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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
Would love to know where you got the information that this is safe to consume.
I think the proof that it is safe to consume is the mere number of people who read this blog, who have been drinking raw milk for years, and who have never gotten sick because of it.
And what do you say about the people who HAVE gotten sick?
I think that is the point. You hear of hundreds of people getting sick from food from the industrialized food system, but not from whole food, fresh from the farmers who treat their animals humanely and safely. If you know someone who got sick from raw milk consumption, that is very unfortunate and certainly not the norm as you can tell from the happy raw milk drinkers here.
If you are looking for information on the safety of raw milk, go to the Weston A. Price Foundation website. In an earlier post you stated you read information on the safety of raw milk and you feel the information was misinterpreted. That is fine for you to see it that way. I personally have a hard time believing any study done directly by any dairy association, dairy lobby or the government agencies that are so strongly influenced by these organizations. It comes down to choice. I will respect your choice for drinking your milk of you respect my right to drink my milk.
I respect your passion for your opinion. I feel it would be better spent ‘defending’ the far greater number of children who were sickened as a result of the unsanitary, inhumane, unethical food industry (ie. outbreaks and recalls of peanut butter, cantaloupe, spinach, ground turkey and thousands of pounds of ground beef, just to name a few.) Take responsibility for what you eat and know where your food comes from!
Hi Laura, you certainly present a reasonable commentary. I hear ya when it comes to food. In fact, I am attempting to grow as much of my own food as possible, which up until recently, included my own dairy animals. But I had a baby who decided to come out of the womb three months early and much other responsibilities and was stretched too thin, so I currently do not own dairy animals.
My feelings about raw milk stem from two differing backgrounds. One, I was trained in food safety in culinary school, and learned about all of the factors that influence pathogenic growth. Two, as I stated I had my own milk that I needed to decide what to do with–pasteurize it or not.
When I first started out, I read through Sally Fallon’s book (same author as the website you mentioned). Unfortunately there is not one study or reference to the information that she presents inside of her book.
So I did go to the website. I looked through the references that were provided and found that much of the studies that they point to have nothing to do with raw ruminant milk whatsoever. In fact some of those studies point to the benefits of babies consuming breast milk or the health benefits of societies who regularly eat probiotics (but in these cultures the milk is heated significantly higher than what is required for pasteurization–negating the “raw” part of the debate).
Frankly, when I read through the information on the website it was clear that they did not think that anyone would question the information that was provided. Clearly, everyone but the CDC is taking them at face-value rather than reading through the information with a critical eye and making sure that the decisions that they are making for their families are truly safe.
It is very sad indeed. Yes, raw milk outbreaks are rare. But when they do happen, the illnesses are very serious. Take the case of Mary McGonnigle’s son, who drank raw milk and then ended up severely sick, needed to be hospitalized for months on end, multiple organ failure, and needs kidney transplants. Mary said this has cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is why she went to Bill Marler, a food safety advocate and food poisoning attorney (who the author of this website says has nothing better to do than pick on raw-milkers) because she needed the money to pay for a kidney transplant for her son.
I respect your right to drink raw milk. But somehow, we need to figure out how to keep kids safe and understand how fragile raw milk really is. In my opinion, soured raw milk is probably best not eaten and especially not given to children, who have extremely fragile immune systems.
MSH,
From one Mommy of a 28 weeker to another Premie Mommy, you brought up a good point in pointing out the problem with giving things that are cultured to someone, like a child, with a severely compromised immune system. We as parents need to educate ourselves to the benefits and risks of everything we give our children whether it is foods, medicines, vaccines, or otherwise. It is necessary to way risks against benefits. Even then, sometimes bad things happen that are out of our control despite how careful we are. I could try to beat myself up with what ifs regarding my son’s premature birth, but that won’t help him now. I am heartbroken for your friend and for her sweet child and the suffering they have endured. I hope that since the time of your post they have had improvement. I also hope your little one is doing well, also. My little man is now 8. He suffered lots of complications from being Premie, but he makes up for it in character! 🙂 and despite being only 40 pounds, he is as healthy as an ox!! Blessings.
MSH ~ No one is suggesting that raw milk has NO risks. We’re saying that the risks are extremely small, and we choose to take those risks, and the health risks for raw milk are MUCH less than that of food raised/prepared in a less traditional manner.
Your argument against raw milk, where you state that people’s children have gotten sick from it, is logically similar to saying, “I know a friend whose daughter died in a car crash, so we should all stop driving cars.” Some are trying to drive their vehicles less, but it’s not usually because they are terrified of the risks inherent with driving. Those who choose to drive do so as safely as possible, while knowing risks beyond our control are still present. We’re just satisfied that the benefits outweigh the risks, both for driving, and for drinking raw milk.
Karen, please see my previous comment to another person. I really think the risk is far more serious than you realize.
You call an average of 43 illnesses from raw milk per year with approximately 3% of the population drinking it in the United States and NO DEATHS for over 10 years a serious risk? This is a tiny tiny risk.
It is a serious risk when you think of what those illnesses entail. You aren’t simply barfing your brains out here! We’re talking about serious, life-altering events… hospitalizations, multiple organ failure, organ transplants, hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills… need I go on? Read the stories for yourself. The information is out there. Yes, it might be only 43 people a year, but we’re talking about serious illnesses here.
And don’t we all shun the food lobbyists and manufacturers of I don’t know, say yellow #5 for saying “the risk is so small…” seems so contradictory to me. It seems to me that we should judge all foods by the same platform–whether they come from your neighborhood farmer or not.
Those 43 illnesses per year on average are not severe … everyone recovered completely. Not one death in over ten years … might be even 13 years.
Your arguments do not hold water. They are simply based on the fear government propaganda has sown in your mind.
Sarah, the illnesses are severe enough that the CDC felt compelled to track down the source of the bacteria. How can you say that they weren’t severe?
Re: raw milk not being “for me.” Clearly it isn’t. You may not be interested in convincing little ol’ me, but that’s fine. But clearly many folks are following in your footsteps, just like the McGonnigles’ kids parents did when they followed the same advice that you are recommending here. Their kid nearly died from it.
I merely pose an alternate viewpoint. You seem to think it is based on my belief in government propaganda. But it isn’t. It is based on my education in the six factors that encourage microorganisms to grow. It is lack of knowledge of these principles that I believe leads to ALL food illness outbreaks, including the raw vegetables, sprouts, cantaloupes, etc. I wrote a short post about them, if you care to read it. http://www.mysuburbanhomestead.com/food-safety-principles-fat-tom-acronym/
If you are interested in the actual history and references to studies on raw milk (as well as current day politics) you might want to check out Ron Schmid’s book “The Untold Story of Milk”.
I would have to see the proof where the culturing determined it was raw milk. You say you were trained in culinary arts school on food safety… I am curious did they teach you to use bleach for disfectant? Do you know where it comes from? People have used raw milk in this country and others since the beginning of time. If you question its safety, do not use it. The virbations you put out will give you bad results with it. Those of us that are fans of raw milk I am sure will continue to use it. God gave us all we need to survive and its not until we mess with things as he gave us that we see problems. Look at ephedra and the bad rap it got. Ephedra in its God given form wouldn’t hurt a mouse, much less a human, but then here comes some scientist and official hey we can make money reproducing this in a lab and selling it and in comes the problems. Supply now met demand at the cost of lives because it was synetheic. Not as God gave us. Same with milk God gave it to us raw for a reason. We can chose for ourselves without argument on whether to go raw, or go pasturized and even homogenized. Let your conscience be your guide.
I believe Mrs. McGonnigle herself has said that they are not even sure it was the milk. She had thrown it out so it could not be tested. Her child and another who became ill had another food that they ate in common, I believe it was spinach. (There was none left of that to test either.) If I recall correctly, she also has said her son was given abx in the hospital which made her son’s condition deteriorate to the point of severe illness.
That’s incorrect. I asked her about this myself. You may be confused because the raw milk producer at the time was trying to blame it on something else but she said that they never had any spinach.
Furthermore, in David Gumpert’s book, Sally Fallon herself decided to personally edit the story of the kid, and the story in his book is incorrect. I believe that a new edition is being written correcting this..
I feel bad for those who have gotten sick but its rare. as is getting sick from spinach from e coli and other things… I know more people who have gotten sick eating “normal” foods then from raw milk. Its a personal choice for my family. Sarah doesn’t make me do it! I weighed the pros and cons and decided for it… and glad I did because my son loves milk and would break out from store bought but is thriving on the RAW!!!
From the CDC itself.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/government-data-proves-raw-milk-is-safe/
Thanks for the great ideas!! I will never waste a drop of milk again!!!
Could it be used to make home-made hair conditioner or moisturizer perhaps? I know that my great grandmas would apply home-made butter to their faces and then exfoliate with gram flour and water.
From your own article on the WAPF site: http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/maximize-your-real-milk-and-cream
-Lift off soured cream and spread on a sandwich instead of mayonnaise.
-Use soured milk instead of whey to soak oatmeal overnight (you mentioned COOKING the oatmeal above, but I don’t think you said use it for soaking it).
-Mix carob powder and a little rapadura into slightly soured milk and give to your kids as “chocolate milk.”
Hi everyone! I’m new here. I’m a single homeschooling mom of a 5 yr old. I’ve searched, but to no avail…
Where on earth can I get raw milk??? I’m living in MD and the google shows nothing in this area- minus some ice creams… But I want gallons- Can anyone please tell me where to get this???
Keep asking people at farmer’s markets and friends that buy organic. Someone will know. 🙂
Check out realmilk.com for some ideas.
This is a real sore point. It is illegal in Md. to sell fresh milk. Can you imagine that? It is against the law for a farmer to sell a healthy product to someone who wants to come to his farm to buy it?! I am part of a buying club that was getting fresh milk from a wonderful farmer in Pa. The FDA conducted ARMED RAIDS against him, threatening his family (he has children) with loaded weapons. He had to shut down for fear of what could happen to his family. Google Dan Allgyer. Our tax dollars at work. Of course it is great for the FDA to proclaim a victory over an Amish farmer. It is well known that they will not fight back. He would not even have a lawyer in the courtroom with him, much less shoot back. This has been a terrible loss for all of us. Get involved in your local Md. politics. Every year my daughter is involved in another effort to get fresh milk legalized in Md.
I purchased a half cow last year from an organic farm. Now my freezer is full, and I get raw milk whenever I want it from the farmer. They can not SELL raw milk in New York either; however they can GIVE IT AWAY. Occasionally I pick up things for the farmer that she needs. A few months ago, I found a complete milker setup at a second hand store. I called her to see if she needed one. It is over $1,500 new, and I bought it for less than $100. I gave it to her. She gives me raw milk. No money changes hands, and in fact, I don’t necessarily even pick up milk when I drop stuff off.
The barter system is as old as time… think about it.
I wonder if I could soak my hard wheat berries in soured milk instead of water. What do you think?
Use it with lemon for a great face mask (see http://www.crunchybetty.com/lemon-brilliance-use-it-three-new-ways)
I’m laughing because we never have enough milk in this house! Mine has never gotten a chance to go sour. I’ll have to remember this for whenever my kids are off to college and it’s just me and my husband.
This is a great post. Thanks for the list. There are so many uses for soured raw milk.
In my experience with raw milk there is “good sour” and “bad sour”. Good sour has a pleasant flavor, bad sour can be bitter or have other off flavors. Good sour I would use in cooking, bad sour I would feed to animals or pour on the garden. To the best of my knowledge I have never gotten sick form tasting even the “bad sour” milk.
yeah, I find that the whey keeps the “good sour” smell for about 6-8 weeks in the refrigerator. I usually dump it out when the smell changes to the “bad sour” smell but maybe I’ll give it to my plants next time.