I noticed in reading a thread on this forum, that someone (Mamta?) said that the whey from making paneer could be used as a coagulant, instead of lemon, vinegar etc.

A few questions:

Is the freshness of the whey important? Could whey stored in the fridge for a week be used?

How much would you need?

I make kefir on a regular basis and often drain and press it like making labneh, giving me a lot of whey. Would this whey work the same way?

I'm not adverse to doing a bit of experimenting, but don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to (though the creative impetus of figuring out what to do with 'failed' experiments has led to some happy accidents!).

Anyone here tried using whey?

Cheers,

Polly

Hello Polly

Yes, paneer can be made from whey and is often made from whey by people who make it every day. It is said to be softer. You can to store it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. You do have to add a lot more of it than the usual coagulants like lemon/vinegar/citric acid though.

You need to use quite a lot of it, keep adding until milk curdles. That is why, I don?t very often use this method..

It is worth a try using your own whey. However, vinegar is very inexpensive and easier to use.

Yes I have tried using whey, especially when I am making paneer for Bengali Rasgulla sweets.

Mamta

Thank you very much for the information. It was not something I have heard about doing before.

I have always used lemon juice, but it seems to require a fair bit of water to rinse the tartness from the curd.

We are very dry here, less than 10% water in the city's dams, so I was hoping to find yet another way to cut back on water usage. No matter how little water it seems, if this approach is applied to everything in life, it will be bound to make SOME difference.

Again, thank you for the answer. I will let you know how it turns out when I try it using the kefir whey, but won't get to it until next week.

Cheers, Polly

We will look forward to hearing from you.

Mamta

Well, finally tried it. The whey I had was from draining unheated kefir. It had been in the fridge for about three weeks. It didn't work for me.

I had also saved half of the whey from making lime juice coagulated paneer. It had been in the fridge about a week or less. Tried a bit, then a bit more. Finally ended up adding all of it, and still no luck. When I added some lemon juice, instant coagulation.

Any idea what I did wrong? Should I have let the whey warm up before using? Or did I need to save the entire amount to use, not just half?

Cheers,

Polly

You didn't do anything wrong Polly. Making milk curdle from left over whey requires rather 'mature' whey, and a lot of it. It is usually left out for a day or two or a long time in the fridge. I must say, I usually make paneer with colourless vinegar or lemon, my preferred method:

Making Paneer

Mamta

Thank you, Mamta! I will try letting the whey mature next time.

I too usually make it using a reliable acid, lime or lemon, depending on what I have. But you know how it is, you hear you CAN do something and then you want to, just to see how/if it works! That is how I started making paneer, not because I couldn't get it where we were living, but well, mountains are meant to be climbed?

The only thing I do differently is I put the drained, hot curds in a square plastic container with drainage holes, before I press it. Fewer raggedy edges when I'm cutting cubes means I snack a bit less!

Cheers,

Polly