Capturing Whey the Easy Whey

You can make lacto-fermented foods with much less salt by using Whey. Whey is a yellowish thin liquid that forms in all cultured dairy products such as yogurt and sour cream. It’s very nutritious and is often used in lacto-fermentation of foods.

(Lacto-fermented Vegetables can last up to a year and more  in the refrigerator but lacto-fermented fruit should be eaten within a few months.)

You can make or buy good quality yogurt and strain the whey through cheese cloth or by using an old pillow case (that has been washed and bleached first). That would involve hanging the yogurt in the cheese cloth over a bowl for a period of time until all the whey has drained out. When all the whey has drained out you have Yogurt cheese.

LowCarbFriends describes this process of making Yogurt cheese:

One way to obtain whey is by draining yogurt. One quart of yogurt will produce about a pint of whey, and the yogurt used should have live cultures. It takes about 24 hours for yogurt to fully drain. When the whey is drained out of yogurt, yocheese is made as a ‘by-product,’ which can be used in place of cream cheese in recipes, or eaten, flavored  . . .or even without flavoring.

Now if you don’t want or need large amounts of whey, and you don’t want to make yogurt cheese, you can simply line a small glass jar with a paper coffee filter and screw on the cap and keep it in your refrigerator. Two or three times a day pour off the whey that has collected from your yogurt into your small jar. After two or three days you should have enough whey to put up at least one jar of vegetables to ferment. 
 
Tip: Make or use very firm Yogurt for the simple Whey capture otherwise the entire jar of yogurt will likely dump out as you try to drain off the daily whey. You can make your own firm yogurt by adding 1 cup dry milk to 2 liters of milk and slowly mixing in one small pkg. of gelatin to the milk before cooking. 

Note: If you use gelatin to firm up your Yogurt you can’t make cheese from that batch.

Why Some Foods Must be Cooked

Here’s some very important information you need if you plan to eat just raw food.

 . . .Some foods are only able to be properly digested when cooked. Legumes contain an inhibitor that counters trypsin, a protein-digesting enzyme in the small intestines. Heating destroys that inhibitor and thus increases the protein quality of the legumes. Legumes also contain phytic acid, which can bind minerals and make them less available. There are many ways to stop the actions of phytic acid: soaking, germination, fermentation and cooking.

Also, only cooking has the added advantage of gelatinizing the starch, which makes it more digestible. We obtain far more energy from starches (grains, beans, and potatoes) when they’re heated and allowed to gelatinize.

The inability to fully access the calories in starch makes it difficult for raw foodists to hold body weight and strength. That’s one reason for the weight loss in an all-raw diet. A “raw only” eater is also at risk for muscle loss, because it’s difficult to store muscle glycogen effectively on such a diet. . .

http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/506.html

Read more here:

Toothpaste and mouth wash enemies of B12???

The following information is fascinating but unconfirmed. I’ve read that eating hard cheese can actually help prevent cavities, so this article might explain the source of that bit of info. 

If you know more or have additional links that will confirm or dispel this please leave a comment below.

The following is from “Lacto Fermentation: Raw Vegan Cheese Making And More”

B12 is created in the mouth and by bacteria in the intestinal tract. By destroying the mouth flora (through toothpastes or mouthwashes commonly available) one damages the B12 colonies in there. The mouth alone provides sufficient enough quantities of B12 for the very small requirements of vegetarians. A vegetarian need for B12 is, in fact, not as great as for individuals on a conventional diet. B12 is destroyed through heat, and people that consume meat often have the same B12 deficiency as Vegans do. B12 comes from the soil (this has been mentioned now by countless experts, a notable individual would be T. Colin Campbell in his book The China Study), earthworms (for example) are a common contributor to this vitamin complex in the soil. By over-washing the vegetables that grow close to the ground the B12 is washed off, hence eliminating ones natural source it. If you want to eat meat but also consume B12 I would assume you are better off eating live earthworms…

I make mention of B12 here because people will often ask if you can get B12 from fermented foods. The answer is yes, such as certain methods with coconut water, water from soaking wheat grains, and milk kefir grains/water kefir grains (milk kefir grains do not come from milk they derive their name as they are popularly used in making milk kefir), but if you eat raw vegetables from healthy soil that has not had its soil ecology depleted/destroyed through chemical based farming methods then you should stop worrying. Another great means of obtaining B12 is by sprouting your own micro greens in trays with quality organic soil. This is a cheaper solution than meat or organic vegetables.

Here’s a full article link cited above “Rethinking & Clarifying the Vitamin B12 Issue” By Dr Vivian V. Vetrano

Simple Lacto-fermenting

Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section below.

The following is from Low Carb Friends

It is easy to lacto-ferment veggies and suitable fruits. Wash thoroughly, cut into slices or small pieces, and pack tightly into a jar or crock. If using quart jars, add 4 tbs whey, 1 tbs natural sea salt (not iodized), spices, and water—filtered or distilled (not plain tap water). Water should to be added to within an inch of the top. Jars need to be sealed tightly...just a canning lid and ring…but it doesn’t have to be put in a canner or water bath...just tightly sealed. Set in a warm place for 2-3 days, then store in a dark, cool place. It’s not uncommon for the ‘brine’ to bubble and hiss as the fermentation process continues.

The food needs to be kept submerged in the liquid. Foods tend to float up, and the top part is no longer in the brine, which is not an ideal situation. I haven’t figured out a good way when using quart jars to prevent this from happening. I guess that’s why crocks are used…the opening is large enough to put some sort of weight on top of the food to keep it below liquid level. And, there are specially designed crocks now that have lids that create an airtight seal using water. The one drawback with this crock design, the water needs to be carefully watched so it can be replenished to maintain the airtight seal.

Vegetables will last a long time…a year and more. Fruit should be eaten within a few months, because they can become ‘hard’ fairly easily. Lacto-fermentating of fruit juice can easily cause it to become vinegar.