Don’t lie! We know you have been throwing it out!
We have done it, too. When you first start making cheese, you have enough to worry about without paying attention to the greenish-yellow stuff floating around in your pot. After all, it’s really all about the curds.
However, when you get to where you’re making cheese regularly, you start to realize that throwing out the whey is quite a waste. Why? Because the whey typically has lots of vitamins, minerals (particularly potassium) and proteins in it. There is no whey we can tell you how much, because it varies with the recipe for the cheese, including how hot the milk was heated. However, in general, it is thought to have half the good stuff in the milk you used.
First, we need to clarify that there are two kinds of whey-acid whey and sweet whey. This is important because many cheese makers try to do things with acid whey that will not work. For example, you will not get Ricotta or Gjetost from acid whey. Whether the whey is acid or sweet depends on the way you have made your cheese. Let’s break this down:
Sweet Whey
If you have another use for your whey, please let us know at info@cheesemaking.com. We’ll add it to this list.
Manuela says
I make Mysost all the time from my acid whey after I make my whole mike ricotta (8 cups whole milk + 4tbs white vinegar). I make both a creamy version of Mysost and a harder version that looks and taste a lot like Ski Queen cheese.
Jeri Case says
That sounds delicious. If you ever want to write up the steps you take, send it to info@cheesemaking.com so we can share it with everyone. (Pictures are good,too.)
I had no idea there were two types of wey! However, I had been baking bread with it for a long time. I also had added lemon juice to my leftover Feta whey and cooked it to get a panner which we fried with breakfeast!
Wow! That sounds great! How did you fry the paneer – did you add anything or just fry it up and serve it?
I had no idea there are 2 different wheys, acid and sweet. Cheesemaking.com is the best site for sharing information. Thank you kindly.
It has been far too long since I have made any cheese and I am missing it. My husband seems to have a pile of wine in my cheese cave…hum. These wonderful emails from cheesemaking have inspired me. I had no idea one could leave whey sitting out for a couple of days and still use it. That is great news as I never have room in my fridge for it. I do make homemade bread, sometimes several times a week. Can’t wait to try it this way too.
This summer has been scorching here in Nova Scotia, humidity extremely high too, as is the UV. Perhaps it is the perfect time for me to order up supplies and make cheese.
Thanks for the whey info everyone.
Thank you so much! Send us pictures when you start making cheese again. One note: You don’t want to leave whey out of the refrigerator for any length of time. It is still a dairy product, so, it should be treated like milk.
Happy cheese making!
Thank you for that update on whey sitting out Jeri. Looks like my tomatoes will be getting a tasty treat. Would love to share my pics with you.
Have a great week.
Darlene
Thx everyone for your input has cleared up a all the myths and presumptions.The science is the best answer especially when explained clearly.have been making poor ricotta etc for donkey years.Now I c why there’s a difference.Great reading keep up the info.Please share no good taking our results to the grave.How many of us wish we’d listened to the oldies when we had the chance.Thx again.loved it
I used to have access to the whey of a butter factory and fermented it into natural buttermilk….delicious. No longer available but now have access to cheese whey from a local producer. Can this whey be used in the same way to make the equivalent to buttermilk. Would like very much to taste some again.
What kind of cheese is the whey from?
Dear Jeri Case: The main cheese produced by the factory is Cheddar..You further comments would be appreciated….A. Fauvelle
This article answered a variety of questions as to why I was unable to make whey ricotta from my Florentine cheese. The Ph may have been too low.
bjr
this Easter I am going to use the whey left over from making ricotta to make my Italian Easter bread. This is a rich egg bread and I anxious to see how it comes out
Send us the recipe and pics! (jeri1000@gmail.com) That would make a great blog article!
IMPORTANT!
If you give whey to your dog in certain amounts, it will give them explosive diarrhea all over your house. Each dog is different as far as their tolerance, and I have had it happen to EVERY dog I have given it to – usually by just pouring whey over their kibble.
Please test your dog’s tolerance by keeping them outside or watching them closely after feeding whey. You will thank me!
Two other things I saw little or no mention of:
1) Cooking legumes or oatmeal in sweet whey. It gives beans a lovely buttery flavour. We use it is the pressure cooker to get beans in under two hours, without any pre-soak.
2) Lacto-fermentation of all sorts — see the Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon for lots of uses of whey in lacto-fermentation. We use it in pickles, sauerkraut, hot pepper sauce, etc.
Thank you! Those are great tips.
Can you use sweet whey in the making of sauerkraut? Which plants can be watered with it? I have cotton seeds sprouting (I am growing m own cotton for hand spinning). Can it be used on veggie plants?
bjr
I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use sweet whey when fermenting your sauerkraut. It sounds yummy!
As to the plants, I’m not an expert gardener. I know that it’s great for tomatoes and other acid loving plants. I don’t know about cotton, but let us know if you find out.
I just started learning how to keep chickens and I learned that any citrus fruit is bad for them, so I was told not to feed them any whey that came from lemon or citric acid curdling. Acid whey made with vinegar is fine though.
That’s interesting. Thanks for the info.
Can whey that comes from making ricotta be used in the same manner acid whey from making regular feta be used also? I usually get rid of it and this article made me think about maybe keeping the whey made from ricotta.
Yes, they both generate acid whey.
Now I know why my efforts at making gjetost with the whey from my chevre was never successful! Thanks for the info.
substitute all the milk in baking with whey. Rises beautifully especially scones. make my cream cheese and feta with rennet and am confused whether I end up with acidic or sweet whey as I want to put it on my veges and tomatoes and read different reports. would love some info.
Our technical advisor, Jim Wallace can help you with that- info@cheesemaking.com. Happy cheese making!
I have made fermented vegetables using wgey, works very well.
Whey used with my biscuit mix is divine–the tallest biscuits ever; also, have used whey when making rice, and it's fluffy and rich tasting; and, I've subbed whey for chicken stock when cooking for vegetarians.
Ha! Pedicures?!
We use the leftover whey for our goats and chickens. ONe goat comes running ot the bucket when he hears the gallon container opening. The other couldn't be bothered, but then he is wired a little differently anyway. We also use it for supplementing our dog's feed and for the chickens. Some of them seem to prefer performing pedicures prior to devouring the liquid.
I've used both and I don't notice a difference in baking. It's all good!
I do use my acid whey as the liquid in bread making, and it works fine. I don't know how different the flavor might be from sweet whey; it's been years since I made cultured cheeses, though I plan to begin again.
Thanks! That's a new one to me!
you could also use it to soak up smelly fish – bad smell will go away!
My brother grows giant pumpkins for competition, so, the whey goes right into the soil, or into his "jungle juice" as he calls his homemade fertilizer. I know it adds nutrients to the soil, and traditionally, the farmers in our area had poured excess milk into their pumpkin patch. So, now if I keep some for bread making, he thinks I am taking the food away from his precious pumpkins!
Yes, whey makes fabulous bread! It's cool that you discovered that on your own. Happy cheese making!
I'm new to cheesemaking. I got a kit from a competitor to cheesemaking.com. I ended up with a pretty bland goat cheese, but considered it a succes. I heated to goat's milk to 185 added the citric acid and rennet and got very tiny curds (after waiting 15 hours). But I hd lots of whey. Decided to use it in a long ferment bread formula. Didn't know about :acid" and "sweet". But it made a great loaf of french bread.Next time I'm gonna use 1/3 whet, 1/3 ale and 1/3 potato water. I'm betting it ill make a helluva loaf.
That's interesting! Thank you.
I have used my whey as an antibacterial/fungicide/insect deterrent spray on my garden plants. I use 1/2 gallon water to 1/2 gallon whey plus three tablespoons of garlic juice. The wheys acidity upsets the growth of bacteriums and fungi while the garlic deters the insects.
I think the operative word here is "comparatively." Yogurt whey is much sweeter than the whey from, say, 30 minute Mozzarella. All whey is more acidic than milk. It's all relative. For more info, you can always ask our technical advisor, Jim Wallace – jim@cheesemaking.com. Happy cheese making!
Your website seems to be really helpful and full of great info, but I'm a bit confused because nearly every other source tells me that the whey drained from yogurt is "acidic", and you're saying it's "sweet". Can you explain the discrepancy?
That's a great idea- thanks!
I add a few of those flavoring drops that come in a little bottle to sweet whey with a few ice cubes. I like it better than using them with water and gives me a nutritional boost.
Catherine,
Did you use real milk or pasteurized? That can make a big difference.
Hi. Just made my first mozzzarella, then ricotta, then gjetost, all from the same gallon of milk. I guess I had acid whey bc I used citric acid. I yielded 1 lb 4 oz mozz, 2 oz ricotta, 6 oz gjetost.
So maybe you can make whey cheese from acid whey? Or did I just make something else?
I feel really lucky as a first timer yielding almost 2 lb cheese from 1 gallon whole milk…
Thanks for your blog!
My pigs love fresh hot whey! I mix it with some other leftovers and they go crazy over whey soup.
We made some cheese for the first time, and wondered what to do with the leftover whey– it seemed such a shame to discard it! Thanks for your ideas on many ways to use the whey! I am making up a batch of artisan bread, using the whey– hope it works.
Whey makes a delicious and refreshing drink all by itself. I leave a half gallon at a time sitting at room temperature for a couple of days. By that point it is slightly tart and tangy.
I love drinking the whey after it sits out at room temperature for a couple of days. It gets tangy and tart – very refreshing!
My mom used to make Whey Honey for a syrup or sauce – 1 c whey (from a sour-milk cottage cheese, so I'm guessing acid, though either might be used), and either 1/3 c sugar or 1/2 c corn syrup. Boil gently together until it's the consistency of syrup (or whatever you want it to be).
This is from the Settlement Cookbook, which she used when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan in the 60s.
That's interesting and I think it would be a good idea to share it with a wider audience in our Moosletter. Would you e-mail me at Moosletter@cheesemaking.com?
Then acid whey is not used as a substitute for buttermilk or as a substitute for the liquid in bread recipes? Hmm…
Then acid whey is not used as a substitute for buttermilk or as a substitute for the liquid in bread recipes? Hmm…
I have used the whey from my yogurt… my chickens love it! I also use it in breadmaking. I haven't thrown it in my compost but will with any extra from now on.
I use lemon cheese whey (made with raw milk) for 1/2 of the milk when making yogurt with raw milk. I also add about 3 c dry milk powder to boost the nutritional contents of the yogurt. This obviously halves the bacterial effect of the raw milk on the yogurt. More powered milk = thicker yogurt.
I love using my whey in baked goods. Yummy in cookies! If I don't have the time or energy to save it, it goes in my compost. Then at least I end up using it in the garden.
We have been putting whey on our alkaline soil where the potatoes are growing. They are flourishing!
Thanks for this! I always felt bad throwing out whey and I knew there was something I could be using it for. Now I know!
Thank you for this post. I was wondering why I wasn't getting good ricotta from my lemon cheese whey!