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LOTS of NOTES:::FROZEN YOGURT BASE WINNER (selected by His Majesty)::: After many frozen yogurt base tests, the approved frozen yogurt recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. WHY can't I just use Greek yogurt? Why the extra step of straining regular yogurt???From ATK website:::Frozen yogurt made with Greek-style yogurt, which has been strained of excess liquid, churned up crumbly and chalky.The reason for these results is twofold:First, Greek-style yogurt has a particularly high protein content (in lab tests, ATK found that it had almost twice as much protein as regular yogurt we strained ourselves).Second, it’s often strained by centrifuge, which can damage these proteins and increase the likelihood of a chalky texture.So if you use Greek when making frozen yogurt, you’ll pay for that convenience in texture. Strain regular yogurt for the creamiest, smoothest results. TO STRAIN THE WHOLE MILK YOGURT, I use this fabulous kitchen gadget. There's an alternate method in the video. The recipe states strain at least 8 hours and no more than 12---I left it for 4 days without issue (and once, I did *not* stir the excess whey back in as instructed, *no* issues).SIDE NOTE on cleaning the EuroCuisine strainer (if you get it): Instructions direct to rinse in hot water. I found the heat set the yogurt protein into the mesh. Now, I spray the strainer with Dawn Powerwash, let it sit, then use a soft dish brush all over it before rinsing in *cold* tap water...no problems with set-in protein since. GELATIN GAFFES::: Follow the instructions *exactly* when blooming the gelatin. Once, I dumped the gelatin into a small bowl first, then added the whey on top....clumpy result. Another time, I didn't allow the gelatin enough time (I gave it like 30 seconds) to soften before heating....clumpy result. Heat it carefully, *watch* the gelatin as it's heating....press the Stop button as soon as you see bubbles along the edge....once, I took it to a full-throttle, rolling boil and killed the gelling property in it. Follow the instructions *exactly* . CHERRIES of CHOICE::: The taste tester and bereaved Cherry-Garcia-FroYo-junkie husband decided on these cherries as winner for dupe-est taste. I just bought them cheaper in bulk, here.The approved chop-size for the cherries was a mix of halves and mostly quarters, kept frozen in a container, ready for Mix-Ins. I don't have a pic of the finished FroYo, but spinning in the cherries colored the product *perfectly ....*nods of approval were noted. TWEAKING the YOGURT BASE::: In one of the taste tests, just spinning the chosen Royal Harvest cherries as a Mix-In into the frozen yogurt base was NOT approved as a B&J CG dupe....the flavor overall wasn't quite right.So I made an invert sugar (syrup) out of the liquid from the chosen cherries to flavor the base (3 T. per the recipe). This adjustment very much pleased the crown.I only had 92g of the cherry liquid available for use, so I topped it off with water to reach the correct amount in this recipe---scroll down to ""Copycat Trimoline (Commercial Invert Sugar) Recipe"" . The finished invert sugar is shown here . AL DENTE CHOCOLATE MIX-IN::: I melted 250g 70% chocolate in a double boiler. When melted, I stirred in 66g expellar-pressed (refined) coconut oil (no coconut taste detected in the chocolate). I poured it onto a Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread it out evenly with a spatula, then allowed it to cool and harden at room temp. Then I cut the sheet with a nylon (saving the silicone mat from harm) "knife" into tiny rectangles. They're stored in a container in the freezer, ready for Mix-Ins. WOW..... whatta tome, right? I'm in a waiting room for several hours, so I had plenty of time to write this up! Lemme know if you have any questions. I'd love to know any tweaks/adjustments or process improvements you discover!