There is nothing nicer than meeting a product you like and then meeting the lovely “parents” who brought this product to life. This happened with Chobani Yogurt (a thick Greek-style yogurt). I knew of their yogurt, thought it was great, met one of the wonderful people behind the product, adored her, she loved The Sweet Beet and here we are – giving their stuff away.
My yogurt passion runs deep. Some people fancy themselves a wine connoisseur (so not me), but yogurt – you’ve come to the right place. So let’s talk Greek…
Getting Out Of The Whey: Why The Hype Over Greek
Greek yogurt is simply “regular” yogurt that’s been strained so that much of the liquid (the “whey”) is removed, leaving the yogurt with double the protein and half the sugar (largely found in the whey).
It was really the Fage brand that made the term “Greek yogurt” ubiquitous in the West, but “strained yogurt” is the official term and is a staple in many countries besides Greece. Moreover, most yogurt in Greece is not even strained! The strained kind is more often used for cooking or as a dessert.
What’s Cool About Chobani’s Take On Greek…
Two things:
1) Their straining process removes more of the water and less of the protein from the whey, leaving most of the nine essential amino acids/proteins intact.
2) They add more probiotic cultures than many yogurt brands. To call a product “yogurt”, you legally have to use two cultures: lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus. Chobani, however, adds three more probiotic cultures: lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidus, and lactobacillus casei. Is that a big deal? Well there is some evidence that the basic yogurt strains can not be considered “probiotic” as they do not survive the stomach acids and so do not repopulate in the gut (check this from my proB post). Also various probiotic strains become active at various points of the digestive track, so generally the more strains, the greater chance you’re getting probiotics spread throughout your gut.
Why Are A Lot of Greek Yogurts (including Chobani) Not Organic?
Not certain on this, but I think it’s because with Greek you have to start with so much more milk to get the same end volume (because of the straining), so it would make the end cost to the consumer a lot higher. (Their cows though, are not treated with the growth hormone rGBH.)
Is Greek Any Lower In Lactose?
Yogurt in general is lower in lactose than milk, and Greek typically is lower still because of the straining which removes much of the lactose, and gives it its distinctive tangy taste.
More Fun With Yogurt
This is not just fruit with yogurt …
Sure there is kiwi …
And grated lime… but other secret ingredients too.
Oh and in case you were wondering, yes you can freeze yogurt. While frozen, the active cultures become dormant, but once thawed, they spring back to life.
So How Do I Win
Two cases (12 cups in a case, your choice of flavor) will be given away to two subscribers (one case each). So to start, you have to be a subscriber to win (sign-up-box top right of page), PLUS — to enter you have to leave a comment. You can say whatever you want … fave ways to eat it, creative ways you cook with it…
The two winners will be announced August 22.
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