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Nicely making whey

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It is no secret that Tamara and I love to ferment foods.  If you take a look through our recipes, it shouldn't take long to stumble across a fermented food or two!  In fact, Oh Lardy has presented a series on fermented foods.  We love the stuff!  You may notice that we mention the use of whey, or some other starter, for use in fermenting.  Newbies to the fermenting world often wonder how to make whey for fermrenting. 

Making whey couldn't be easier.  We usually refer our friends to a little tutorial in a post about how to make your own greek yogurt.  Today, friends, I have a little surprise for you.  I recently whipped up a little video tutorial on how to make whey!

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy a sweet little ditty by Jolie Holland while learning about making whey.  I would like to apologize for my hands, as they seemed to get in the way a bit – the little scene stealers!

**Please note that I only used about a cup of yogurt for this demonstration.  This, as well as the fact that I used a tablespoon or two in between takes, can explain the extremely low amount of gathered whey.**

 

This post shared at these awesome blog carnivals:  Real Food Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable WaysWhole Foods Wednesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday,  Make Your Own MondayMore the Merrier Monday, Thank Goodness It’s Monday

16 Comments

  1. Just watched your whey video, THANKS! But, I have a question, the liquid in the bowl from first day of straining, is that different from the liquid in the jar at the end? What can you do with he first liquid? Does that have any use? And last but not least can you use the whey from making mozzarella to ferment with?

    1. I just put the whey that strained off in the bowl into a small mason jar that I store my whey in. Then, when the whey has finished dripping after being hung, I add that to the whey I put into my jar. Make sense? Also, you may use the why from cheese-making for your ferments.

    1. It really is! Sometimes I groan that I have to make some whey, but when the 2 minutes have passed and it is draining in the fridge, I always shake my head and wonder why I procrastinated for so long!

  2. Great video! Thanks a ton. It always helps to see the process no katter how simple it may seem to others. Can’t wait to make fermented condiments!!

  3. this may be a dumb question but does this give food a yogurt-y taste? i’ve never made anything fermented & i’ve been putting it off because i don’t like the taste of yogurt. along the same lines, does the cream cheese you end up with have a yogurt taste to it?

    1. The cream cheese is sour, definitely. Not sure if it is a yogurt flavor, or the sour that I am tasting. My kids don’t like it too, much, so I always eat it.

  4. Ok. If I wasn’t equipped to make my own yogurt for the purpose of making my own whey, what brand of yogurt would you recommend for this operation? Clearly something organic right? I already get Greek yogurt, so I’m thinking that wouldn’t work. Clearly nothing flavoured or sweetened right? Just a plain one?
    Do you have any recommendations?? I’d love to make my own whey, but I have no idea what yogurt to use for it!
    In a quandary here!

    1. You should use plain (unflavored/unsweetened), organic, full fat yogurt. Preferable from grass fed animals. I tend to use Stonyfield Organic as that is the best I can usually find. Do not use Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has already been strained…which is why it is so thick! Good luck!!!

  5. The video is awesome! The spoon is a nice way to get the last drops and get cream cheese. Could you tell me how long the whey keeps and can you freeze it? Can you freeze cream cheese? Thanks!!

    1. You can keep whey for a long time in the fridge, 6 months or more. And it freezes quite nicely too! I am not experienced with freezing cream cheese but think with higher fat content it would not work out well.

  6. Just a side note, this is NOT to say anything is wrong with anything being made here, only to say that if you use or eat whey then find that you experience bloating, runny stools/diarrhea, gas, you might have become whey intolerant. I found this out by eating regular yogurt, frozen yogurt and other foods containing whey. It took a few years for me to realize what the problem was but now that I watch what I eat to make sure it has no whey, I no longer have these GI problems. Even Tootsie Rolls, malted milk balls, Twizzlers have whey (I found I can eat 2!!! mini Tootsie Rolls without problems). I have no problem with Greek yogurt since the whey is drained out.

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