal size to use all of the one litre of milk from a UHT carton.

I have also placed a slim silicone ice cube tray (open cells upwards) between the plastic tubs and the base of the yoghurt maker to reduce the contact temperature. This has enabled a smaller heat conduction area for heat from the base, but the air gap and air within the space of the closed yoghurt maker still maintains a convection heat in the yoghurt making range. I also have the choice of loosely placing the plastic tub lids over the individual container of yoghurt (or not) to affect the heat transfer in the mixture. NOTE: the Yoghurt maker's clear plastic cover is still covering everything.

I know other Product Reviewers have suggested that turning off the power every couple of hours will prevent the yoghurt maker from reaching the final temperature that kills the good bacteria (kills all bacteria) and stops the yoghurt process. That definitely works and if they have used UHT milk and sterilised their utensils and containers, then it is OK to allow the temperature to drop below 36°C before heating up to get into the yoghurt making temperature again and again.

Please note that I am effectively slowing down the yoghurt process by reducing the conduction temperature to my mixture (by using the silicone spacer) and relying on the more consistent convection temperature to keep the temperature in the lower range to stop it from reaching the higher temps that kill the yoghurt and stop the process from continuing. I only use UHT milk and sterilise my utensils because any existence of bad bacteria in a process that spends time at a temperature below 36°C can make the yoghurt with dangerous bacteria. Think about it, our body temperature is maintained for a reason.