How do I use up my whey?

March 21, 2010 7:47 PM

I made ricotta today from whole goat's milk. Yay! Now I have about 6 cups of leftover whey and no idea what to do with it. Help?

While I'm open to any ideas, I'd prefer things that I could reasonably throw together after work tomorrow without using too much time, effort or non-basic ingredients. Also, I'm a vegetarian and I don't cook breakfast (so, unfortunately buttermilk pancakes are out). All that said, what can I make? Thanks!

posted by cheerwine to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Oh! Make bread!

let 2.25 teaspoons of yeast stand in in 5 tablespoons of warm water. Add one cup of warmed whey, 3 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of salt, 1 egg and 5 tbsp of melted butter.

stir together until well mixed. Gradually add from 3 to 4 cups of flour (I use a 2:1 white:wholewheat blend) until the dough is solid and moist, but not too sticky.

Knead it for a good long time (about half an hour) and then let rise for an hour. Crush it down, knead again for a few minutes and then let rise for another hour. Bake for forty minutes at 375 degrees F.

delicious!
posted by 256 at 7:55 PM on March 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yes, I've been there. Making bread is good. I use it as cooking liquid for veggies, rice, etc. where the tang is a plus. I also make rice pudding and add a bit of cream or evaporated milk to the whey.
posted by kch at 8:04 PM on March 21, 2010

Yes, Mrs. Deadmessenger uses leftover whey all the time when baking bread, although she tells me that you can use it to replace water in just about anything - when making polenta or rice, for example. She tells me that it's especially good when used to cook steel-cut oats.
posted by deadmessenger at 8:07 PM on March 21, 2010

Whey can also be a great preservative - use it when making homemade mayonnaise and it will last up to two months in the fridge. This chowhound thread also has some great ideas. I usually use it when making stir fry - when I need a little extra liquid (I keep it in the fridge in an easy to pour bottle).
posted by koselig at 8:14 PM on March 21, 2010

I've used cow milk whey to make a sort of orange-squash-like drink (real orange squash = lemon juice + lots of orange juice + sugar to taste). It might work with goat whey as well. It was very refreshing in hot weather. (Actually, it was the whey left from draining fresh yogurt, so it was probably more sour than your whey, but you can always add more lemon juice if you like).

2 c whey
1 c fresh orange juice (2 - 3 oranges)
1 lemon, juiced (maybe 3 - 4 T juice)
Sugar to taste - start with 1/2 cup and work from there
Optional: drop of rose water, for an exotic "Indian sweetmeat" taste, or other flavor extract

Serve chilled.
posted by Quietgal at 8:15 PM on March 21, 2010

Take a bath
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:26 PM on March 21, 2010

I had the same problem, AskMe gave me some good answers.
posted by desuetude at 8:59 PM on March 21, 2010

It's a great soaking/cooking liquid for beans, too.
posted by judith at 9:13 PM on March 21, 2010

Any reason you can't have pancakes for dinner?
posted by mollymayhem at 10:25 PM on March 21, 2010

If you put it over very low heat and leave it until most of the water is evaporated and the sugars caramelize, you'll have gjetost. Especially good if you have a huge quantity of whey, because it cooks down tremendously.
posted by cali at 10:26 PM on March 21, 2010 [1 favorite]