I know I’ve called this post straining yogurt – the easy way, but actually, there is no hard way. It’s one of the quickest and easiest things to do to create a couple of sensational yogurt by-products.
You could go to the expense of buying muslin or cheesecloth to strain your yogurt, but I just use a clean chux. I buy them in bulk, a roll of about 500 chux for under $10. Just make sure you give it a thorough rinse after ripping it off the roll, and before the yogurt touches it.
All you really need is a container of good quality plain yogurt – ideally it should have live and active cultures including some or all of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and acidophilus. Even better is if it’s organic. It should NOT have any added sugars or gums.
Line a large bowl with your clean chux and tip the yogurt into it. I usually use 500g-1kg at a time. Gather up the chux and tie it to a rod of some sort – I use a large chopstick I bought in Vietnam years ago, but a long wooden spoon works well too. Suspend the chopstick above the bowl so the whey can drain into the bowl. Pop it in the fridge and let it drain for at least 12 hours.
After 12 hours (or a bit longer) you will have a beautiful thick yogurt and the liquid whey. Do not throw out the whey! All the cultures I spoke about above are in the whey and they have so many wonderful health properties. It stimulates the growth of good bacteria in the gut and intestines, making it a must to eat if you have gut issues (like I have had over the years). It also contains calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and B vitamins.
You can add the whey to smoothies, salad dressings, soup, or any dish really. Store it in a glass jar in the fridge and use it over a week or so. You can also freeze whey for up to three months and not lose any of the health properties.
I use it to make cultured and fermented foods – I’ll talk more about these in future posts. Remember my Christmas present? A book on fermented foods? The beautiful whey I’ll have tomorrow will be put to use to make some cultured beetroot and probably some carrots. YUM! I’ll blog about that next week.
I’m going to use the yogurt to make labneh, which I also adore. And yes, I’ll share how I do that later too.
Do you strain yogurt? What do you use the whey for?
Waiting oh so patiently for the fermented veggie post Mel. In the mean time I could put the yogurt that I have in the fridge to good use!
Give me a few days! It’s a process!!
Yes!
I use the whey to cook my kid’s vegies. A tip I leant from Chef Matt Stone. Adding protein to vege….genius!
Mel, I am straining yoghurt right now and just saw your post! I have used the whey to ferment beetroot too. I have tried it two ways, soft (beetroot boiled first) and crunchy (using raw beetroot). I like the crunchy one, but my husband prefers the soft one.
On the fermenting topic, we are off to the Barossa Valley next week and keen to pick up some fresh vine leaves (hard to find in Brisbane suburbs) to make traditional Barossa pickled cucumbers. We have a new 10L fermenting crock to christen!
Thanks for the beetroot tip. I’m making some tonight and as wondering whether to cook it. I prefer crunchy too. Am a bit jealous of your fermenting crock! Have fun at the Barossa