How To Use Whey From Yogurt Making

Re-purposing in the Kitchen

Today’s post continues along on the theme of re-purposing kitchen leftovers that would otherwise be tossed. Last time we talked about making crackers from your left over un-refreshed sourdough starter. (Find that sourdough cracker recipe here.) Today we take a look at how to use whey that’s left over from yogurt making. If you’re curious about how to make your own homemade yogurt, take a look at this post. It’s surprisingly simple!

I don’t know about you, but when I can take something that would otherwise be tossed, and re-purpose it for something tasty, I feel particularly fulfilled in the kitchen 🙂 I’d love to hear about any creative re-purposing you’ve tried! Leave a comment if you have something to share!

Ideas for Re-Purposing Whey

There are are actually several ways you can use the leftover whey from yogurt making (pun intended ;P). I’ve experimented with it in my baking, and even tried making ricotta cheese!

How to Use Whey to Make Ricotta Cheese

There are many ways to make ricotta cheese. In the method that uses yogurt whey, the whey is used as the acid instead of lemon juice or vinegar. Very simply, add 2 cups of whey to 1/2 gallon of 2% or whole milk, and heat until the temperature reaches 180F-190F. Let sit for 15 minutes, and then strain. Simple! Here is a link to some ricotta cheese making resources if that’s something you are interested in exploring further.

How to Use Whey in Your Baking

Using whey as a substitute for other liquid/dairy in some of my baking has also proved tasty. As one example, I was making a cobbler that called for milk in the batter topping. I hadn’t saved enough milk aside, so I ended up substituting in about half of the volume with whey. And you know what? It was delicious! I was serving it to some dinner guests, and they wanted to know what was in it that made it so tasty… 😉 Whey will also make a good substitute for buttermilk in any baked goods!

How to Use Whey as a Marinade

Finally I wanted to explore in a little further detail a simple and practical use for whey – as a marinade for meat.

Marinades: The Basics

A common method  for flavoring meat is marinating in a solution that is typically acidic, along with aromatics, fats, and sometimes sweet. The mom of one of my college friends used to always tell us that a marinade should have three components. With this key, you could make any number of creative and effective marinades. Ready?

1. Something acidic, to help tenderize the meat and open it up for flavors. (Think vinegar or citrus juice.)
2. A fat, to help transport the flavors into the meat. (Think healthy oils like EVOO, coconut, or avocado.)
3. A sweet, to keep the flavors locked in. (Think honey, fruit juice, fruit nectar, even maple syrup!)
4. And a bonus – other aromatics or flavors you want incorporated. (Think fresh herbs, smashed garlic, sliced onion, sliced chilies for some heat, something smokey like chipotle or liquid smoke, other spices like curry, cumin, garam masala. The sky is really the limit here!) 

I’m not sure if there is scientific evidence to back this up, but I do think that if you utilize these three to four types of ingredients you will end up with a winner every time. And it gives you a basic recipe to follow while leaving you with full flexibility on the flavor profiles! Perfect for a budding creative cook 🙂

Marinades: How to Use Whey

So how does whey fit into the picture? Well it turns out that whey from yogurt making is reasonably acidic. Once I learned that it got my wheels turning about where I could re-purpose an acidic ingredient like that. Since marinades require an acidic element, using the whey as a base for a marinade was a natural fit.

Also, to boost my confidence on combining whey with meats, I had read in the book Yogurt Culture (a great reference for making and using yogurt!), a suggestion for poaching fish in whey. So I figured combining whey with meat was reasonable and not likely to turn into a kitchen a disaster 😉

I’ve tried whey as a marinade now with both pork and chicken, and really like the flavor complexity it adds to the meat. It brings something like a nuttiness to the dish. It also does seem to help with tenderizing and moisture retention, so I consider it a kitchen experiment success! Check out a few of the flavor combinations I’ve tried in the recipe below. Give one a try yourself, or make a few modifications and experiment!