Wasn’t Fage an awful disease in Star Trek where the skin fell off of those who were affected?
I tried Chobani after trying Fage. I see no reason to have Chobani.
As I said, that’s the whole point of strained Greek-style yogurt. It’s like a firm custard. That’s exactly why I like it better than Dannon or Yoplait.
The manufacturers are rarely the best judges of how to use their own products so stir if you like.
It is purely a textural and mouthfeel issue. If you like that sort of thing you can leave it unstirred and have chunks of it with honey. Or, if you are using it as an ingredient for curries and soups or perhaps as a dip then of course stirred is the way to go.
The Fage brand is decent enough and well known over here in the UK (though I prefer Lidl’s MASSIVE buckets of the stuff) In any case, for those worrying about shelf life, don’t be. I’ve had pots of it in the fridge for weeks and as long as the lid is on and you give it a quick sniff test you’ll be good to go. I’ve never had refrigerated greek yoghurt go off. Hell it is “off” milk anyway, how much more “off-er” can it get?
Shiftless, don’t you recognize me? I’m your long-lost cousin! I will PM you my address so you can mail some of our famous family cherry slurry to me ASAP. 
Wow, have we found a new “MINE is The Correct Right And Proper Way You Clueless Heathen!!” to argue about? Goody, I was getting bored with toilet paper direction and shoes in the house…
Greek yogurt is clumpy and thick. European style yogurt is smooth and thin. (American mass market yogurt is sweet and gelatinous and comes in scary colors.)
They’re really related but different foods, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s like saying cheddar is right and swiss is wrong.
But yes, if you stir Greek yogurt, you’ll make it more like European yogurt, and then what’s the point of buying Greek yogurt? Unless, of course, what you want is something in between Greek and European yogurt, in which case…stir away. Just know that if you don’t finish it in one sitting, you’re going to come back to lots of separated whey. You haven’t ruined it, just stir it back in, but it looks kinda gross.
Yes, Greek yogurt will get even firmer and form visible curds if you let it sit around a long time in the fridge. This is not a bug, it’s a feature. Eventually, you’ll get a lowfat fresh cheese, which you can spread on biscuits and top with fruit preserves or put in cheesecake or omelets or just about anything you’d do with cream cheese. (You can speed this up by giving it a stir and then draining your yogurt in cheesecloth.)
I heard an interesting story on NPR about the Greek yogurt craze and how the knock-off brands are cheating the system. Apparently Fage and Choboni are really Greek-style yogurt but store-brands like Safeway and even Yoplait just add cornstarch or something to replicate the mouth-feel of the Greek-style.
Ah, found it: High-Tech Shortcut To Greek Yogurt Leaves Purists Fuming : The Salt : NPR
If you stir, Willem Dafoe (the Fage ad voiceover guy) comes over to your house and looks at you menacingly.
Every time I look up Fage on Sparkpeople it says “Did you mean face?” Yep, I totally had face for breakfast.
Yes, but spelled Phage. Which is why I don’t eat it.
I thought the title was FaCe yogurt and really thought this was a darker, kinkier thread.
Sorry.
“Phage” just means “eat”, which ought to be a perfectly appropriate name for a foodstuff.
Actually, “Fage” is not pronounced like “Phage.”
It’s not jumped on the “Greek!” bandwagon, and it’s probably one of the most expensive brands at my local Safeway, but I am LOVING Noosa brand yoghurt. Yes, they even spell it right, since it’s based on an Australian yoghurt culture, but made in the US. It’s almost cheesy flavoured, it’s so rich, and the fruit compotes are very nice, my favourite is the strawberry rhubarb.
I wonder if I were to use it as my starter culture, if it would make homemade yoghurt quite as yummy? I don’t really want to mess around with cheesecloth, though.
Don’t get the kind that has honey or anything else. Just buy plain Fage yogurt.
Insert yogurt into mouth.
Repeat.
If you don’t finish the container, and fridge the rest, yes it’s OK to stir it.
I think most yoghurts work well as starters. Certainly the Fage stuff does.
My method? two pints of full fat milk to just under finger temp. Two big dollops of greek yoghurt and stir. Stick it in a thermos overnight. Tip into a muslin lined sieve to strain off.
With the Fage sidecar, rather than scooping it out with a spoon (nigh impossible) I flip it up over the yogurt cup and squeeze the contents out.
I am writing down all the brands peole are mentioning and will try some of them. I’ve tried some store brands and the Dannon greek yohurt and they were all bad. Not just not good - bad. We debate Fage vs Chobani in my house. No other kind we’ve tried so far has come close.
It is in my house. Yes, we know it’s wrong but it’s ingrained in our language now. “WHO ATE ALL THE PHAGE?!!”
I would love to oblige but even my sister only got one 8 oz container of cherry goodness. I suggested she might try some homemade peach jam instead and got that tight-lipped glare sisters do sometimes.
I like Fage best of all the brands of Greek yogurt I’ve tried. I didn’t stir it, but I also didn’t realize you were not supposed to stir it. I only buy the kind without additives so I never saw the side car. I only stir yogurt if it’s got separated (some clear liquid next to the white part) anyway.
I like it plain. I usually dip it onto flavored potato or corn chips. I like the 2% best but all %s are good.
Other brands (Dannon, Chobani, etc) are not bad, and the store brands I’ve tried have been ok too, but Fage is just better tasting.
This how they show it on the commercials.
Out of Trader Joe’s greek yogurt, Oikos, Chobana, Voskos, and Fage, I like Fage the best. Perhaps it’s because Fage is the first kind I ever tried and held all others to that standard, but as others said it’s just nicely dense and creamy. I haven’t had any desire to return to the Dannon and Yoplait of my childhood. As others have mentioned, they’ve begun to make their own “greek” yogurt but if you look closely at the ingredients, you’ll see a LOT more than the usual milk and cultures of real greek yogurt. They add in sweeteners and binders such as corn starch and gums.
The sidecar to me is a big ripoff. Same amount of money for way less yogurt. Honey is okay but I find that the other fruit jellies are WAY too sweet (and this is coming from a person who loves sweet stuff!) I like to add in my own jelly or, better yet, my own chopped fruit and a little granola.
Fage also makes a good substitute for sour cream on things like tacos, potatoes, etc. I have yet to try cooking with it, though. I don’t think it would hold up as well as sour cream.