This nice little book is just over 200 pages long but packs so much good information in those pages! From the lovely cover, to the very last page, you will learn all there is to know about making your own healthy yogurt and kefir. You will also get 70 recipes to put your yogurt to good use. The lovely pictures continues throughout the book which I really appreciated. Sure you might be able to find the yogurt making process online but why not buy this nice reference book to keep at your fingertips when needed?

This book is for anyone who wants to make yogurt and other dairy fermentations. With the popularity of these, I would think this would be something people would be interested in. I know I was. Since I spent a lot of time with my grandparents when I was younger they had each grown up on farms so most of the meals were homemade, I mean from scratch until my grandmother could not anymore. So this book with recipes and instructions and how to make yogurt and other items have to be healthier for us. I found this to be a good book.

Making yogurt an kefir is more in depth than I realized and this book left me a little overwhelmed. I do think it has an audience, I'm just not it.

Using both animal and plant milk was an immediate draw to this book, having family members that are unable to consume dairy. There are recipes for cheese, kefir, fermented dairy and many, many others, all interesting, easy to follow accompanied with photos and prose more than relevant to success. This book if a must have for anyone that enjoys yogurt, dairy and all things milk. Highly recommended and will be using it often. Thank you

Really great guide on everything yogurt and kefir, from the basic science to how to make your own to fun dessert recipes using your homemade yogurts! Super informative and the pictures are beautiful!!! Definitely recommend to anyone looking to get into fermenting their own foods.
4.5/5 stars

This book gives great recipes for homemade yogurt and kefir that made me feel like I would be able to follow along and make my own at home. I don't quite trust making yogurt on my countertop, so I didn't try any recipes, but once I move past that fear I imagine I'll never go back to store bought!

The only yogurt & kefir resource you need. Before gaining access to this ARC, I had never attempted to make yogurt. Now, I make it weekly and it's become such a wonderful family experience. The recipes are extremely easy to follow and all of the techniques are described in a non-complicated way.

This book is a real treat for those who want to learn to make their own yogurts! It has been fun to try the recipes while we were on lock down due to covid. I'm betting with so many children home, parents may want to get this book and help the kiddos create some healthy and tasty treats for the whole family!

The recipes are well written and delicious to make! I have enjoyed making homemade yogurt! Caldwell writes the recipes in clear, concise directions that are easy to follow. Perfect book for homemade projects especially through the quarantine period.

As someone who came to love real kefir in Russia (not the sugared-up version sold under that name in the US), I was so excited for this book! This book of yogurt, kefir, and other fermented recipes is easy enough for a classroom or homeschool project with kids, but contains enough historical and scientific background to keep the adult reader entertained. The recipes are gathered from many different places around the world. The e-book ARC I read had some visibility issues, so I would probably opt for a print edition if I buy this book.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

Learn about the benefits to your body and gut, with this book of Homemade Yoghurt and Kefir. Using natural foods to get a healthier body and life.

What I appreciated the most about this specialty cookbook was the simple fashion complex ideas are explained to the reader. Yogurt and Kefir are very popular in the cooking scene today and this is a brilliant book to start a new deep dive into all things fermented dairy!

This is the best and most comprehensive book on yogurt I have ever read. I was reading an eARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley so cannot attest to pictures although there seemed to be plenty. For those of us who like to see the finished product or step-by-step illustrations, they are sufficient. Although, they are not really necessary in this history/cookbook of yogurts and kefirs. Who knew how many different types of yogurts there could be. The list is exhaustive.
My husband began making our yogurt weekly after reading just the first basic recipe. So easy, and comes out perfect each time.
There are so many variations and flavors to try. This book will make a great gift!

Lovely book! I loved reading about the history of milk and dairy ferments, the company spotlights, and the amazing variety of recipes. I also like the way that the categories are seperated. Will be purchasing!

This beautifully designed guide guides readers through the process of making yogurt, kefir, and other dairy-based foods. While the history and overview of global yogurt cultures is not lengthy, the author's engaging style will spark reader curiosity, encouraging further research. Photographs, which are gorgeous, show equipment, preparation methods, and serving suggestions. The discussion of milks from animals other than cows is useful. As a librarian I'd recommend this book to home cooks who are interested in trying this, but have felt intimidated by the science involved in making one's own yogurt products. Happily, this book flows like good science writing does, presenting the why and how in a user-friendly fashion.
Caveat: some reviewers have pointed out the potential danger/misinformation in the book's discussion of soybean processing, which apparently omits warnings about toxicity in soybeans. If done incorrectly, one risks producing poisonous soy yogurt. I obtained an advanced review copy of this book earlier in 2020, so I do not know if this part of the text has been revised. Please research this subject for the sake of your own safety.

Homemade Yogurt & Kefir is an information dense and well presented tutorial/cookbook by Gianaclis Caldwell. Due out 12th May from Storey Publishing, it's 224 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

Storey is well known for producing practical, sensible, well illustrated books aimed at helping smallholders and gardeners get the best out of their lives. Many of their books and leaflets have found a permanent place in my library and I turn to them often for inspiration and advice. This is a really well written collection of precise and accessible tutorials with lots (LOTS) of recipes for turning milk (including plant milks) into fermented probiotic rich foods.

This is a beautifully presented book, well written and photographed. The recipes are appetizing and (mostly) made with easily sourced ingredients. The introduction covers the history and a little scientifically accurate and layman accessible explanation of the fermentation process and probiotics. The equipment chapter also gives a good overview on equipment and supplies which will make life a lot easier.


The second part contains the core recipes for basic yogurt and kefir, along with variations. There are both warm and room temperature ferments as well as some recipes for butters and yogurt/kefir cheeses.
The rest of the book is given over to recipes for using and expanding the basic fermented products into drinks, sauces, soups, and treats. The recipes are drawn from world and fusion cuisine and there's a huge array of possibilities. We're still working our way through the recipes, picking and choosing, and have enjoyed every one we've tried.

The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. The headers include a description and introduction. Special notes such as vegan friendly are listed in the introduction. Measurements are given in US standard only (there is a metric conversion chart at the end of the book). Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Most of the ingredients are easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store (some items will need a specialist co-op or world-food/specialist grocery). Nutritional information is not included. Cook's notes and variations for each recipe are also included in a footer at the end.The recipes all fit on a single page (which is super convenient for reading from a tablet when your hands are full). The book also includes a recipe list and index as well as references and a suppliers list (slanted toward North American readers, but readers located elsewhere will have no trouble locating supplies online). The list of websites for further reading provides some really good links to valuable information.

Well written, very well presented, full of tasty beautifully presented and healthy yogurt (and kefir).

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I love cooking and creating new recipes. One area I ave resisted in making yogurt and kefir. I percieved it to be time consuming and fidley. I couldn't have been more wrong! With a simple tool list of a pot a thermometer, fridge and culture (which can be taken from a pot of natural bio yogurt or bought freeze dried) there is no huge cost outlay.

I loved the fact that the book took the reader through the history of yogurt and kefir use through the centuries and I learned that kefir was successfully used in the treatemnet of tuberculousis and stomach complaints, The recipe section was immense with recipes from simple yogurts and kefirs to yogurt creme brulees and icecreams.

This book is both informative and instructional and well worth the investment.

Thank you NetGalley for my free review copy.
#HomemadeYogurtKefir #NetGalley

Lovely and easy to follow recipes with clear information. It includesplant based recipes which I particularly liked and want to try.
The chapter on fermented milk and why it’s so good for us is very informative as was finding out about the history.
I have learnt so much from reading this book and can not wait to get started making my own healthy yogurt.

Well this is a book I will keep at the forefront for a long time. First of all, I do not like kefir at all, not at all, so I will not comment on the kefir part of this book but the author does write extensively about kefir and has MANY recipes to try. Now that that's out of the way let's talk about my favorite, yoghurt. I do love yoghurt. The author writes all about how to make yoghurt. First clean your equipment. I like that. I will drag out my yoghurt maker and clean it! Then she talks about the different temperatures of the milk and spores. Maybe I didn't pay good attention to that which is why I will keep the book close. Then the good stuff. How to make stuff and what to put in it like fruit, honey, citrus peel and curry. Curry? This author had many, many different things to add to yoghurt to wake it up and me too to make my breakfast and lunch more interesting. The author also had recipes for different countries yoghurt like Scandinavian, Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, etc. There were also recipes for yoghurt butter and cheeses. Also, almond and coconut milks. Interesting. So I guess this weekend while I whip up some WWII Soda bread from another book I read I will be trying to make some yoghurt and maybe some yoghurt butter to go on my bread. I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book and partake in this cooking adventure in exchange for a mere review.

One dangerous mistake

The ARC has two serious mistakes, one dangerous, one simply wrong. The simple mistake is that "sous vide" is translated as "under pressure" when in fact it means "under vacuum". I can't imagine how this mistake happened because the French word for "pressure" is "pression" which is close to English.

The dangerous mistake is in the recipe for soy milk. I wrote to Storey informing them of this mistake and they did not answer that they had corrected it in the final version, so I must include the information in the review and drop the rating of the book from 5 to 1 because it presents incorrect information that could be harmful.

Raw soybeans contain several chemicals that are classed as "anti nutrients" or harmful chemicals. Soy must be processed, usually by heat, to deactivate the anti nutrients before feeding to animals or people. You can search for scientific articles that substantiate this danger. I was taught to toast the raw beans in a dry skillet till they were very hot (not burned) before processing them. Another way to do it is to make the milk and then boil it for a while. Either heat treatment will work but it MUST be done. Ms Caldwell's recipe does neither.

Without these mistakes, the book would have ranked very high. I have quite a few dairy books including some from university dairy programs and this book compares well due to the thoroughness of the presentation. Sweeteners, textures, various thickening agents, lot of other good information. Well designed data tables and clear photos get the lessons across without fuss. Sources for cultures are listed in several places.

Very detailed. Very scientific. Very clear reading. I learned a lot of useful new information about dairy ferments that I like to eat but don't usually make – like kefir. I am also reminded of products I have not seen for a while like the Russian baked milk yogurt called Ryazhenka.

There are bits of trivia I could add to the book like being aware that some powdered milk is made to mix with cold water and some with warm, and that Afghan dried yogurt is hard, stinky balls that are very strong tasting (too strong for me) last all through the winter months. But still the book is mostly strong.

But we can't go around poisoning our readers can we?