Homemade Whey and Cream Cheese/Greek Yogurt

In our day in age, curds and whey brings memories of a nursery rhyme rather than cultured dairy. Curds and whey are the bi-product of fermenting dairy products. In our past, it was a means of preserving dairy. Today most people buy their dairy in the forms of milk, yogurt, cream cheeses, ricotta and sour cream. We don’t really stop to think how they’re made.

What is fermentation?
Fermentation is a chemical change brought on by the action of microscopic yeast, molds and bacteria. The souring of milk, the rising of dough and the conversion of sugar to alcohol are examples of fermentaion.

I make my own homemade yogurt. Yogurt is made by heating milk to 110 degrees adding a culture of live bacteria and letting it sit out (ferment) for 12 hours. To me it was so cool to smell the milk and actually having it smell like yogurt after sitting out for such a long time. Our generation is so used to buying everything at the store without realizing that even these dairy products can be made at home.

I’ve recently started making my own lacto-fermented veggies and fruits and soaking my whole wheat flours. Whey is an excellent starter culture for this and the cream cheese, a by-product, is much healthier than the commercial variety. Since I already have so much yogurt all the time, I decided to start saving the whey for fermenting my veggies and soaking my grains. I’ve been using the cream cheese or Greek Yogurt as a yummy spread on toast and am looking forward to making my first batch of tzatziki sauce for homemade Gyros!

Below is a recipe on how to seperate the curds and whey using yogurt.

Homemade Whey & Cream Cheese/Greek Yogurt

• 1 quart of homemade yogurt or 1 large container of store bought plain yogurt
• Line a large strainer over a bowl with a clean cotton tea towel. Pour in the yogurt, cover and let stand at room temperature for several hours.
• The whey will run into the bowl and the milk solids will stay in the strainer.
• Store whey in a mason jar and the cream cheese in a covered glass container.
• Refrigerated, the cream cheese keeps for about 1 month and the whey for about 6 months