What to do with whey from cheese making

While many Americans can recite the story of Little Miss Muffet eating her curds and whey, most would be hard-pressed to list a single home-kitchen use for whey, a byproduct of cheese-making and a main ingredient in commercial protein powders and bars.

Much of the whey resulting from commercial production of cheese and other dairy products such as yogurt ends up as animal feed or going down the drain. But creative chefs have been finding new uses for the nutrient-packed, flavorful liquid.

Whey uses and benefits

What Is Whey?

Whey (pronounced WAY) is one of the two main proteins in milk. It's the cloudy, yellowish liquid expelled from cheese curds during the cheese-making process and from straining fresh yogurt to thicken it.

Whey can be either acidic, like that from yogurt and soft cheeses such as cottage or mozzarella, or sweet, which comes from harder cheeses produced with rennet, such as cheddar and Swiss.

In Italian, ricotta means "recooked," a fitting name for a cheese traditionally made from the whey that remains after another cheese has already been made.

why is whey added to food

use for whey