Uses For Whey & How To Make It #AskWardee 032 (2024)

Probiotic, liquid sunshine, whey is fermenting gold! We call for it in many of our favorite recipes, from zingy fermented mustard to homemade muesli. You can even use it to soak grains! I’ll walk you through the process of how to make whey, which forms will work for fermenting, and uses for whey!

What Is Whey?

Whey is the yellowish liquid that drips out of fermented (cultured or soured) dairy — whether that be homemade yogurt, kefir, sour cream, buttermilk, clabber, chevre, or other cheeses (like raw cheddar cheese).

Beneficial organisms proliferate throughout dairy, consuming the milk sugar (lactose) and producing acids that curdle the milk. This souring can progress so that the milk separates into distinct curds and whey, or you can press or hang the curds so that the whey spills out.

Whey is mostly water, with dissolved protein, probiotics, beneficial acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, too.

Why Use Whey In Fermentation?

Quite often, we inoculate a fermentation at the beginning with a starter culture (a colony of beneficial organisms). This kick-starts the fermentation and prevents spoiling organisms from getting a foothold.

Whey is quite often chosen as a starter culture (but there are others; see below), so it is important that it contains beneficial organisms. Some whey does, and some does not.

Types Of Whey: Acid Whey Vs. Sweet Whey

Whey can be sweet (from rennet-coagulated dairy, which includes most hard cheeses) or acidic (from dairy that’s been thickened by the acid produced by fermenting organisms, like yogurt, kefir, clabber, or sour cream), and salted or unsalted. It is usually unsalted, but we do get salted whey off cheeses later in the cheesemaking process when it spills out after the curds are salted.

These types of whey can be used in fermenting — as long as they are raw.

Sometimes people make cheese at high temperatures or heat dairy after it is fermented. Whey from this dairy is no good because the beneficial organisms have perished.

Anytime you’re wondering if a certain whey will work, ask yourself this question: from the time the milk was cultured, was it heated much beyond 100 degrees (or so) Fahrenheit?

If yes, you can’t use it as a fermentation starter culture. If no, you can use it as a starter culture because it retains beneficial organisms.

Most of my cultured dairy and cheese recipes don’t go over 102 degrees Fahrenheit — and most of these stay around room temperature — making their whey suitable for fermentation.

Finally, the highly processed whey protein powder that is sold as a nutritional supplement is not the kind of whey we would use in fermentation (nor is it a real, whole food).

How To Make Whey

Below is a video and recipe excerpt from our Lacto-Fermentation eCourse.

Ingredients & Equipment

• Cultured dairy product – To make whey, you will need to drip it out of a cultured dairy product, preferably raw. Yogurt, kefir, and soft cheese will all work. You may use store-bought kefir or yogurt too, as long as they have active cultures.
• Cheesecloth – You will need two pieces of 90-count cheesecloth or a pillow-case weight piece of cotton cloth.
• Colander inside a pot or bowl that holds it – To strain out and catch the whey.

Instructions

Non-Dairy Substitutes For Whey

If you are dairy-free, you can substitute whey with non-dairy starter cultures. Here are your options and how much to use.

• Leftover Fermenting Juice – The juice of previously fermented pickles, sauerkraut or other ferments is rich with beneficial organisms. Use at the same rate as whey. However, keep in mind flavor matching; a pickle juice is probably not going to taste very good inside a fruit ferment.
• Water Kefir – Use a finished batch of water kefir at the same rate as whey: about 1/4 cup per quart of ferment.
• Water Kefir Grains (hydrated) – This is an idea shared by Christine C., eCourse member. She uses ?1 tablespoon extra water kefir grains per quart of ferment, and scales up from there. Similarly (although not dairy-free), you can use 1-1/2 teaspoons of extra dairy kefir grains per quart of ferment.
• Homesteader Supply Fermenting Starter Culture – We also recommend a purchased veggie starter culture such as this one. Add this to your ferments in place of whey at the rate of 1/16 teaspoon per quart of ferment. Mix the powdered culture with the same amount of filtered water as whey is called for. For instance, if the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of whey for a quart of ferment, then mix 1/16 teaspoon with 1/4 cup filtered water and add that to the recipe in place of the whey.

What if a recipe doesn’t specify a starter culture and you want to use one? Generally, 1/4 cup of liquid starter works for one quart of ferment. Scale-up accordingly.

If a recipe calls for another amount, by all means, follow the wisdom of the recipe author. Like many aspects of traditional cooking, starter culture usage is not an exact science and a range of amounts will probably work.

Uses For Whey: How To Use Up An Abundance!

Julia A.asks:

“I thought the last #AskWardee about using up yogurt cheese was humorous, as I go through yogurt cheesevery quickly. Alas, I could use help with the opposite of that. How to use up the whey when it is coming to you in abundance. Yes, I get lots with yogurt cheese, but I am right now listening to whey drip out of the Middle Eastern cheese as well. I have about a half gallon of whey. Most recipes only call for small amounts. I’m sure there are places that you’ve shared uses for whey, but thought an #AskWardee would be helpful. Are there recipes/uses for whey that call for more than 1/4 cup (or greater) quantities?!

11 Uses For Whey

I broadcast #AskWardeeliveeach Wednesday at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) on Periscope and Facebook Live. Both the podcast and video replay of this week’s show are below. Enjoy!

Subscribe to #AskWardee on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, or the Podcasts app.

#1 — Old-Fashioned Ricotta Cheese

This is the obvious usage when you have lots and lots of whey leftover from cheesemaking or culturing dairy. When you do this, you’re getting even more cheese from your milk. It’s using your milk twice for cheese — the ultimate in frugal!

It’s also a great use for salted whey.

I have a recipe in our Cultured Dairy eCourse or eBook.

Basically, you boil the whey until the dissolved proteins precipitate out (come out). Then strain — voila, ricotta cheese!

(The remaining liquid no longer contains active cultures because it’s been boiled, and it doesn’t contain protein anymore because that’s in the ricotta!)

#2 — As A Fermenting Culture

As discussed above, jumpstart your ferment by adding 1/4 cup whey (from cultured dairy with active cultures) to a quart of any fruit or veggie ferment. This is considered a starter culture.

Here are a few of our favorite lacto-fermented foods:

• Homemade Kimchi: An Easy Korean Sauerkraut Recipe
• Simple, No-Pound Sauerkraut
• Homemade Sauerkraut In A Stoneware Crock
• Naturally Fermented Jalapeño Peppers
• Fermented Tex-Mex Salsa
• Lacto-Fermented Hummus
• Lacto-Fermented Homemade Ketchup
• Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise
• 3 Lacto-Fermented Mustard Recipes (zippy, zingy flavor!)
• Lacto-Fermented Cranberry Sauce
• Old-Fashioned, Crunchy, Fermented Garlic-Dill Pickles
• Lacto-Fermented Carrot Sticks (gut-healing probiotic snack for kids!)

Now, do you have to use whey for fermenting? Here’s the answer!

#3 — Homemade Sodas

Use whey as the base culture for homemade soda, like fermented lemonade or limeade.

#4 — For Soaking Grains Or Flour

Use whey in place of acid when soaking grains or flour in soaked recipes. We use acid when soaking grains in traditional cooking to neutralize phytic acid that would otherwise prevent mineral absorption when eating the grains.

Using Kombucha to soak grains or flour is a similar concept that I discussed in this #AskWardee!

#5 — Add To Smoothies

Use whey as some of your liquid in smoothies. It’s a great protein, enzyme, vitamin, and mineral boost!

You can even freeze your whey in ice cubes and use those cubes instead of water ice cubes as ice in your smoothies!

#6 — Bread Dough

Use whey as the liquid in your bread or pizza dough. It works great and adds protein!

#7 — Water Your Plants & Garden

Whey can fertilize your plants!

Your acid-loving plants, like blueberries or tomatoes, will love acidic whey. Keep in mind, however, that you should dilute whey when usingitto water plants (1 part whey to1 part water) and only add 1 inch of whey-water per week. More info here.

#8 — Make Bone Broth

This is a particularly good use for salted or partially salted whey.

Cover your bones with whey and/or water. Because whey is acidic, you can skip adding vinegar to pull nutrition out of the bones, then make broth as usual.

#9 — Use In Salad Dressing

Use in place of acid (like lemon juice) or in place of water or milk. Check out our archive of salad dressings here.

#10 — Feed Your Animals

Add some whey to your animals’ water or offer your chickens a pan of whey occasionally. The probiotics (if it’s not been boiled), protein, vitamins, and minerals are good for them!

#11 — Add To Compost

We water our compost pile so it’s moist for the composting activity. Use whey instead of water on the days you have an abundance and no other pressing use.

Additional Links

• Traditional Cooking School’s Cultured Dairy eCourse
• Traditional Cooking School’s Cultured Dairy eBook
• swing top, Grolsch-style bottles
• evaporated cane juice or sucanat
• How To Use Whey To Water Plants
• 5 Tips: How To Prevent Mold During Fermentation #AskWardee 074

This post is a combination of two posts originally published and written by Wardee Harmon on 7/21/11 and 6/8/16 respectively. The posts were combined, updated, and republished on 5/5/21.