Here's a great question from Hannah. Can you help her?
I made yogurt for the first time ever as a result of your linking to the article about whether it's cheaper to make or buy certain foods. The yogurt is unbelievable, and will be a regular project! However, I have a pint of whey that I'm not sure what to do with. I know I can bake with it, but between myself and my husband there's only so many muffins/biscuits etc we can eat.
She also says:
Also, I've found conflicting sources about how long the whey will keep in the fridge, and whether it still has live bacteria in it. What's the real story?
Hannah, that is great you've been making your own yogurt. This is a fascinating question, and not one that we have any experience with! There are a lot of things, though, that you can do with leftover whey. You can use it in pretty much any recipe that calls for a mild liquid or for milk. Here are a few interesting links we found. The most intriguing possibility, honestly, is making more cheese - ricotta or cream cheese!
• Making ricotta with whey - This article seems unclear, though, on whether leftover whey from yogurt would qualify for making ricotta.
• Leftover Whey at Dollar Stretcher, including a tip on using it to make cream cheese
• What to do with leftover whey? at Chowhound
OK readers with more experience of whey -- any good tips? Also, any ideas on how long the whey keeps?
Related: Weekend Project: Make Your Own Mozzarella!
(Image: Flickr member foonus licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Is the whey sour? Sorry, I haven't made yogurt yet so I don't know.
If it is not too sour, you can use it to braise pork in.
Awesome, thanks!
I'm not sure if it's sour- saw a comment on one of those links that suggested adding sweetener and drinking like lemonade, so it must not be too bad. The thought made me grimace though...
I'll definitely try out those other ideas. :)
@HannahS,
I was enjoying a soft drink in Switzerland when I read the label and discovered that it was 10% "lactoserum", which is whey! I never would have thought that it could be enjoyable. Try cutting it with a little sugar syrup and club soda?
I actually blogged about this myself a week or so ago.
http://www.karacooks.com/2009/04/whey/
I used some of the leftover whey to make biscuits (in lieu of buttermilk), and I used some to thicken a cream soup I was making. I also put about 2 cups of it in a jar and froze it, which seems to have worked well. I haven't thawed it and used it yet, but it seems to look fine and I have no reason to believe it won't thaw well.
Also I was skeptical about just drinking it, but I did brace myself and try a few sips and found that it wasn't bad. I think it would make an interesting lemonade base ... perhaps made extra lemony and then diluted with some sparkling water? Or brightened up with a splash of grenadine syrup? Hm. I'll have to try that.
i've heard that whey is quite good for you. what about adding it to smoothies?
Feed it to your pig...
I make a lovely Whey and Honey loaf, it's a lovely sweetish bread, a bit like a light brioche:
Heat the whey slightly, then whisk in a couple of spoons of honey, two tsp active dry yeast (or fresh, whatever is to hand) and 250g flour. leave to go bubbly for half an hour.
add in 250g more flour, 50g melted butter and a couple of tsp salt.
knead, rise, knock back and bake as per usual.
If you're not accustomed to baking bread, and therefore need more instruction-simply find a bread recipe and substitute the water for whey-you can make lovely creamy savoury breads using whey (add herbs for best effect).
Add it to bread in place of milk, or buttermilk. I bet you could make some delicious pancakes with it.
I don't see any reason why you can't make ricotta with it; and freshly-made ricotta is like nothing else! So good!
http://www.abreadaday.com
I'm wondering if I can use the whey in place of water in no-knead breads, which sit out on the counter sometimes for as long as 24 hrs...is that cool?
I've also heard you can soak your whole grains in it for a few hours before cooking for extra nutrient absorption and digestibility? No idea how true that is though...
And it's definitely a nice drink, once you get used to it. I like it with lemon and agave, or some fizz added like someone suggested. I think they drink it in Switzerland--supposed to be good after heavy exercise etc., something about it helping cut the lactic acid build-up connected to sore muscles, etc?
whey is supposed to be excellent to use in pickling!
You can feed it to a piglet and raise a really yummy Easter ham. : P
I don't know what you can do with it, but this question made me think of a article in Cooking Light that compared nutrients in Greek vs regular yogurt - the greek had way less calcium (presumably lost during the draining of some of the whey):
http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/take-two-plain-yogurt-greek-yogurt-00400000037639/
- so I'm going to guess that it's high in calcium.
Just thought that was interesting
Wow, that's a lot of whey from yogurt. I've been making yogurt weekly for over a year now and I don't get much. Sometimes I'll drain it, sometimes I'll stir it back in. Even if you CAN make ricotta out of yogurt whey, (I've never had much luck with the whey from mozzerella) there won't be enough to make cheesemaking worthwhile. Don't bother. Just stir the stuff back into the yogurt, or if you're straining your yogurt to make yogurt cheese and have lots more, send it off to the compost pile.
Kim chee, beet kvass, pickles, soaking raw nuts and grains...
Seven answers to what to do with whey: http://bottomupfood.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/ways-we-use-whey/
If you like sour flavors - lemon juice, pickles - then just drink it, or make whey-ade. According the USDA, 8 ounces has 59 calories, 2 grams protein, 250 mg calcium, 350 mg potassium and lots of other good things.
This recipe has you turn the whey into caramel and then top the strained yogurt with it - my kids beg for it!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/151crex.html?ref=dining
Certain meats do great if marinated in milk before cooking, and whey also works perfectly for these applications. One example is breaded trout. Another one: my wife hates liver but I love it, and I am convinced it's because my mom always soaked it in milk for a couple hours before cooking. The few times I've had liver not prepared this way, it tasted very gamey to me. Good luck!