Product Review

Probiotic Maker

By Anthony Ricciuto

Now if you are a fan of my writing you know that I am constantly trying to bring you some of the most innovative and cutting edge information, but also products that you can use to better your health and performance. I have introduced a ton of new products to the strength community through my writing in Powerlifting USA magazine that were never mentioned in the past among strength circles. I like to pride myself on being innovative when many others just copy and repeat what others before them put out.

The Gut Microbiome is a Hot Topic!

With this said today I have something that I have never discussed before and I am sure it will peak your interest as well. I have discussed the topic of Probiotics and Prebiotics several times in my writings but as of yet haven’t done a complete series on this vast topic. The gut microbiome is now becoming a popular topic of discussion not only for athletes but also for the mainstream population. I covered some of these ideas close to twenty years ago when this was not a popular topic at all. High dose probiotics can help with numerous health conditions. Those suffering from different bowel conditions like IBS, Colitis, and Crohn’s disease know how much a difference high dose probiotic cultures can help them dealing with their health issues. Even for those that have a healthy digestive system, probiotics can help optimize digestion and elimination. Plus the immune system benefits that cultured foods have to offer is second to none. The different health and performance benefits by consuming large amounts of probiotics offer you is beyond the scope of this review. But I am sure many will be interested in finding out more on this complex topic and I will be the one to make it happen.

The Gut Microbiome is a Complex Topic!

With the topic of probiotic supplements comes lots of confusion. In fact if you are new to the gut microbiome theatre, you will also find it confusing on what you should buy, what strain is best for your health condition, and even what brands are ones you should put your trust in. As you can see, an in depth series on this very important subject is definitely in the works on my end to help cut the confusion and guide you in the right direction. This takes me to today’s product review which I know will help simplify much of this with ease. What I would like to discuss with you today is about a product known as the “Probiotic Maker”.

The Probiotic Maker is Amazing!

Probiotics Without Breaking the Bank!

Now you might be wondering what this is so listen up. This device was created by Merrick Maxfield. His love for probiotics helped fuel this passion to create something new and exciting in this space. He wanted to make probiotics cheap and at the same time not being a royal pain in the ass to produce. For those of you that do take probiotics you understand that if you are going to go with a high quality brand, they aren’t cheap in the least bit. Even just consuming a high quality yogurt to help increase your probiotic count is not cheap either. Merrick learned this first hand. One day Merrick brought home 4 cases of yogurt (32 containers) for his family. Now did I forget to mention that he has not one but eight children? Yep so just as you could imagine those dozens of yogurt were polished off in only two days. Here he needed to think of an idea to provide his family with probiotic nutritious foods without breaking the bank.

Proper Temperature is Critical for Probiotic Fermentation!

Fermenting Dairy Cultures is Messy Business!

If you are one of those people that have tried producing your own fermented cultures through different methods then you know it is usually very time consuming and most often a messy procedure as well. With these constraints in place, Merrick wanted to create something that would help everyone no matter their financial situation. This way everyone would be able to reap the many benefits that probiotics offer. On top of that since he was tired of long procedures to produce them, he needed a quick fire method that would produce high quality probiotics not only at a good price point, but also without turning his kitchen into a disaster. 

Yogurt and Kefir are Easy with the Probiotic Maker!

Merrick The Problem Solver

Merrick admits that he is a natural born problem solver as it runs in his genes. He realized that there was no practical way to produce a variety of fresh probiotics on a daily basis with minimal cost. He had also some ideas that were not common and wanted to find a way to implement them himself. First off he wanted to be able to make yogurt or kefir right in the jug that it came in. Hell this would save a ton of mess in the kitchen that is for sure. Next he wanted to be able to make low fat or even fat free yogurt and kefir which is not an easy task as the fat content helps in the making process. Anyone that has tried to make their own probiotics from a low fat dairy source knows all too well that it is nearly impossible. He also wanted to culture these formulas at body temperature to maximize effectiveness. He knew that yogurt is produced with too high temperatures most of the time killing off many of the good probiotics. Dialling in the right temperature was critical for making the Probiotic Maker ferment dairy with precision while creating and then preserving the probiotic content. It doesn’t do much good if you make a probiotic fermented culture only to destroy all that you did by wiping out the probiotic content unknowingly with incorrect temperature settings. Most people might not realize this but this is a huge issue in fermenting dairy cultures.

Probiotics as Easy as 1-2-3!

Years of Research and Development

As I mentioned earlier he also wanted to make this cost effective especially for those that wanted to better their health but financial constraints limited them. He wanted to make this procedure simple but super effective so that anyone could do it even those with zero experience in making fermented dairy cultures. Plus he wanted to be able to make it not only a super food with numerous health benefits, but also the tastiest of any he has tried before. Merrick would know best with having eight children that no matter how healthy a product may be, if it does’t taste good you can bet your bottom dollar that kids will not consume it no matter how much you tell them that it is good for them. Now after many years of product design and overcoming the many hurdles that come with creating any new invention which included 27 generations of prototypes, the Probiotic Maker was finally born!

Probiotics are Key For Health and Longevity!

How Does the Probiotic Maker Work?

Now you may be wondering what this device looks like and how can you take advantage of its many benefits? It looks like an oversized blood pressure cuff that you plug into the wall. Yep I am sure many of the strength athletes reading this have one of those since the regular sized one will not even fit over your forearm. So how do we make a ton of probiotics in only a few hours with this masterpiece? I thought you would never ask. Here is a breakdown of how you would use it using a gallon of Whole Full fat milk that you pick up from your local grocery store. This will make an excellent high fat probiotic product that is even suitable for those on a low carb or keto diet. This is because the sugars in the milk will be consumed during the process by the probiotic culture that is added.

Ingredients and Inputs

• Bottle of Whole Full-Fat Milk
• Starter packet with 11 types of probiotic “seeds”
• Probiotic Maker to grow the fresh probiotics

Steps

1. Add the starter packet to a fresh, sealed, purified bottle of whole milk.
2. Replace the cap and then give it a little shake if desired to spread around the seeds.
3. Slide on the Probiotic Maker™ with the stretchy side over the handle area/air pockets.
4. Plug in the maker overnight to grow trillions of fresh probiotics as they consume the natural sugars.
5. Leave the maker on until the milk starts to thicken or you can see some whey separation (yellow liquid is whey protein). You can leave on longer for more tart and a little thicker (e.g. 10.5 to 11 hours typically).
6. Unplug the maker and remove from the bottle.
7. Gently place the bottle into the refrigerator to cool completely (it is best to not shake the warm probiotics as that can cause dramatic whey separation later).
8. Flavour the cooled probiotics as desired by the glass, bowl, shake, or even the entire bottle. (Shaking or blending will break up the protein clumps so you may want to gently stir in already blended ingredients or flavourings).
9. You can strain off the whey to make Greek yogurt or strain even more for cream cheese.

 

So Easy It’s Unreal!

Flavouring Options

You can flavour as desired but here are a few flavouring ideas from customers:

• Add some chocolate protein powder to flavour and add extra protein
• Use Stevia and some lemon extract (Lemon Meringue Pie version)
• Use Monk Fruit as an alternative sweetener

What do I Like About the Probiotic Maker?

So as you can see making high quality probiotics is very simple and easy with the Probiotic Maker. What would take hours of work in the kitchen to make these from scratch can now be done with about one minute of prep with virtually no clean up to deal with. For those of you who want to consume high doses of probiotics daily at an affordable price and with ease of use, the Probiotic Maker is a life saver. One feature that I like is that the sleeve of this device is a one size fit all. So no matter if you want to take a small one litre container or go big with a gallon jug of milk, it makes no difference. I know with strength athletes the big gallon jug will be used most of the time that is for sure.

Could This Be Any Easier?

Next it is super easy to use. It really couldn’t be easier in my opinion and that is a huge selling feature of this product. I have worked with different fermentation recipes in the past and as rewarding as it is to being able to consume probiotic cultures daily, the task of working with it can honestly be a real headache. The Probiotic Maker takes out all this fuss so you can make a new batch every single day if you wanted and the best part of it is that it can be made while you sleep. When you wake up in the morning your culture is ready to go to be added to your breakfast or other meals of the day. Another huge plus is the potency in which the fermented culture will be. Just a one gallon of whole milk after being fermented by using the Probiotic Maker will give you a crazy number of probiotics. To simplify this you would have to consume hundred of probiotic tablets, as much as 32 small containers of yogurt, close to 50 yogurt drinks or close to 65 Yogurt tubes to get the same effect. Think of how much money you are saving because its quite remarkable in the least.

Silk Cashew Milk Works Amazing for a Dairy Alternative

What About Dairy Free Probiotics?

One more thing to note is that many of you may not like consume cow dairy or any form at all. Well with the Probiotic Maker this is not an issue. I have used my Probiotic Maker for making goat milk kefir and it came out amazing. I am also a big fan of coconut milk kefir as well and it worked out well using this amazing device. Some people like to use almond or cashew milk in their daily plan instead of dairy. The Probiotic Maker will not leave you disappointed in this areas as well. Here are three important rules you need to always consider when making cultured probiotic rich foods that are not dairy based.

Natural Sugars: There has to be some natural sugars for the probiotics to consume to get the energy needed to grow. Check the label for carbohydrates and sugars to see there are some natural sugars present.

Avoid Preservatives: You will want to avoid harsh preservatives that can inhibit probiotic growth. There are even some natural preservatives that can inhibit growth. So you may want to avoid Vitamin C, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E…Some of the alternatives worked even with preservatives “to protect freshness” or “to preserve flavour” but we had to go much longer than normal as they slowed down the probiotic growth quite a bit. Some milk alternatives with Vitamin C or more Ascorbic Acid didn’t grow the probiotics even after nearly 24 hours of culturing (normally would never go over 12 hours).

Protein:Remember that if you want the probiotics to thicken the proteins then there has to be enough proteins present (e.g. 8 grams per cup like regular milk). In some cases with very little protein, you could see the protein “flakes” had congealed/thickened but there was not enough protein present to thicken all the liquid.

I Love Kefir Yogurt!

Brands That Work with Probiotic Maker

Here are the brands that worked in our tests (videos below) and a few customer tests (remember to maybe culture a little longer to see if turns tart). We ran the test batches much longer than usual to get definitive results (e.g. ~24 hours but you may only want to culture until it turns tart normally well under 12 hours max). You only need to culture until it turns tart (or starts to thicken on versions with a lot of protein).

Please email Merrick with other brands you have tested and whether they worked or did not and he will send you a couple of starter packets for testing.

Makes a Great Addition to Protein Smoothies!

Brands that worked:

• Silk® 10g Almond Cashew (Merrick’s favorite alternative, thickens as has a lot of pea protein)
• Ripple® Original (Customer recommendation – we did not test)
• Blue Diamond® Almond Breeze Original (only turned tart as not a lot of protein to thicken)
• Simple Truth™ Vanilla Almond (only turned tart as not a lot of protein to thicken)
• Simple Truth™ Coconut (only turned tart as not a lot of protein to thicken)
• Silk® Soy Original (Thickened)
• Great Value™ Soy (Thickened)
• Planet Oat® Oat Milk (only turned tart as not a lot of protein to thicken)
• Rice Dream™ Rice Milk (only turned tart as not a lot of protein to thicken)
• Lactaid® Lactose-Free Fat-Free Milk (Thickened-probiotics consume the lactose to grow so normally wouldn’t use lactose-free)
• Meyenberg™ Goat Milk (Thickened-would like to try for cream cheese)
• Silk® Ultra, Unsweetened, 20g Protein(soy) (per customer “Worked Great!”)
• Silk® Chocolate Soy (per customer, normally you add all flavouring and chocolate after but customer said it still had a hint of chocolate)

Do I Recommend the Probiotic Maker?

From all the positive things that I experienced using the Probiotic Maker I have to say this is an amazing invention. I have loved fermented dairy and non dairy products for more than two decades. I have spent countless hours in the kitchen working on all these projects and I have to say that it can very time consuming. But because I wanted to take advantage of the numerous health benefits that they offer I bit the bullet and put the time in to make it happen. But with the Probiotic Maker all the hassles that I experienced in the past are just that… a thing of the past. Consuming fermented foods is an old world custom that is now gaining popularity once again even in the mainstream media. The convenience factor is a huge plus because unless you are a die hard health foodie, the large majority of you will not even attempt to do it let alone stick with the constant workload that comes with the territory. One thing I have realized and so has Merrick is that if the procedure is too complex, the amount of people that will actually use it consistently will be minimal.

I Love My Probiotic Maker!

So do I recommend the Probiotic Maker? You bet I do because it is that good of a product. It provides an amazing method to ferment dairy culture with ease. It provides you with trillions of CFU’s (Colony Forming Units) per day with not only almost no work, but at a price that will be easy on your wallet. Probiotics are critical for optimal health and wellbeing and with the Probiotic Maker it couldn’t be easier. If you are interested in improving your gut microbiome then look no further. The Probiotic Maker is an amazing product that I am sure you will be very pleased with just as I have.

Click this link for a 15% discount price and use the code PowerNutritionist

 

Optimal Gut Bacteria is Critical for Health!

 

To find out more information check out his website:

www.probioticmaker.com

You can email Merrick directly at:

info@probioticmaker.com

 

Or give him a call at:

(801) 484-5300

1-833-EZ-Yogurt