How to make raw, enzyme and probiotic-rich liquid whey to use as a starter culture for all your home fermentation needs.
Do you know how to make whey from yogurt, kefir or raw milk?
A by-product of this simple technique is healthy homemade cream cheese that is loaded with enzymes and probiotics.
The recipe below describes how with visual instructions via video demonstration!
Making homemade baby formula? I recommend using this โquick wheyโ no straining method as the fastest and easiest approach.
How to Make Whey the REAL Way
Making real, liquid, nutrient rich, unadulterated whey in your own kitchen is a MUST step for any traditional cook to learn.
Without whey in its whole, liquid form, many other traditional recipes cannot even be attempted. ย You cannot buy whey from the store except in a denatured, unhealthy, powdered whey form. It is worth your time to learn what I show you in the video below.
Other video lessons on this blog show you how to use this whole food form of whey to make many delicious, healthful recipes for your family. ย Whey as made in the video demo below will keep up to 6 months in the refrigerator in a sealed mason jar.
If you absolutely have no access to farm fresh milk to make whole, unadulterated, enzyme rich whey, then you can use plain, organic yogurt brand from the store instead. Here are tips on how to spot the best yogurt brands.
The process is basically exactly the same thing as shown in the video.
You wonโt get nearly as much whey using yogurt as clabbered, farm fresh milk, but at least you can get enough to get you started.
Wonderful Whey and REAL Cream Cheese
The raw, enzyme-rich cream cheese I make in the recipe video below is fantastic on a sprouted or sourdough bagel for breakfast. Donโt buy the Ezekiel sprouted muffins as they contain soy. This low-carb bagel recipe is another great one to try.
If you prefer to buy, these sourdough bagels are available for shipping freshly made to your door.
To make, just take your cream cheese left over from making liquid whey and add a few strawberries and a dash of dark maple syrup to taste. Mix together by pulsing a few times in your food processor. This wonderful, fresh, REAL strawberry cream cheese will last one to two weeks in the refrigerator. ย Another wonderful use for this healthy raw cheese is to make an easyย no bake cheesecake.
No access to raw milk where you live? No problem. Check out this recipe plus video on how to separate whey from yogurtย purchased from the store.
Cloudy Whey vs Clear Whey
No matter whether your whey turns out cloudy or clear, it is safe and fine to use in all your favorite recipes. This article explains why sometimesย whey is cloudy compared to its usual golden color.
Raw Whey Recipe
How to separate raw, liquid whey from clabbered milk. The process also creates probiotic rich cream cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 quart raw milk preferably grassfed
- 1 large glass bowl
- 1 large rubber band
- 1 white dishtowel
Instructions
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Allow the raw milk to sit on the counter for 1-3 days at room temperature.ย
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When the milk separates into curds and whey (transforms into clabbered milk) you are ready to proceed. Note that the fresher the raw milk and the colder the temperature of your house, the longer it will take the raw milk to clabber.
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Line a clean, large glass bowl with a clean, white dishtowel that isnโt too thick. Cheesecloth will also work, but the holes in the mesh must be very small, else the milk curds will pass through.
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Gently pour the clabbered milk into the middle of the dish towel. Gather up the ends and fasten with a rubber band. Attach to a knob on an upper cabinet in your kitchen as shown in the picture.
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Let the raw whey drip into the bowl underneath. This process will continue for an hour or two.
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After the dripping stops, gently take down the hanging bag and place it into a clean bowl. Scrape out the raw cream cheese that is inside the bag, put in a container with a lid and refrigerate.
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Pour the liquid whey from the dripping bowl into a glass mason jar, afix the lid and refrigerate.ย
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Refrigerated, raw cream cheese will be good to eat for about a week. Raw whey will last several months refrigerated.
Recipe Video
How to Useย Whey in Recipes
How to Make Ricottaย Three Ways (plus Video How-to)
Perfect Probiotic Cottage Cheese
Cheese Making: ย Common Problems and Solutions
I know you said that it had to be raw milk(farm fresh) but I have no access to raw milk.
After watching the video on making whey I remembered while watching the
grandchildren one weekend I came across a baby bottle under the couch and the milk had clabbered in the bottle,(at that time I didn’t know about clabbered milk and whey) My daughter and I use ultra pasterized organic milk. I decided to try it out, my milk was fresh
but after 3 days it clabbered. I did as the video said and got my whey and the cream cheese. I stired up the cheese with a sprinkel of salt. It was really good. I have put it on toast with jam and on crackers topped with fermented veggies.
Hi Sarah – love your site!
So I had some sour raw milk and decided to try this. I left my milk on the counter overnight and by the next morning, the whey had separated from the curds. It smelled like yogurt and the surface was mostly clear (whey). I thought I needed to leave it out a bit more so I let it stand a few more hours.
When I came back, there was a thin whitish substance floating on top of the whey – was that mold? The mixture smelled a little different (somewhat more zing, more sour?) but I took a sip of the whey and a bite of the cream cheese (great texture), and it tastes OK. I’m a little scared to eat my cheese because of the ‘mold’. Do I need to throw this batch away or is it completely safe to consume?
Thanks a lot!
I let my cream cheese hang for a couple of hours and lots of whey came out. Then, I put it on a regular dinner plate, topped it with a smaller plate, and put a heavy ceramic bowl on top of it. It is pressing out the last of the whey so it won’t be runny.
Sarah, I bought whole milk from Chuck’s whole foods. Having not seen this video when I got it home, poured myself a glass, found it had clabbered (Should’ve known the “S” marked on the cap was not for “sweet” LOL) I immediately spit it out and poured it down the drain, thinking I’ve just wasted about 8 dollars. I could only think of poisoning my family with bad milk. I know, I’m a newbie. So, leaving raw milk out on the counter is not going to make me sick? Do you have a blog post taking very new people through this? I had no idea that all this stuff I’d always been told would make me sick is actually not true. I’d love to read more, if you could direct me there! Thanks!
Thank you so much for video, so easy to follow. Of course, it was an easy concept but still, when one is new to this, it helps to visualize what you need to do. So everything went well but when I tasted the cheese I had made, I could’ve sworn I’d made Ricotta rather than the cream cheese I was hoping for. Is adding the goodies (syrup and strawberries) what changes the cheese (doesn’t make sense) or did I really make Ricotta and need to use it in a lasagna dish?
so i buy raw milk every week and twice i have left half a gallon in the fridge a week past the due date set it out over night and nothing happens. The milk smells and taste sour to me what am i doing wrong?
Hi Sara,
I tried making whey with fresh raw milk for the first time. I left it out for 6 days. I was expecting it to separate into a clear liquid instead of white whey ( I didn’t read the directions clearly). Was it too long to sit out? I’m not sure how it’s supposed to smell and taste, but it had a funky, cheesy, sour quality.
Thanks,
Nancy
I am attempting to make whey. Got the recipe from “Nourishing Traditions” cookbook. I filled a 1 quart mason jar with raw goats milk on the 11th of April, to the brim. The milk just now smells sour. Should I pour it into a larger container or just leave it in the mason jar? Does the lid have to be tightl on the jar?