🥛 Whey | What to do with all that extra?

Ruth Ann Reyes
Ruth Ann Reyes Posts: 577 admin

I like to occasionally make Greek style yogurt using my instant pot. I use this clever strainer to make a nice, thick yogurt as I like to use it in place of sour cream.

My question is, what do you do with leftover whey?

@Merin Porter I think you make yogurt, do you strain yours? If so, what do you do with the extra whey?

Comments

  • Desire’
    Desire’ Posts: 31 ✭✭

    I like to use it to make fermented "sodas". Its basically your favorite fruit juice, whey, a little sugar, and water. Put an airlock on it and let it ferment for around 2-3 days, then chill it. I wish I could share the exact recipe but my bookmark says its a broken link now.

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin

    The answer to EVERYTHING is....

    feed it to the chickens



    uh oh.... where did the emoji's go??? I was going to find a chicken to put in here.

  • hmsadmin
    hmsadmin Posts: 123 admin

    That looks like it might have enough fat content left that you could pull some ricotta cheese from it.

    I couldn't tell you exactly how to do it.. every recipe I've followed has "failed" and I've had to quickly add more rennet or acid or heat or salt to save the batches haha! My experiments with mozz, ricotta, and cream cheese have all eventually turn out great, but every time it seems to be more about feel, look, taste, and what it's actually doing in the pot that determines the recipe rather than what's in the written recipe I'm following..

    I like to use it in place of water in some recipes, especially breads and soups. My dog loves to drink it straight too!

    And, I haven't tried this myself yet, but my step-mother raves about it all the time for her hair, and even a cup or two added to a bath.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited May 2019

    I did ricotta and had it work once, but with leftover cheese whey. You need to add more milk for it to work. You aren't supposed to boil it, but that was hard not to do!

    I developed a sugar free whole grain buns/bread recipe that needs whey. It is good bread! Experiment in any recipe that uses flour & water & see what happens.

    I have also used whey as a soup base. It makes any soup a longer lasting filling meal. My husband, who hates soups because they aren't filling, enjoys those whey soups.

    Whey is a meat tenderizer, much like papaya seeds. I am going to try to use it to tenderize harvested roosters. One thing that I have learned, though, is that you leave this too long and it dissolves *everything* due to its enzyme action. I would keep an eye on it.

    Of course, animals do enjoy drinking it straight too. My kids as well...

    @Linzi...For hair? I will have to try that. What does it do for it? I think a bath would tenderize your skin. Haha

  • Ruth Ann Reyes
    Ruth Ann Reyes Posts: 577 admin

    @Laurie great advice, thanks so much! I'll try to use it in place of water and let you know how it works out!!!...and I like the soup and tenderizer ideas y'all proposed as well!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited May 2019

    Okay now. I went looking again. For all those who still eat sugar...who knew that you could make a lemon whey pie, or caramel from whey?

    I will have to try a few more of these ideas. We always freeze our extra whey for later use, we make so much of it.

    I made kimchi from a traditional Korean recipe (http://drbenkim.com/recipes-kim-chi.htm) for the first time and we love it chopped up as a relish. There is no processed sugar in it either, just apple & pear! I wonder how using whey in it might change things up. Hmmm.....


    Check THIS one out!

    https://morningchores.com/uses-for-whey/

    I am NOT done...this is getting very exciting for the adventurous.Two more recipes follow...the whey can be from either goats milk or cows milk...I HAVE TO DO THESE.

    The above post includes a link to a tasty sounding fondue. Now I'm off to read about the lemon whey pie...

  • David The Good
    David The Good Posts: 2 ✭

    Whey should be a great plant fertilizer. I would thin it and water away. Lots of protein in there, which breaks down into nitrogen.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    It is. Most things that I read said that it can be quite acidic, so watering down by half was recommended.

  • Rebecca
    Rebecca Posts: 4 ✭

    I hear it is good to consume, because it heals the gut because of all the probiotics. It has been know to help curb the appetite. If one pumps iron & such it helps the muscle's as it is consumed in smoothie's.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin


    @Ruth Reyes-Loiacano I do use my instant pot to make yogurt, but I've never tried straining it. LOVE the way that strainer looks, though, and may have to get me one. :) The one time I tried making mozzarella, I used the leftover whey to make ricotta, and then I feel like I used what was left over after that to make Gjetost. But it's been a few years, and I can't remember 100%....

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    As for that strainer...I wonder if reusable coffee filters would work? Although...they are a touch small.

    Too bad I didn't think of that sooner. I just donated a whole bunch of them a couple months ago. I will have to see if I kept any at all and if I did, try it out.

  • Jimerson
    Jimerson Posts: 291 admin

    I love to just drink it.. haha.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There are some great ideas so for whey and its uses so I am bumping it up