Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
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
I dilute it to 10-15% and spray my garden with it. It helps get rid of powdery mildew and provides nutrients for the plants.
How about going on a Soured Raw Milk Diet / Fast?
I love raw milk. I think it tastes so much better than store bought. I cannot even stomach the taste of store bought milk. Am I the only one that tastes that funny taste in milk from the store? Just curious. Well, I have used sour milk on my dog’s hot spots. Works very well to soothe them, he has very sensitive skin. I have given it to my chickens. I have very dry cracked heels, and I was thinking of soaking my heals in it once, but I always use it for recipes. I really am trying to get over it, but I am still leary of consuming raw milk. I mean, the push of how dangerous it is has left its mark on me. My hubby is completely comfortable with it, no concerns. I totally advocate it to be legal, believe its health benefits, and am hoping in time I will feel better about it and my concern will subside. We get it from a very trusted source, he has sold it for many years, and noone has ever been sick from it. I feel silly to admit my concern. Years ago, when I was a child, my mom bought it from the farmer across the street and we never once worried about it.
Well, I don’t know how I feel about having found this site. Up to now, I thought I knew more than anyone else about uses for soured fresh milk, and I never even came up with 50 uses, let alone 100. Actually, I really only have about 10 uses, but I use those frequently. I deliberately sour two gallons a week (of the 6 gallons a week of fresh milk that I get). I find that it tastes better if it sours at room temperature, and is easier to get out of the container if I pour it into a wide mouth glass jar before it sours. My husband got addicted to his morning smoothie of sour milk and bananas before he realized what was in it. Also when I use clabber (an old name for soured fresh milk) to make baked goods such as biscuits I soak the flour in the clabber overnight, or all day if they are for dinner. Produces a great texture, and according to Sally Fallon brings out more nutrients in the grains.
So after I stop pouting because you know more than I do, I will be grateful for this site.
There! I’m done pouting. Thank you for this. (smiley face)
great post Sarah!! i was just wondering about this myself, I swear you read my mind:) i have an old Amish Cookbook, and many of the baked goods recipes call for sour milk! i just convert them to WAPF friendly versions. muffins, coffee cake, etc…works like buttermilk i suppose.
My favorite article on raw milk: http://nourishedkitchen.com/drink-raw-milk/
Thanks for these suggestions I didn’t even know I could use my sour raw milk LOVE your site glad I found you. If it wasn’t for my 2yr old son having a super serious allergic reaction to PASTERIZED Milk I would have never found my or been introduced to Raw Milk which he can drink. I love our clean local Dairy! Our weekly trips to their grass fed well cared for cows and calves is my sons favorite thing to do. LOVE RAW milk it saved us and we are SO glad it did!
Yes Raw milk can get harmful bacteria but so can Spinach, Watermelon and things like Six Flags Swimming Areas…. You might want to look at how many leafy veggies have gotten and killed people with there deadly bacterias . In my opinion it is clearly the way things are HANDLED… it is not the products fault it is the producer and that goes for everything!
The ignorance about raw milk and the pandering to government fear proganda and collapsing under the pressure from Big Dairy is disheartening. I spent last semester in college doing a paper on this subject. 14 weeks of in depth research and nearly 30 pages of final paper later I have learned that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t shove their face in and make them drink. Those who choose to buckle under the propoganda delivered by the FDA, CDC, and Big Dairy cannot be convinced. They have already made up their minds and they will close their eyes at evidence to the contrary. They only want to stir the pot, so to speak. It is better to enjoy your raw milk and let go of those who refuse to see reason with grace.
well said Nickelle. Thank you.
I put off reading this post for a few days, knowing that I would want to spend time with it. I am still timid about making yogurt (yikes, can I do it right!) and having time to really work with it. Thanks for the encouragement of supporting comments and of course the videos!!!
Two things I want to share, I need to share:
When I found that I was able to get raw goat milk, I wept. The tears came from some place deep inside of me. I could barely speak. And in my soul, I heard “manna”.
Today, I discovered that raw milk is legal and accessible in the 2 states where my adult children live. I felt tears of joy and relief for this. I forwarded the information to them – they can decide for themselves.
As for me, I am filled with gratitude for those who have come before me, those who are here doing this work now, and for all the work in this website.
Pamela – raw milk is a spiritual/emotional thing for me too. The first time I drank it from a dairy that has jersey cows I could literally feel the goodness spreading throughout my body. Absolutely amazing.
Pour it down the toilet. The healthy bacteria will nourish your septic system!
Oh well, I see this post to late for me, but I do have a question,I just thrown out i gallons of raw milk ( but it was Raw Goat milk ) still in the refrigerator ,and oh my God it smell so bad.I don’t think is it the same as cow milk, any good response thanks ,maggie
Goat milk will smell goatier the older it gets, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad, Maggie. I purchase raw goat milk every couple weeks, and it has a sweet smell/taste when I bring it home, but after two weeks it will definitely smell like a goat. I still use it to bake with, and this site has given me a lot more ideas with which to use it, but you probably don’t want to drink it if it smells bad. It’ll taste too strong at that point as well. Put it on you compost pile to give it good bacterias to break down your compost…your garden will love it.
Thank you Kim,now I know about the smell, but frankly what I do with my raw goat milk is boiled it a little bit to make my own yogurt ( I love it ) but sometimes I live a gallon just like that raw for my family to drink,then 3 0r 4 days pass and they did not have any, when I went to check ,I never smell something like that, but normaly when i buy it it is really good and smell very fresh,thanks to all for the tips.
ps: now starting summer i will have problen ordering my goat milk,it is going to be first come first serve every 2 weeks they said,but I use to paid in advance,let’s see what happen , but I can have rawcow milk anyway,my next step is to do my own goat cheese I already order some organic culture to do it,, I hope it will come nice,,Happy Easter to all