Apparently, we can’t get enough of pod-based products these days. Whether the end result is coffee, beer, or now yogurt, it would appear that denizens of the 21st century are attempting to combat their guilt of buying prepackaged food and beverages by buying prepackaged pods that can be placed into machines instead. At least that way, you can sort of claim that you’re dealing in the homemade business. The latest such offering is the Yomee, a pod-based device that promises to make you yogurt in just three steps. Now available on Kickstarter for $99, the Yomee wants to prove to you that you can make yogurt safely, easily, and sustainably at home.
“Some store-bought yogurt has more sugar than a Twinkie,” said Tu-Hien Le, Yomee co-founder and CMO. “Not to mention many have added stabilizers, gums, thickeners, artificial flavors, as well as a lack of healthy active cultures. Yomee eliminates all this and gets back to yogurt’s roots — as a real, simple food full of health benefits.”
So how does the Yomee work? Simply pour in your milk of choice (whether it’s full-fat, nut-based, or something else entirely), insert a Yomee pod (filled with live cultures that come in both dairy and vegan options), and press start. The Yomee will heat the milk to a boiling temperature for 15 minutes before cooling the liquid to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which is said to be the ideal temperature for the yogurt cultures in the pod. At this point, the pod is actually dropped into the solution, and in less than 10 minutes, the entire thing (pod and all) will be dissolved into your milk. That means that, unlike Keurigs, you won’t have to dispose of a bunch of little plastic cups when you’re finished with the process.
The milk is then incubated at a constant temperature for six hours, and once everything is ready, the Yomee chills the yogurt down to 50 degrees, retarding the culturing process and developing the “delicate flavors of the fresh yogurt.” From there, you’ll have 48 hours to eat your fresh yogurt.
“The inspiration for Yomee started in early 2016. I was sipping on a mango lassi at a friend’s dinner party,” said Ashok Jaiswal, Yomee co-founder and CEO. “I asked if the lassi was made with homemade yogurt and was surprised to find the reaction from everyone — they wondered how could yogurt be made at home. I was then determined to learn more about real homemade yogurt and began making it for family and friends.”
You can order a Yomee now from Kickstarter for $99, which includes three months’ worth of Yomee pods. Delivery is estimated for May 2018.
