Yoghurt, yoghurt, yoghurt… I’m loving the stuff since I’ve been making it myself and have been trying out all sorts of toppings for my and Ameli’s morning breakfast.
Once I figured out how to make the yoghurt a bit thicker by straining it, I found myself with a fair bit of left over whey every week and while there’s no crime in tipping it out, I did begin to wonder whether there was something I could actually do with whey.
I started browsing the web and while I haven’t tried all of these options yet, have come up with this list:
- Use as a substitute for milk or water when making pancakes, flapjacks, biscuits and so on (remembering that you’ll lose some of the raw food property when you cook it)
- Turn whey into caramel for a caramel flavoured yoghurt with cardamom, cinnamon or lemon
- Bottom Up Foodlists a variety of ways you can incorporate whey into your cooking. Here are ones I will or have tried:
- Substitute for water in bread making
- Substitute for stock in soup, rice and risotto
- Add some whey back in to your yoghurt to make a yoghurt drink
- Season your whey with garlic or other spices and use for marinating frozen meat
- Add it to your bath water
- Add it to smoothies and other drinks
- The Prairie Homesteadlists sixteen ideas. Here are some:
- Unlike yoghurt, it seems whey can be frozen for later use
- Use in soups and stews in place of stock or broth
- Use it to rinse your hair
- Make whey lemonade
- Spray it on your plants and vegetables to help them grown
While I did find a few other suggestions for uses of whey, I can’t really imagine using them (such as making pickles – really not my thing), so I haven’t listed them here.
Overall, I’m really both surprised and pleased with my findings on whey.
Now, when we make yoghurt I divide it into three batches: One with the whey retained for making a drinking yoghurt, of which Ameli has about 150ml a day, one for making yoghurt – I split it into seven containers and add a topping or flavouring every morning – and any leftovers finds itself strained for 24 hours before turning into a spreadable cheese.
The whey from the yoghurt and cheese can be used in any of the ways mentioned above, and are extremely healthy – assuming you aren’t lactose intolerant – as it is low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc and Selenium, and a very good source of Riboflavin, Calcium and Phosphorus. (This does lead me to wonder about the value during pregnancy as both Thiamin and Vit B12 are given as anti-emetics.)
Remember that when cooked, whey will lose a lot of its Raw Food properties.
Also remember, you don’t need fancy equipment to make your own yoghurt.
Do you use whey for anything? Have I missed out a key use? Please do share!