When you make cheese or yogurt at home, you're left with two distinct substances. One is thick milk solids in the form of the dairy product you created, and the other is a thin, tangy liquid known as whey. Whey can range from being completely clear to slightly opaque or cloudy, and different recipes will produce varying amounts of it. Although you can discard the whey you produce, it does have other uses.
Getting Whey
It's not hard to make your own whey at home. According to a Food.com recipe for liquid whey, you must heat a quart of milk to just over 100 degrees, mix it with 4 oz. of plain yogurt and allow the mixture to ferment at 100 degrees for about eight hours. After that time, strain the yogurt to separate it from the liquid whey. You can also get whey that is less tangy by heating milk on the stovetop until it begins to bubble and rise in the pot. Turn off the heat, add lemon juice or vinegar until the milk curdles, let it cool and then separate the milk solids, which you can use as ricotta cheese, from the liquid whey.
Breadmaking
Basic bread consists of just a few ingredients: flour, salt, yeast and water. To give homemade bread a bit of a sourdough tang and increase its nutritional content, use liquid whey instead of water when you're mixing up the dough. Heat the whey to the temperature that the water would need to be, if necessary, and proceed with letting the dough rise and baking it as usual. You may notice a more tender crumb and a complex taste in the final loaf.
For Boiling
If your whey comes from cheese and is not too tangy or sour, it can work very well in making rice or cooking vegetables. Where you would normally boil water to cook rice, other whole grains or vegetables, add whey instead. You'll be able to taste a slight difference in the end result, and the cooked rice or grains will be more nutritious. According to the Whey Protein Institute, liquid whey is a rich source of protein that has all essential amino acids and is simple to digest.
Drinking
If you can get used to the signature flavor of liquid whey, it can become a healthy drink to have instead of tea or coffee. Try heating a cup and serving it with honey to mellow the distinctive tang. If drinking it straight is too much for you, freeze the whey in small cubes and add them to smoothies or protein drinks to get all of the nutritional benefits without a strong flavor.
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