How does Greek yogurt differ from other yogurts?

They are selling it at our Starbucks and I have been eating it whn ever I find it there.As far as taste it is less sweeet and is creamer. Instead of cane sugar or fruit it is sweetened by honey which is pourd into the bottom of the cup before adding the yogurt. This allows you to determine how sweet you want it by how much you stir it.

While hard to dscribe I can say that it makes other yougurt taste like a dessert and yet it is sweet and rich itself.

Absolutely you can taste the difference. Greek yogurt with honey is awesome, especially over fresh fruit. Even the fat free Greek yogurt is wonderful.

It is a different consistency from convential yogurt, but it isn’t made from ewe’s milk. We have a local company that makes it from cows milk.

But what happens in the production to differentiate it from regular yogurt?

It has less moisture. You can make it yourself by lining a colander with a cotton dish towel (the old-fashioned “flour-sack” material) and allowing fresh whole-milk plain yogurt to drip through the cloth until the remainder is the consistency you prefer. You can then flavor it in whatever way you please – I prefer a bit of honey when I serve it with fruit. I defy you to tell the difference between homemade and store bought “Greek” yogurt.

It’s supposed to be higher in protein and lower in moisture than regular yogurt. Our local company is Chobani, check out the web site. chobani.com

[Mod Says:] Yes it was a legit question. However because it was not helpful nor did it address this question regarding what is different about the production of Greek Yogurt from other yogurts it was removed.

On a happy note- since it was a legit question the user is free to ask it as a new question. :)

So the only difference is the amount of water in the product?

That is why I like this place as I do learn at least one thing everyday. I checked the Chobani link @Adirondackwannabe supplied and they simply do what @dpworkin suggests and simply remove the moisture by draining it and I would expect that is why it has such a high protein percentage as there is a lot less water to dilute that percent. I found a article that says reg yogurt is 82–85% moisture and I couldn’t find the percent of Greek but I would expect at least half to get the double the protein content. Which also accounts for the high price of Greek yogurt as you are buying a lot less water and more of the good stuff.

My first experience with Greek yogurt was in Greece, and I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. When I returned to England, where I was living for a time, I found Greek yogurt in a carton, and learned from the info written on the side that the yogurt was 50% fat! no wonder it was so delicious—like eating sour cream. Ummm, yummm.

Yes, the main difference is the texture, but the way they arrive at that creamer texture also gives it a much richer taste. Let the moisture drain out longer just naturally makes it less watery.

@Val123 I do, I was there

I always thought it was just thicker and less watery than typical yogurt. Chefs say that you can make a substitute for greek yogurt by putting regular yogurt in a cheese cloth and allowing the water to fall out of it…kind of like making cheese. I’m not sure if there are other differences.

To me, it has the same texture as sour cream.

One really easy recipe using Greek yogurt is tzatziki – cucumber yogurt dip. Really spectacular summer food. Server with plain pita, put it on salmon burgers, eat it with a spoon, everyone likes tzatziki!

A slight change to the linked recipe – when your sliced cucumbers are in the colander, put a gallon ziploc bag of water on top to squeeze out the water, for extra-crunchy cucumbers.

If you live near a Trader Joe’s, they have the best price on greek yogurt. It’s ½ the price of the chain supermarkets (if they even carry it).