Goat Cheese

[stano40]

This is a question for those who make cheese from their goats milk.

What do you do with the whey. Is it useful for anything or just waste.

bob

 

[Roll farms]

Some people save it for recipes or to feed their pigs / chickens.

I toss it out, m'self....

Google, "Uses for whey"...bet you get some good ideas.

 

[mossyStone]

I feed whey to my Turkeys and Chickens, and pigs when we have them around....

Mossy Stone Farm Pygora's (and soon to be Nubains)

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

dogs, cats, turkeys, hens... oh they love it

in fact we cut our feed bill pretty significantly by feeding the hens either milk or whey mixed with crushed corn as a kind of cereal... and the LOVE the whey!

or you can ferment or bake with it... and some folks add it to their compost pile

 

[stano40]

Well I guess it has a lot of use's and can be very beneficial. Come Spring and my doe is pregnant I am hoping to try making goat cheese.

Thanks for all this input, especially mixing the whey with cracked corn. Do you let the corn absorb the whey before you feed it to the chickens?

I suppose young goats would like that mixture as well.

bob

 

[chandasue]

You can make ricotta with it according to the cheesemaking book I have.

 

[freemotion]

You can make ricotta from the whey of mozzarella....other cheeses don't always yield enough protein to bother with the ricotta. All you have to do is heat the whey to 200F and then strain it and voila, ricotta!

The whey from mesophilic (processed at cooler temps) cheeses is full of wonderful live probiotics and can be used in making fermented foods such as sauerkrout, beet kvass, salsa, chutneys, etc. I also ferment garden herbs, garlic, scallions, etc, so I will have that summer flavor all winter. Whey is not necessary to making good ferments, but it does speed up the process and ensures the proper bacteria will be present to overwhelm any pathogens.

I also use a glug or two to soak beans and flour for 12-24 hours to make them more digestible and to remove anti-nutrients to get more from these foods. I do this with whole grains as well, and feed them to my goats and poultry, sprouting them, too. Adding whey speeds up the process and adds probiotics to aid digestion.

There is always a jar of whey in my fridge. I feed the compost pile with whey from mold-ripened cheeses and thermophilic cheeses, such as mozzarella and ricotta. I keep the whey from mesophilic cheeses such as cheddar and chevre, and kefir and yogurt cheeses.

 

[clarkai]

I make a very simple cheese that uses the acid from lemons, and I drank it! It was good. I also use it in some recipes, and if that doesn't use it up, it'll go to the dogs.

 

[stano40]

Now I really want to try making goat cheese. All these post show me that not much of cheese making is a waste.

All I need now is to get my new girls kidding for their milk and I'll be set.

That is after a long vacation to recoup from all the work in kidding and taking care of them ..... LOL

bob