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
Hi Sarah, could you tell me how long the home made raw creamcheese lasts refrigerated? I have creamcheese from a gallon of milk!
A week or so.
Hi Sarah, i can only find raw milk that is not pasture-raised, the cows are confined. So to have whey for my infant formula, i plan to clabber the raw milk to get the whey and then boil the whey to 145-150degrees just to be sure no bacteria. What do you think? Pls thx!
Boiling the whey would destroy it and make it very allergenic! Just use the whey from store bought organic yogurt. See my video on separating whey from yogurt as linked to in the post.
You ARE using raw milk for the infant formula .. correct? The formula is NOT for pasteurized milk.
Thank you for your response. Im here in california and just recently turned to this stuff.this was the second time ive tried but it was with a different company. There is only two brands that sell raw milk in olivers (health market) but I had a weiry feeling about this actually being raw because the first milk I got after dumping its contents it never molded, the left over before rinsing it out. But this company its leftover molded by the next day the bottom residue. Im going to look for a local dairy.
Hi sarah, I am new to this whole process but eager to learn and try. I went out and bought a gallon of raw milk as I have plenty of new uses for a lot of whey. During my journey though I will try and be brief. I had to through the whole thing away. I came home divided the gallon into mason jars. One for drinking and the other three for curds and whey. I took one out left the mason jar lid on and it took four days to separate (by the third day the lid was buldging so I burped it). Now upon opening the lid I seen a tint green but didnt smell bad so I filtered and tried it. Tasted fine. The second batch was done on day two. This time after day one I stuck a spoon in to stir it as a friend told me to stir it daily as well as keep the lid open. So that being said the third jar I took the lid off and by day three it had mold on it. I have been looking at it everyday to see it thicken I left this morning it was still a bit runny, I get home from work and there is very visible green along the cream. Now all three methods had failded to produce a yellow whey and the curds were excessivly dry. If you could please help me out I would much appreciate it.
I’ve never had anything green in color when I’ve made whey. Are you certain the milk is raw? Note that low temp pasteurized milk with cream on top is not raw … I’ve had other folks make this mistake and some small dairy farms tell people it is still enzymatically active (aka, raw) when it is not.
Do I need to take the cream off the top of the raw milk before clabbering?
No, it is best to leave the cream in the milk.
Hi Sarah, does freezing the liquid whey make it less nutritious?
Slightly, but not significantly so.
Sarah, when straining the clabbered raw milk (to capture the whey), do I need to pay attention to thread count or food grade cotton when purchasing my teatowel, butter muslin or floursack? I’d like to pick up something local, like at a BedBath&Beyond or Kohl’s or Target, but I want to make sure I get a good fabric for the job.
Thank you!
I was wondering if the milk sets on the counter and separates, is it still useable like this video or will it get rancid? I heard to leave the milk on the counter to make cheese, but I left it out to do so, and I didn’t have instructions. Its been sitting for about 4 days and has separated from the whey. I would like to use it if I can ๐ My house has been about 75-77 degrees most of the time this week.
Can I make whey with raw camel milk? I want to make homemade baby formula with raw camel milk for my 11 month old.
Yes, you can definitely make raw camel whey with raw camel milk. Same process as with cow milk.
Hi Sara, I love your website it is so interesting. I have a question, To make whey from whole raw milk, do you need make it in a plastic container? I tried to make my for first time, and I left my milk for 24 hours in a glass container, it didn’t work. What should I do?
Thank you
Glass is best. Sometimes it takes longer than 24 hours if the raw milk is very fresh. It can even take up to 3 days in some cases particularly if your home is very cool in temperature. I live in FL, so the clabbering happens very fast most of the time!