This cookbook is a perfect fit for someone like me who loves cookbooks, especially when it talks about the history and intricacies of ingredients.
The book dives deep into whey, exploring its history, the different types available, their key properties, and the culinary applications where each one truly shines. Of course, the heart of the book lies in the methods for making whey at home.
Beyond the core ingredient, the book boasts over 60 recipes spanning everything from refreshing beverages to hearty main courses. There are even treats for your furry companion! Each recipe is accompanied by interesting tidbits about the dish, its nutritional value, yield, prep time, the most suitable type of whey, and clear cooking instructions. To top it all off, there's a dedicated section at the end unpacking the nutritional profile of whey, providing valuable insights into its health benefits.

While the lack of pictures is a minor drawback, it doesn't diminish the overall value of this cookbook. For anyone who makes cheese or cottage cheese at home, this book is a goldmine. It empowers you to not only utilize the leftover whey in traditional and innovative ways but also retain its valuable nutrients.

As far as cookbooks go this is such a great addition to any collection.
Cooking with Whey is not only informative but it's adorable.

I make my own yogurt, and always wondered what I could do with the whey, rather than dump it down the drain or put it in my compost. This book is so timely for me! It has a lot of great suggestions that the kitchen DIYer will find really useful!

Given 4 stars on Storygraph

I enjoyed working my way through this book. I have recently got into being in the kitchen more (big up lockdown) and had started making cheese but was annoyed to waste so much by-product so jumped at the chance to have a copy of this book.

The book has great advice that I could follow and understand. I found it slightly harder following as a non-American due to the imperial measurements but quickly got my head around it and used to it.

Cooking with Whey is an accessible and well written guide to using whey alongside recipes developed by Claudia Lucero. Released 25th Oct 2022 by Storey, it's 128 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. 

For folks who make cheese, yogurt, and other related foods at home, whey (the liquid left over after curding, straining, and processing dairy) is usually seen as a waste product. I live and work in Norway and except for "brunost" (caramelized whey pressed into blocks and eaten on everything from pancakes to lunch sandwiches), I was not familiar with other thrifty uses of whey. This book is so much more. 

The layout is accessible and easy to follow. The author's friendly and competent instructions are well explained and accessible to non-experts/beginners. The book has a retro vibe; there aren't any photos in the text or the recipes. The illustrations are simple but easy to understand and recognize (see cover). 

Four stars. Definitely a niche book, but quite a good one. The recipes are varied and appealing. This would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, as well as for self-sufficiency and smallholding folks.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Did you know there were so many different types of Whey? Because I sure didn’t. Honestly I didn’t really know much about whey before this book (beyond “eating her curds and whey” and whey protein). I also didn’t know there could be that many whey play on words but the author found them (& I loved it). This was a really interesting book.

I am a hobby cheese and yoghurt maker and am always uncomfortable throwing whey out. Surely there must be uses for it besides giving to animals.
Well it turns out that there is. Claudia begins by explaining about different wheys and ways that you might get the different kinds, whether from yoghurt, or cheesemakers orcooking whey to make ricotta.
Then she talks about using it in the garden to reduce mildew, as a fertiliser. Then using in various bath products, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and finally cooking with whey: savoury and sweet. Some are basically using whey instead of water or milk and some use whey as an ingredient in its own right. Finally there is a nutrition breakdown comparing with whole milk, whey protein powders of various kinds. A slight niggle that recipes are in American cups with no metric measurements hence the 4 stars rather than 5.
I shall definitely using some of my whey in the future with this book

When I saw the opportunity to review Cooking with Whey, I jumped at it. I am already a big fan of author Claudia Lucero from her book Instant Pot Cheese. However, I have always been a little bit frustrated at the amount of whey that I produced as a by-product of the simple cheeses that make. Lucero and other cheesemakers always say that one should save the whey for other uses.

I dutifully strained and save the whey each time. However, the advice on the Internet seemed to repeat the same list on every site, recommending that I add it to smoothies, pour it into my compost or feed it to my chickens.

I refuse to buy chickens just to use up my whey.

Lucero's new release, Cooking With Whey, changes everything. The book is full of practical advice for using whey in the kitchen as a matter of course, as a rich addition or as a substitution for milk and other dairy products. After glancing through the cookbook, I found myself making cheese simply to have a fresh batch of whey to experiment with! Luckily, one can never have too much cheese.

The book starts with a very clear explanation of the different types of whey and how these types can be used in the kitchen. I had seen, of course, that the whey from making ricotta with lemon juice was very different than the whey from my thickened yogurt, for example, but I had not understood how to deal with this. Lucero explains clearly how we can use these different types of whey as substitutions for vinegar, milk and broth in our own everyday cooking.

Cooking With Whey is described as a Cheesemaker's Guide to Using Whey, which makes it hard to understand why there are reviews from people who do not make cheese or who have gone out to buy whey in order to make the recipes. Although it is at heart a cookbook, Lucero also describes many household options without once expecting me to have a chicken coop (although there are two recipes for dog treats) and another two chapters to use the whey in drinks, including instructions on how to ferment and/or distil the whey to make your own alcohol. The non-culinary uses alone will ensure that I never again throw away the whey.

However, if you are not already a convert to home-based cheese making, don't worry, because Lucero starts with basic instructions and simple recipes to create all three types of whey in your own home without having to make a major investment. This means that the book is standalone and does not require the reader to find a source of whey in order to get started.

The recipes are not sorted by whey type, as most recipes will allow for multiple options. However, each recipe has a list of the types of whey that could be used with it, ranked in a simple system of BEST, GOOD and OKAY. For recipes that require a specific whey (for example, acid whey for fermenting for a specific type of bread) then the notes reinforce this to ensure you don't end up with a flat loaf.

My favourite cheese leaves me with sweet whey, so I skipped past the practical uses (pets, gardening, bath softener) and went straight to the cocktail section.

Unfortunately, the recipes are given in imperial format only, which makes this book slightly harder to follow for non-American. The cocktails list all ingredients in ounces (I presume fluid ounces rather than by weight!). Still, it was relatively easy to see the proportions and take a guess. I was exciting to discover that whey adds texture to drinks in the same way that egg whites and aquafaba do.

I immediately set out to make the Brazilian Limeade and was already won-over by the thirst-quenching, frothy result. But then I added rum to make the Lightweight Caipirinha which makes for a fantastic long drink on a warm evening.

Whether you want to learn to swap whey for other ingredients or find ways of using it up outside of the kitchen, Cooking With Whey has you covered. This is a must-have resource for anyone who has guiltily poured a liter of whey down the sink, which recipes that will inspire you to generate even more whey just so that you can cook with it.

Cheesemaker Claudia Lucero's new cookbook is all about what to do with whey, the byproduct of cheese production. Her creative recipes range from an orange "wheylius" (aka orange Julius), to Brazilian cheese bread, to lemon curd. The recipes look relatively easy to make, and contain mostly common ingredients--or have alternatives offered for more unusual ones. I only wish there were some pictures to accompany the recipes. Hopefully the final book will have some photos, because I like to know what the finished product I'm making is supposed to look like.

My Mum & I are always looking for New & Exciting things to Cook & Bake & This Book fits the Bill Very Nicely indeed!
(A Special Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).

Very informative book, with lots of ideas for leftover whey. I had no idea that there were so many different uses, and different types of whey. The author goes into a brief history of whey, and then a slew of recipes using the different types of whey, including recipes you wouldn't think of, like alcoholic drinks!

Looking forward to making some cheese so I can use the whey!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I made greek yogurt just today and forgot to save the whey! I could have made use of it for one of the delicious-sounding recipes from this book. According to the content list, you can actually use it in beverages, cocktails, bread, sweets and savories. Definitely worth experimenting with.

I just wish photographs of the final dish accompanies each recipe. I would have loved to see how Norwegian brown cheese looks like, for instance. The minimally colored drawings do brighten up the book somewhat.

No nutritional panel is provided for each recipe, but the appendix provides a nutrient profile for each of the different types of whey.

Really worth looking into this book if you have a lot of leftover whey.

4 stars for me.

I make my own yoghurt every week and was puzzling over what to do with the acid whey I was left with after this process. This well researched book includes international recipes, charming graphics and easy to follow instructions. Without a doubt it made me want to go all the whey!

Good cookbook! I don't normally make cheese so I don't always have whey in the house but I will have many recipes for when I do. A good layout and format and nice images. Made me want to try them, so I will be either making cheese or buying whey somewhere in the near future.

Who knew you could do so much with whey?!

This book starts off with a brief history of whey and introduction to what it is. The remainder of the book is recipes that use whey, including things I already knew you could use whey for such as bread and yogurt type things, as well as more unexpected uses such as in alcoholic cocktails and desserts.

I know whey is very good for you, so I am interested in trying out some of these recipes and learning something new.

My only complaint is that I wish there were pictures as I believe every good cookbook should have some.

This is definitely the most comprehensive and creative resource on using whey that I’ve ever found. If you make your own cheese or strained yogurt, this is an essential and wonderful book. Highly recommend.

There are some wonderful inventive recipes in this book. As a yogurt maker, I have struggled with having when at the end of the process. With Claudia's insights, I now have some great ways to use the leftover. I highly recommend this book for anyone open to playing in the kitchen.

Disclaimer: Received this as an advance copy via Netgalley and Storey Publishing, LLC (Thank you!!!)

The book itself has an aesthetically pleasing and retro 1960's layout and design. The author does a good job of explaining what whey is and how it can be used in a variety of ways. There are no photos of what finished dished should look like, always a plus in a cookbook but no such luck here.

I was pretty excited to see this cookbook as whey tends to be a plentiful byproduct when you make ricotta or farmers cheese, or when you drain yogurt, and I'm always on the search for recipes that I can use whey up in. Given that all the recipes are designed to use up whey, this book is pretty targeted for those who have said whey and will not be particularly helpful to those who don't have access to whey.

The recipes themselves generally include clear instructions. I noted what I think is a typo in step 1 of the Ricotta recipe where is says to simmer the whey, I believe that should read milk, not whey. In a couple of recipes (i.e., Sweetened Condensed Whey, Cajeta) there is no explanation for why to use a smaller pot for simmering the whey before straining into a bigger pot. The explanation seems to be included in Linda's Honey Caramels but that recipe comes after the others, so it might be helpful to include this information in each recipe so it's clear why the bigger pot is needed and you shouldn't reuse the smaller pot after straining the whey.

I've done a fair bit of searching for whey recipes on the internet and am happy to report that the recipes in this book were more interesting than what I have found online and it definitely provided some new ways for me to cook with leftover whey. I am looking forward to trying the whey-based Hot Fudge Sauce next time I make ricotta.

I have to be honest here. English is not my first language and I translated whey wrong when I asked to review this book. I thought when meant protein powder and thus I was thoroughly surprised when there wasn’t a single mention of powder. At all! But I still read the entire thing. The author did a wonderful job explaining everything, so I knew pretty fast what whey really is.
I have to say that this is a very special niche book. And I love that. If you want to know how to work with Whey, this book is for you. I was honestly so impressed by everything. This book was such an interesting read! It was lovely written and the artwork is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. One of the more beautiful cookbooks I’ve seen.

Sadly, I have no opportunity to cook with whey, and cannot review the recipes. Sorry for that!

Thank you for netgalley who provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn to this title; I had heard of uses for whey before, but I had yet to discover recipes specifically using it as a star ingredient. This book is an invaluable resource not only to cheese- and yogurt-makers, but also has the added benefit of closing the loop on an often discarded but nutritional byproduct for those hoping to get the most out of every ingredient. Lucero's writing is delightfully punny, informative, and educational. The recipes are delicious, creative, and easy to follow. There's a recipe for every occasion, and readers will undoubtedly find one to add to their repertoire. I'm most excited to have "excuses" to make the Orange Whey-lius, the Strawberry and Cream Popsicles, Pão de Queijo, the Lighter Alfredo Sauce, and all the fun things I can think up using the Sweetened Condensed Whey. Cooking with Whey will definitely be a well loved and frequently referenced addition to my cookbook collection upon its release.
***

Storey Publishing, LLC and Claudia Lucero provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. This title will be released to the public on 25 Oct 2022.