I've been making my own yogurt since the subject came up on here a while back. This time, I used Trader Joe's 2% Fage yogurt as the starter. I used 2 tablespoons in about a quart of reconstituted dry milk. My yogurt never really solidified, and it looked just awful - curdled milk, mainly. I couldn't stand to just toss it, so I drained it with the idea that it might make yogurt cheese or something edible. It was really good. The result was much more like ricotta cheese than anything else I can think of - it wasn't smooth like the original yogurt.

Has anyone else tried using the fage as a starter? I wonder if the culture in the fage always makes something that has to be drained?

I have had really good, consistent results making regular yogurt using Mountain High as a starter.

I use Fage yogurt, either 2% OR 0%, as starter every week. I've never had a problem with it. Make sure there wasn't any hidden grease/oil on you pan or cooking utensils. During the hot weather, I can't let my yogurt go the 10 to 12 hours like when it is cooler. It seems to get chunky and very, very thick. Still tastes good, but don't like it like ricotta. I change my Fage starter about every third batch, because I want fresh cultures, and I can't keep my DH from eating the last 1/2 c. I was dumping the whey and found out that if I mixed in back in that my mix was smoother. I was using the whey in my bread.

Thanks. So, I am thinking that this was just something that happened, and has nothing to do with the Fage.