This Way or That Whey
How to Make Whey, Cream Cheese, and Lacto-Fermented Beets.
It’s not everyday you wake up and decide it would be a good day to start increasing your gut flora.
A few days ago it was such a day
and on that day
I made whey.
Move over Miss Muffet we got a new poet in town. Like it? You’re welcome.
How to Make the Whey (and cream cheese)
I followed the directions in Nourishing Traditions.
In my short life this is the best book I’ve read on nutrition even if it looks like it was printed in 1972.
Way or Whey #1
Organic Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
1. Put a metal strainer over a glass or metal bowl. (I actually ended up using a mesh strainer and it worked well.)
2. Line the strainer with thin dishtowel.
3. Pour a container of Organic Plain Whole Milk yogurt into the strainer.
4. Let it drip (this is the whey) into the bowl for hours or overnight.
5. Tie your towel to a wooden spoon and place the spoon over a pitcher. When the towel is not longer dripping the cream cheese is ready and you have whey.
Way or Whey #2
Raw Milk
For you crazies who want to use raw milk. 😉
1. FIRST you need to put the milk in a clean glass container until it separates. This will take a day or 4.
2. Then follow the above directions.
The whey will keep in a glass container for up to 6 months and the cream cheese up to 1 month. (A few days if it’s in my house.)
Simple dimple.
Why whey you ask? Well whey is high in minerals and has a variety of uses. It can be used to soak grains (soaking neutralizes phytic acid improving their nutritional benefit),as a supplement to aid in digestion, and because of the lactic acid whey contains it can be used to lacto ferment vegetables. Remember I wanted to increase the flora in my gut (I’m sure you are still marveling at my poetic genius)? Eating lacto fermented vegetables is a great way to do just that. Besides my house is being overrun by beets from my CSA. I can only eat so many grilled beet and goat cheese salads.
How to Make the Pickeled (Lacto-Fermented) Beets
Beets
Sea Salt
4 tbs Whey
1 cup of Filtered Water
Again I followed the directions laid out by Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
1. Wash and peel beets.
2. Roast the beets until soft. (I forgot to “prick” them.) My beets seemed to be drying out so I added some water to the pan and covered it with aluminum foil which I’m sure rendered my beets toxic. Good thing I’ll have more gut flora.
3. Slice the beets but not too thin about 1/4″ of an inch. Mine are all different thickness b/c I wanted to see what texture I prefer. Whatever you do DO NOT grate or process beets in a processor as this will make them ferment too quickly. You want lactic acid not alcohol.
4. Put the beets in a quart sized mason jar. Press the beets down lighting with a wooden pounder or meat hammer. My meat hammer wouldn’t fit so I used a wooden spoon.
4. Combine the sea salt, whey, and filtered water and pour into the mason jar. Make sure to cover the beets. There should be at least one inch between the top of you jar and the beets.
5. Screw the lid on tightly and wait patiently. I know it will be hard while you think about all the wonderful little bacteria proliferating on you counter. In about 3 days you can transfer to cold storage. They can also be eaten at this time or you may wait if you prefer a stronger flavor.
Mine are still waiting one the counter. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
For more information of lacto-fermation here is an article by the queen of nourishment, Sally Fallon.
Do you use whey or lacto-ferment vegetables? Are you like me and the thought of healthy gut bacteria just make you giddy with joy? Do I need need to get a life? Wait…don’t answer that!
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!
Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
Do we refrigerate during the process? Intrigued! Did Fit For Life years ago and they’re ALL about easier digestion. Makes sense.
Nope. Keep them in room temperature for 3 days and then move them to the fridge.
I LOVE coming to your site because I always learn something when I do!
I’ve strained yogurt before to make greek yogurt or yogurt cheese, but, never thought of trying it with milk. LOVE it!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge from all that reading
What a sweet comment! Thanks Danica.
I love that you lacto-ferment.
I’m doing lacto-fermented pickles this weekend after I hit up my cucumber guy at the farmer’s market. They are so much better than brined pickles. Same with sauerkraut.
I cannot do beets. Ever. But I love pickles.
I was hoping to get a bunch of cucumbers in our CSA box this week but we didn’t.
This is my first time with beets so the verdict is still out!
That kind of thnkniig shows you’re on top of your game
Can you do this with just water? I can’t do the whey thing, but I love me some fermented veggies. I haven’t tried beets yet.
According to the book if you are not using whey you should use an additional 1 tbs of salt.
Never used whey but now I’m curious. And I’ve got to get that book!
I’m sure you would love that book. For me it has been worth every penny!
You are so smart! I’ve not tried to make whey/curds either. I was goign to ask about the fridge thing but someone beat me to it lol.
I’m smart enough read and follow directions anyway! Tee hee!!!
What a great idea. And I have heard wonderful wonderful things about that book. I might have to give it a try. What does it taste like – the lacto-fermented beets? I heart beets.
Love that book. Can’t say enough good things about it. The beets taste pretty much like canned beet with a little tang. They remind of the beets that you sometimes find on salad bars. The little cut up ones. I like them!
Hey Jenn, this is fascinating to me, because I regularly make my own whole milk yogurt, and then I make it into ‘greek yogurt’ by straining it for a while, and then I have the whey. And I have used the whey in smoothies (very good) but lots of times I have too much and just toss it. I love beets every which way, so this sounds great to me. It sounds like pickled beets. I’m gonna go check out that book.
Yes they are pickled beets but b/c of the method used they are full of good bacteria! We love them. So tasty!