What do any of you cheesemakers do with the whey? Is there something I can do with it? Thanks, CIndy

-- Cindy (luvinmykiddos@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001

Answers

Hi Cindy, I am a novice cheesemaker and haven't used the whey for anything so far except giving it to the cat and dog, but I've understod that Ricotta cheese is made from the whey. I have a recipe in an old cheese book but I'm sure you can find one on-line. If not though, I'd be happy to email you my recipe (which I haven't tested). Just let me know!

Elizabeth

-- Elizabeth in e tx (kimprice@peoplescom.net), April 18, 2001.

The guy from the health food store called me back a few months ago to see if I was making cheese. He wanted to buy my whey to drink. He said he carried whey pills or powdered or whateveer in the store but would like some fresh. Sherry

-- sherry (chickadee259@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001.

Hi Cindy, I have tryed making ricotta cheese from it and was very disappointed in the amount of cheese I got and decided from then on to feed to the various animals around the place. The cats, dogs, chickens etc. all like it, and occasionally I have been known to "feed" a plant in the garden with it. There may be people who drink it for various reasons, but I have never like the taste at all.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001.

I agree that the amount of ricotta that the whey yields is very disappointing. I give all of the whey to my chickens. You can feed it to hogs and calves, too.

-- homestead2 (homestead@localnetplus.com), April 18, 2001.

Whey makes great ricotta cheese. I also use it in my bread recipies, works great. I had someplace a list of recipies you could use whey in. You can feed it to hogs and chickens. Perhaps calves, I would watch though if you were feeding them just whey for scorus and them getting the proper nutrition. One thing you don't want to do is feed it to kids, just the whey. I seen some kids recently that were feed exclusively whey and they looked awful, had scoury like bowel movements and then after they drank it blew up like a balloon. They believed this would be cost effective as they needed the milk for their business. There isn't enough nutrients in just whey to provide proper nutrition to kid or calves for that matter. This is just my humble opinion. Just a thought, it might work if you mixed it into replacer.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 19, 2001.

Whey does make the best ricotta, but as said the yield is disappointing considering the work involved. It is said to be a 'tonic', though I never aquired the 'taste'. Pigs go nuts for it, and it's the best for any and all plants, but especially roses (not indoors!)

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), April 19, 2001.

Ricotta from cows milk won't be much but if you use sheeps milk than it is worth it and actually hardley any work at all. I just mix the whey really well and then slowly heat it to almost boiling - when it blubbers twice (try it and you will see what I mean by blubbering!!) shut it off and wait 5 minutes. Gently scoop the ricotta off the top. One little trick to making more ricotta is to add a glass of milk at the beginning. Another important thing is to mix it only at the beginning and then don't touch it until is done.

We give the rest to the pigs (after the ricotta)

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), April 20, 2001.

The leftover whey is definitely excellent for any bread recipes. I've also used it to make any kind of "creamed" soups. Great for turkey poults,too!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), April 21, 2001.

Some words from Greece. Here in Greece we make the traditional baked Mitzithrakia (small cheeses) For 1 Mitzithraki, add in 1 gallon of still warm whey, (you just done cheese) ½ quart of fresh milk and 1 full tbsp of salt. You just boil the mix and the new curds are appeared. Don’t forget to shrink well with a wooden spoon. When they seems to be broken curds at the surface, just remove from the stove and use a cheesecloth to collect the new curds. Simply hang them to dry, until no more whey is drain ( ½ - 1 hour). Then you are salting outside the Mitzithrakia and let them dry in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. You can eat them now or you can make them drier for your pasta – macaroni (this will last in refrigerator for several weeks – months): Wash them with little water to remove the outside salt and bake them in low temperature in the oven, until they will dry absolutely. (During baking an excellent butter will dribble – if you collect it you will make your pasta delicious).

-- Tamy (dfir@intranet.gr), September 10, 2001.

I've gotten my best ricotta yealds when I've made the kneaded curd cheeses like mozzerella that releases milk solids back into the whey. Otherwise I will pour a few quarts of milk into the whey, let it culture a bit and acidify.. maybe a couple of hours.. then slowly bring the whey to a near boil. When the curds rise to the top I remove it from the heat.. cover and let cool to room temp. over night. By morning I usually have a lovely soft ricotta.. after draining it through cloth, of course.

Try pouring a quart or two of whey into your bath.. very nice for itchy skin, also used to wash the baby's bottom with whey when he had rash.. Once in a while I'll wash my hair then soak it in whey, wrap it up, and terrify any solicitors and my dogs, for a while. Then I wash again and rinse. Very healthy and the price is right.

-- Ellen (gardenfarm@earthlink.net), October 31, 2001.