# what do you do with your whey?



## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

Have heard of giving it to pigs,chickens etc... Have been reading about making saurkraut and other fermented veggies etc.. has anyone done that? Other ideas? Lisa


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## cseger1 (Mar 23, 2007)

Do a search in this forum - this came up a couple months ago.
Pizza dough was a big winner.
We feed pigs.


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## Goatguy (Aug 23, 2007)

I mix it into a recipe I have for pancakes, Extremely delicous!


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## MrsL (Oct 30, 2007)

I make ricotta cheese if I have enough whey left over ( no pigs - yet!). The old Shetlanders used to ferment it to make a drink called Blaand, but I;ve yet to try that.
Fresh ricotta is a lot different to anything you can buy, it's lovely.


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## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

MrsL,

How do you make ricotta from the whey? Lisa


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

Boil the whey, add an acid, lemon juice, vinegar, take it off the heat and let it cool. Pour it through a clean pillow case. The low fat ricotta is left in the pillow case after hanging the liquid left is water and yellow from riboflavin. Salt lightly since the original cheese made with the whey may have been salted already. Put the small amount this makes into tupperware and freeze, when the container is full defrost and stuff manicotti, make lasagna etc...

Full fat ricotta is made with whole milk and an acid, and is wonderful for cheese cakes or just plain eating. Vicki


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I've made ricotta twice in the last week. First batch (made with the lemon juice) went into a cheesecake. Second batch (made with citric acid) is going into manicotti.

Wonderful stuff.

The recipe in Goats Produce Two is as follows:

1 gallon fresh whey
1 1/2 quarts whole milk

In large kettle, heat whey to 195 degrees. When whey has reached 195, stir in whole milk. Bring back to 195, stirring often to keep from scorching. The Ricotta is ready to drain when you see little white flecks forming in the pot. These flecks are finely grained. Like a colander with cheesecloth and pour the curds into the cloth. Hang to drain one hour. 

When drained, remove the cheese from the cloth and add salt to taste; about 1/2 tsp per 2 cups of cheese. (Note, I don't salt) Refrigerate. Will keep about a week.

(Note from me: We use a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot. Also use a diffuser underneath. It helps prevent scorching.)

Lemon Juice or Citric Acid Ricotta

1 gallon fresh whey
1 quart fresh milk
1/4 cup lemon juice or two teaspoons citric acid granules dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt.

Place whey and whole milk in large stainless pot. Heat to 195. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice or citric acid solution. Stir. When curds have formed, pour into cheesecloth lined colander. Allow to cool and drain.


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## Dreaming2Loudly (Apr 19, 2007)

I once read that you could use it to boil pasta in....I tried it thinking my kids are really going to hate this LOL To my surprize they said it was the best tasting pasta ever, although they are not picky eaters.
When the goats milk is flowing buckets once more, I will most certainly do that again.


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## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

Rose,

I finally tried your recipe for ricotta. Used 1 gallon of goat milk whey and 1 quart cows milk, lemon juice and salt. It turned out great but of course didn't produce very much. Will freeze it until I can make more. Thanks! Lisa


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## Emily Anne (Dec 17, 2004)

my pony loves it!


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

You can make rice with it, use it for biscuits, pancakes, just about anything you would use water or milk in. It makes really good rice.

I totally messed up my yogurt the other day and every jar was half whey, I used it for biscuits and the whole pan totally disappeared in about 2 min. They were really fluffy, I wonder if that whey is why?


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

A friend who makes LOTS of cheese feeds his feeder steers on his whey and pasture. They are some of the slickest and biggest steers I had ever seen.


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## babygoats! (May 9, 2005)

I have a great recipe for making whey bread if anyone is interested. It uses 4 cups of whey, and is kind of a "sour-dough" type bread. It's great. Recipe makes three loaves.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I would be very interested in that bread recipe!


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## babygoats! (May 9, 2005)

No problem!

WHEY BREAD

4 cups whey
2 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp fat (butter, margarine, oil, bacon fat, whatever) I always use butter.
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
4 cups bread flour (white or whole wheat) plus more white flour (varies each time, but usually 2-3 cups or so)
1 Tbsp salt

Before bed, warm whey, honey and fat to body temperature in a medium sized pan on the stove, then stir in the yeast. Incorporate enough flour to make the dough the consistency of honey. Leave it until morning. (I usually leave it right on the stove and cover it because I have cats and don't want stray cat hairs flying into it during the night.)
The next morning, stir the salt into 4 cups of flour and then mix that into the pan too. Keep adding flour until it leaves the sides and you can pick it up. 
Put it on a floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes. Longer if you have the time.
Then, follow the usual procedures for bread: first rising in a large oiled bowl, punch down, fill pans half full, second rising.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.
Makes 3 loaves.

I got this recipe from a booklet the New England Cheesmaking Supply Company sent with an order. They got it from a 1982 customer. I've rearranged it a bit to suit my needs.

Enjoy!


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Thnx so much! Sounds pretty easy too.
I will try this next week, as I am making some cheese.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

I've used kefir whey to make sauerkraut - it's nice and crunchy. Next I'm going to try making pickled radishes and carrots with it. I love pickles!


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## JanetJ (Aug 19, 2002)

I also sometimes use it to make gjeitost. Gjeitost is also called brown goat cheese, and all you do to make it is simmer the whey until it is so thick that you can make a cake from it. It takes me about 1 1/2 days of simmering to get it thick enough, then I sometimes simmer it more and dry it out to get a powder. Gjeitost is actually a norwegian cheese and considered to be quite a delicacy. A friend of my who is norwegian tasted some gjeitost I had made and thought it was wonderful. Also, body builders will actually PAY for whey powder because it has so much concentrated protein.


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## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

Have you ever heard of Sally Fallon's book " Nourising Tradtions"? She uses weigh for making fermented products including sauerkraut which is excellent. You don't can it, just make it in the jar and then put it in the fridge. I suffered from acid reflux for years. I started drinking a half a cup a day of whey and have had no more acid reflux. Last summer I got too busy to go get the milk to make whey and the acid reflux came back with a vengence. I started drinking the whey again and no more reflux! There are a lot of different uses for whey in her book. 
If you soak oatmeal in a bit of whey overnight it helps to break down the oatmeal so it is more digestible.


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## jersey girl (Nov 21, 2005)

I use whey to ferment vegetables. Of course I find my recipes in the NOurishing traditions book recommended above. The salsa is the best, although I changed the spices some.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

You might consider putting it in used store bought milk jugs to serve to any "city-slicker" visitors that show up. I'm not sure, but the milk you buy in the store seems to look and taste like skim. I've got some of these city-slicker kinfolk that come to visit now and then and I keep an empty milk jug for just this occasion. I mix it half and half (tap water and raw milk) and they comment on how thy "love" this storebought milk! LOL


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