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The many uses for sour raw milk at home which, unlike pasteurized milk, does not go putrid, but naturally ferments into probiotic clabber.
One of the most frequent questions I get from readers is what to do with naturally soured milk, also called clabber.
Sour raw milk is quite unlike pasteurized milk that has gone past its “use by” date. Pasteurized milk goes putrid and must be thrown out at that point, but raw milk is still a highly useful item in the kitchen.
The difference is that pasteurized milk is quite literally a dead food. In other words, there are no enzymes or probiotics present. So, when store milk goes bad, it becomes a huge foodborne illness risk to consume it and it must be discarded.
Sour Raw Milk is Safe
Raw milk, on the other hand, is loaded with enzymes and probiotics. When raw milk starts to sour, it simply means that beneficial bacteria called probiotics have started to use up the lactose (milk sugar) which causes the milk to no longer taste as sweet.
Raw milk that tastes sour is still very much safe to drink and is even more beneficial to health as the higher level of probiotics initiates the fermentation or clabbering of the milk.
So if you find yourself with some soured raw milk in the refrigerator, check through this list and see what makes the most sense for using it up. It doesn’t have to be raw cow milk either. Any type of unpasteurized milk will do including sheep’s milk, goat milk, camel milk, and even water buffalo milk!
Whatever you do, though, don’t throw it out! There is no need for even a drop of your nutrient-dense, grass-fed dairy to go to waste!
There are so many uses for the clabber itself as well as the raw liquid whey separated from it.
Uses for Sour Milk (Clabber)
1. Make scrambled eggs with it.
2. Whip up a pan of quiche with it.
3. Add it to a breakfast smoothie.
4. Make homemade pudding with it (if slightly soured).
5. Make hot chocolate with it.
6. Use it for garden fertilizer (just pour around the base of your plants or trees). It really gets the worms going crazy.
7. Give it to your pet. Cats love it!
8. Make egg custard pudding with it.
9. Make this traditional British white sauce recipe with it.
10. Ferment homemade kefir with it.
11. Make yogurt with it.
12. Blend with flour to soak pancake batter.
13. Use it to soak cold breakfast cereal batter.
14. Use it to soak waffle batter.
15. Remove the soured cream off the top and add to homemade soups.
16. Remove the sour cream off the top and add to meatloaf.
17. Just drink it. It tastes like buttermilk and is very good for you.
18. Use to make devil’s food cake.
19. Make omelets with it.
20. Use it instead of water to cook up your soaked breakfast oatmeal.
21. Use it to soak crepe batter.
22. Soak banana bread batter with it.
23. Soak pumpkin bread batter with it.
24. Use it to soak buttermilk biscuit batter.
25. Soak muffin batter (any kind) with it.
26. Separate the liquid whey from the clabber.
27. Remove the sour cream off the top and add to a baked potato.
28. Add buttermilk culture and make buttermilk with it.
29. Take a bath in it. It was good enough for Cleopatra, right?
30. Separate out the liquid whey and make ricotta cheese.
31. Make mozzarella cheese with it.
32. Whip up a pan of flan using it instead of milk.
33. Make sweet potato casserole with the sour cream off the top.
34. Make cottage cheese with it.
35. Use as a base for ice milk (if only slightly soured).
36. Use it instead of evaporated milk to make pumpkin pie.
37. Use it to clear up pinkeye.
38. Soak frozen fish in it until thawed for improved texture and flavor.
39. Soak dull-looking silverware in it for at least 30 minutes and then rinse for a beautiful shine.
40. Use it as a conditioner for your hair. Or, take a bath in it. Remember Cleopatra?
41. Repair fine cracks in your china by boiling them in the soured raw milk (the milk reacts with a chemical in the china to seal the crack). I’ve never done this myself but it supposedly works.
42. Use it ice cold to soothe the discomfort of poison ivy.
43. Dab some on mild sunburn for instant, cooling relief.
44. Rub dry skin patches with it several times a day to make skin soft again.
45. Make cheese sauce for Welsh rarebit with it.
46. Make paneer (easy South Asian cheese that requires no rennet).
47. Make potato cheese soup.
48. Freeze the milk and use it later when you have a dire need for clabbered milk.
49. Make tapioca pudding with it.
50. Make bread pudding (soak the bread in the milk).
Need More Ideas? Let’s Keep Going…
51. Stew pork loin in it.
52. Make no-bake cheesecake with it.
53. Make lassi with it (Indian yogurt-style smoothie).
54. Use it instead of water (or a blend with water) to cook up amaranth porridge.
55. Separate the whey to use as a natural facial toner.
56. Use to cook up teff breakfast porridge.
57. Use blended with water to make cream of buckwheat porridge.
58. Make fermented almond milk.
59. Make homemade orangina soda.
60. Brew some detoxifying beet kvass.
61. Make homemade ginger ale.
62. Add a cup or two of the separated whey to a warm detoxifying bath instead of vinegar.
63. Make fermented lemonade.
64. Use instead of yogurt to make fermented potatoes.
65. Make homemade sauerkraut.
66. Use the separated whey instead of sauerkraut juice to make homemade pickles.
67. Make apricot butter.
68. Make probiotic mango chutney.
69. Use whey instead of raw ACV to make homemade mustard.
70. Use the whey to make fermented corn relish.
71. Blend up some probiotic thousand island dressing using some of the separated whey.
72. Make raw cream cheese.
73. Make fermented cilantro salsa.
74. Use whey to make homemade ketchup.
75. Add the whey to homemade mayo so it lasts three times as long in the fridge.
76. Add separated whey to potassium broth for extra minerals and digestibility.
77. Use to make cultured rice water.
78. Blend some to homemade wild rice milk to add probiotics.
79. Mix a teaspoon into a glass of homemade electrolyte beverage to add more minerals.
80. Use whey separated from clabber instead of kombucha to make a maple dijon salad dressing.
81. Stir a teaspoon of separated whey into homemade barbecue sauce to add probiotics.
82. Use liquid whey instead of raw ACV to make homemade cocktail sauce.
83. Use whey to make fermented salsa.
84. Substitute whey for lemon juice to make homemade steak sauce.
85. Whip up some homemade teriyaki sauce.
86. Add a drizzle of whey to artichoke dip to add probiotics and enhance the flavor.
87. Liquid whey is an important ingredient in hypoallergenic DIY baby formula.
88. Whey from clabber is also a key ingredient in homemade goat milk baby formula.
89. Add a drizzle of whey to sweet potato casserole baby food to add probiotics.
90. Liquid whey separated from clabber (or yogurt) is a key ingredient in homemade baby formula.
91. Use clabber blended with flour to make soaked waffles.
92. Whip up a pan of gluten-free soaked cornbread.
93. Make homemade tomato bisque using the soured milk instead of plain milk.
94. Use it to soak homemade quick oats.
95. Make a pan of Mexican mac & cheese.
96. Use instead of water to cook a pot of whole grain millet.
97. Make a buttermilk-style egg nog with it!
98. If only slightly sour, use it to make a refreshing matcha frappe.
99. Use as a substitute for water in this easy rice cakes recipe.
100. If only slightly sour, use to make a red rooibos latte.
101. Drizzle some into your cup of dandelion coffee if the sourness is very mild.
Do you have more suggestions to add? Please share with us in the comments section!
I’m sure there are literally dozens more uses for soured raw milk and the liquid whey separated from clabber that I’ve missed!
More Information
Organic UHT Milk
A1 vs A2 Milk
Why Skim Milk Makes You Fat
Low Temp (Vat) Pasteurized Milk Compared to Raw
Shake it up and make butter! Fun activity for the kids!
lol that’s a good one!
I just stumbled upon this article and I have a lot of respect 4 what most of the people supporting vegetarianism say as it was delivered well thought out & makes sense, providing an alternative view to this highly slanted article.
I too know VEGAN folks and vegetarian folks who don’t just eat veggies, there’s a full array of nutrients 2 get all your required nutrients including protein and vitamins mentioned in the article. The problem with this article is it interviewed only people who left the diet and not folks who have stayed on it, here in America. If one experiences cravings, it means they’re lacking a nutrient and that does NOT have 2 b resolved by meat, there r other ways. I don’t believe based on what I have seen and what my own self has felt when I was 100% vegan or vegetarian. It’s like saying someone falling off their diet from sweet addiction proves they’re body NEEDS the cookies, candies & cake… Duh! If u’re not eating healthy 2 being with u r gonna crave trash.
TRASH IN TRASH OUT!
I was perusing this site but after reading the author’s rather defensive comments back at some of the people who made EXTREMELY good points… how can I trust the info on here as being true and unbiased rather than supporting a single agenda of the author–whatever that may be?
Haven’t read all the comments and missed whatever discussion there was about vegetarianism/veganism, but the two are not the same thing. Vegetarians eat animal products such as dairy and eggs, while vegans don’t. Conflating the two is incorrect. One can be a healthy vegetarian, but a vegan diet lacks the essential nutrient vitamin B12, which is found only in animal products. So vegans must supplement with B12–if they don’t, they will develop health problems long term. Since supplements were not available throughout most of human history, it seems clear to me that humans were not meant to follow a vegan diet.
On topic, I finally found a local source of certified raw milk, in New York state, and am thrilled. Have been buying it for several weeks now, a half gallon a week for my husband and myself, and we’re already not drinking it all, which is how I stumbled on this site. I suppose I’d better start drinking it by the glass–cannot imagine going through the quantities other people describe! In any case, I now know what to do if it sours. The information about letting it sour at room temp was very helpful.
I just heard that the temperature at which the milk sours matters. If it sours on the counter at room temp – fine. If it sours in the fridge – not fine. Thoughts? I’ve been drinking raw milk for a couple years, but not soured milk. After reading all these uses, I started using my soured milk in smoothies (soured from the fridge) and I winded up getting bacterial colitis a couple weeks ago. I’m not 100% sure it was from the milk but, honestly, it’s the most likely culprit. =(
Good bacteria grow in room temp raw milk. Bad kinds of bacteria can grow in the fridge. I would only sour milk on the counter if you are wanting to consume it. Soured milk in the fridge, I would use for milk paint, putting on dirty clothes to “bleach” them or putting them on plants, etc….
This is the comment about bad bacteria growing in milk that has gone sour in the fridge vs. at room temperature.
Tiffaney, do you know what the bacteria is or do you have any links or other information about this? I’ve had milk sour in the fridge that I’ve used in baking many times. I’ve heard this before and looked for info to support this statement but haven’t found any. Do you (or does anyone) know anything more about it, please? I’m really curious about this and would love more information on it.
Thank you!
soured milk makes wonderful Yorkshire puddings. Add a little fresh sage if serving with pork. mint, rosemary or thyme with lamb, grated horseradish and/or onion with beef, grated onion (or many other herbs) with chicken. The possibilities are endless.
Choose herbs of your choice to make toad in the hole depending on which sausage you use.
Enjoy!
Add warmed soured raw milk to pasta with fresh garlic and sea salt.
Generations of Irish have used soured milk to make delicious soda bread and the lightest of scones.
I buy raw milk specifically to sour to make soda bread that tastes like it was on the farm in Ireland that my mum comes from. I assume there can be no health issues with this as the bread is baked at gas 5-8 for nearly an hour. This should kill off anything that anyone would be concerned about.
I use this recipe because it’s easy to remember. There are better recipes out there, just substitute the buttermilk/ yoghurt or whatever they are using for sour milk:
500g flour (brown, wholemeal, mix of white and brown; I use wholemeal spelt)
500ml sour milk or a half-half mix of sour milk and either water or regular milk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Heat the oven to gas 8. Grease a tin roughly 20cm across and line the bottom with parchment. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. make a well in the middle and empty in the liquid. Stir, drawing in the dry ingredients from the edges. Empty the mix into the tin – DO NOT KNEAD. With a sharp implement, cut a cross in the top from one side to the other, to help it rise. Cover tightly with tinfoil and bake at gas 8 for 10-20mins. Take off the foil. Bake at gas 5 for another 30-45mins. It should be golden on top. Turn it out upside-down and tap the bottom. It should sound hollow (full of air). If not, give it a bit longer. To be honest, I’ve never managed to burn it.
Let it cool on a wire rack till you can put your hand on it to cut it.
Eat immediately with cold salty butter.
Notes:
1. This is a wet mix, hence the tin. It’s more traditional to make it drier by increasing the flour. It can then be baked on a floured baking sheet and will hold it’s shape. I like this mix because it’s very moist.
2. We were always told you have to mix the wet and dry ingredients as quickly and deftly as possible because the bicarb reacts on contact with the acidic sour milk creating the CO2 bubbles that you want in the bread. However Yotam Ottolenghi disputes this principle for baked goods. He claims he let such a batter sit around for a while and it still rose when he remembered to put it in the oven.
3. It’s adaptable. You can add seeds. I sometimes add a couple of handfuls of mixed dried fruit and a teaspoon or so of spices like cinnamon, allspice to the dry mix before mixing in the wet. It makes a lovely breakfast fruit loaf. You might increase the sugar. I don’t find this necessary.
4. I sometimes cook it in a casserole in the oven with the lid on initially then removed. Remember this kind of bread used to be cooked in a closed cast iron skillet suspended over the fire.
5. Granny Murphy took the recipe for her amazing brown bread to the grave with her. I think she used an egg and possible brown flour (which is not wholemeal at all).
I had a conversation regarding this article with my dad, who grew up using traditional food prep methods. His understanding was that milk soured at room temperature was “good” sour milk. Milk that sours in the refrigerator has essentially “spoiled”. His explanation was that different bacteria grow in different temperature ranges, and those growing in the temperature range of refrigeration are not the beneficial ones. It seemed to make sense to me, as I know for butter, yogurt, and cheeses for example, you are looking for a specific temperature range to proliferate the desired bacteria. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Yes. I agree with that. 🙂
I’d make mild toast with it and especially on a cold winter morning. Yum.
Milk toast, not mild. LOL