Left the milk out? What to do with whey?

[calendula]

I know that ricotta cheese is made from the whey, but I've never made any. Whey can be used to make lacto-fermented foods and to soak your grains and beans in. You can use it in place of water in baked goods. I was just reading about someone drinking it, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to try that. If all else fails, you can freeze it until you find a use, or you can feed it to your animals--my chickens really like it.

 

[Marianne]

Here are the best suggestions I have found so far:

Pour it into ice cubes and freeze it to use in baking. You can use it in place of buttermilk in any recipe. It gives the same flavor and richness with none of the fat. It is supposed to make the best "buttermilk" biscuits and pancakes. Use it in place of water in any bread recipe. This is what I'll probably do with whey from now on.

You can use it in other fermented food recipes like sauerkraut or WAP ketchup (what's that?)

Soak your grains or beans in it. Soaked grains (oatmeal, rice, quinoa) and beans take less time to cook, are easier to digest and allow our bodies to utilize more of the nutrients. Add 1-2 T of whey to your water and soak overnight. Maybe this will help cut down on the 'whiffy' side effects of beans later.

Season your whey with garlic or other spices and use it as a marinade for meat. This works especially well with frozen meats. The enzymes will help bring out the flavor.

Make some homemade ricotta cheese. I tried this one time and was happily surprised. The ricotta has a real fine texture. I didn't have enough and since I usually use cottage cheese in lasagna, so I mixed the two. Good stuff.

Add some to a smoothie. (See note above about having a strong constitution.)

And of course, give some to the dogs and chickens. My hens looked at me like I was green and had horns when I tried giving them some whey. They just walked off. After I put some oatmeal in the whey, they finally did eat some of it, but I might as well have just dumped it on the compost pile.

 

[snapshot]

Pour leftover whey on your garden or flowers. I made the best bread I have ever tasted using whey as the liquid.