The Yogurt Diaries #6

[teaberryblue]

Today, I tried out another major brand name yogurt: Yoplait. I bought th original French Vanilla flavor. Since my mom bought it for me, I am not sure how much it cost, so I’m afraid no cost comparison.

Yoplait French Vanilla

The Yoplait does have a very creamy layer stuck to the top of the foil. On the other hand, I read the ingredient list? Warning: Yoplait? Is not even vegetarian. It has gelatin in it, so while I am sure most vegetarians are already aware of this, if you’re not a vegetarian and cooking for a veggie friend, don’t use this brand!

It also has a much longer ingredient list than any other yogurt I’ve tasted so far. It has corn starch, corn syrup, and lots of other crap. It also has added vitamins, but I don’t really see the point. That’s like adding vitamins to Coca-Cola, as far as I’m concerned.

Yoplait French Vanilla Opened

ANYWAY, let’s get down to tasting. This yogurt is very, very smooth and actually seems to have a consistency more like those little Jell-o cups of pre-made pudding than it does like any other yogurts I’ve tasted. It is also incredibly sweet– much sweeter than Dannon. The flavor is a bit like pudding as well, which I imagine is because of all the cornstarch, since that’s essentially what pudding is made out of. It doesn’t really taste very much like a dairy product at all!

I don’t think Yoplait tastes bad, and if you like pudding more than you like yogurt, you might want to try this, but I don’t think this is at all what most people have in mind when they want a yogurt! It is just very sweet and dessert-y. I would not recommend this to anyone who is shopping around for a new yogurt because it doesn’t taste like yogurt at all, but it might be good as a crepe topping or something like that.

Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

Comments

[lunylucy.livejournal.com]

The taste is fine, but I personally don't like how the top of the container is narrower than the bottom. Makes it kinda awkward.

Also: That’s like adding vitamins to Coca-Cola, as far as I’m concerned. ---> Coke Plus.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY LIKE COKE PLUS.

I think it tastes all right, but it totally does not taste like yogurt, if you know what I mean? And yeah, the container is freaky.

[torsui.livejournal.com]

forget the soda, what about that Budweiser Extra stuff?

out of curiosity, have you tried making your own yogurt?

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

I haven't! My mother used to make all our yogurt when I was a kid and I fondly remember the yogurt container sitting out on the counter. But I've never done it myself. Maybe when I get done testing I will try it.

And crap, I have not even heard about this Budweiser thing. Although to be fair, Budweiser is just bad beer, it is not ridiculously unhealthy.

[torsui.livejournal.com]

it was like.. B to the e. because adding caffeine etc. to beer is such a great idea.

mom still likes the dannon activia stuff, though the studies done on it are kind of amusing to read.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's CAFFEINE? I thought we were talking about adding vitamins to things.

[torsui.livejournal.com]

not quite vitamins, no -- i think they were trying to buy into the energy drink thing. ginseng, guarana, caffeine.

i'm now trying to imagine how effective adding vitamins to beer would be.

[smammers.livejournal.com]

Yoplait is the only yogurt I eat! But that's because it's cheap (50-75 cents in my area), and because it's so sweet and comes in such delicious flavors as raspberry cheesecake and Boston creme pie, it makes a good dessert substitute. I can't afford to spend more than a dollar per yogurt.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Huh! It is more expensive than Axelrod or Columbo or Cabot's here. It's actually more expensive regular price than my fancy yogurts are on sale-- they are about $.85 wheras Yoplait is about $1.05.

[smammers.livejournal.com]

How odd. It's definitely 75c regular price and 50c on sale here in Hartford! The only thing cheaper is store brand (Stop & Shop, usually), which is about 10c cheaper but is FAR worse in quality.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling that it might be because there is more of a demand for the fancy yogurts in New York? I buy them at a natural foods store that doesn't sell any of the typical brands so this is their only market.

[incognito323.livejournal.com]

have you tried fage total? it's an all natural greek strained yogurt that i am particularly fond of. it usually comes with honey or fruit that you mix in yourself. i really like it, which is saying something coming from me, who has weird texture issues and dairy issues. i buy mine from trader joe's, but i'm pretty sure regular grocery stores have it too.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have tried Fage Total, it was pretty much the first Greek Style yogurt available in stores here and has been around for a while. It's in all the major grocery stores. It's one of the ones I've been holding off on doing because it's a brand I actually eat semi-regularly.

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

I know that Yoplait is $1.09 at my work, don't know if that's the grocery store cost.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I want to say it was $1.05 in my own grocery store, but I am not 100% sure.

[pachakuti.livejournal.com]

I find all your yogurt prices really interesting as you go through, because here store brand yogurt = 40 cents, 45 cents tops... yoplait is 50 cents, maybe 60... dannon would be about 60 cents a container too. Whereas all the really interesting stuff you started out with, would still be almost exactly the same price or higher...

THIS INTRIGUES ME.

I want to buy Oikos greek yogurt by the bucketful, I love it mixed with honey so much, but a single tiny container is nearly 2.00 and I juts can't afford that.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Crap! I don't think Oikos costs nearly that much here! I will check the next time I am in the grocery store.

I don't know why this is! But we've had this conversation before, about how healthy shit is way cheaper and sugary crap is way more expensive than in the rest of the country here.

[rattsu.livejournal.com]

I think we had! I remember being a part of a discussion like that... NY prices seems to be very different from the rest of the US, Over here Yoplait is rather expensive though, it's seen as a sort of semi-luxury brand since it's french.

But we get almost all our yoghurt in the 1l cartons, like milk. Only the yoghurts for little kids come in single servings.

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

Omg, I just got a bunch of Yoplait Light today because they're delicious. XD And have vitamins, so in my logic, that makes them okay. (Same with Lucky Charms. Hee!)

This is kind of lame how excited I am to see my yogurt of choice featured in your reports, but who cares? Woohoo!

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

The other stuff has vitamins AND no chemicals! And not 27 grams of sugar. I don't eat light shit because I don't eat chemical sweeteners, but the regular Yoplait is like allll sugar.

[rattsu.livejournal.com]

One thing you might find fun to know!

It's about the texture of yogurt (and similar things) and how much sticks to the top. It's not only defendant on the actual yogurt, it is also dependent on which of two types of filling method they use. At times (at least here in sweden) the same brand can be done both ways, so you never know until you open it.

The first method is to fill the products very quickly in the container while it is still warm. This leads to the product setting in the cup, and gives a hard, pudding-like texture where you can spoon out bits of it. If it's a lower quality, this often leads to fluid collecting on the top, both water condensate from the cooling process and fluid from the yogurt itself. This means you can sometimes heat the container a little, and if you are lucky (and the product is of good quality) you can turn over the container and have a pretty little pudding on a plate. This is more common with other things like creme fraiche.

The second method is where they chill the yogurt in tanks, and pumps it into the container already cold. This is common with yogurts and leads to a creamy, sticky consistency where it can slush around a bit. This is when the product sticks to the lid, and it also releases less water since it's already cold.

Just thought you might find this information handy.