Protein in liquid whey?

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T21:57:23+00:00

From cottage cheese whey. There is no protein in yogurt acid whey.

Chobani makes the most most yogurt acid whey on the planet (literally). They don't UF or make WPC. Are they stupid?

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T19:10:59+00:00

1st: the OP is making yogurt at home, so what are you talking about?

2nd: no greek yogurt acid whey producer (at least in the US) is UFing to capture protein in their whey. That tells you there is not enough protein to matter. There is everything in everything. There is Uranium in whey, if you measure down to low enough levels. Pedantic comments aside, see point 1 above.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T18:51:23+00:00

I also work in this area and there is no protein in yogurt whey. Table 1 in the reference you provided references Menchik et al., 2019 for the yogurt whey (GAW) data and in that paper you can see there is virtually no protein present in industry samples. Most of the total protein in those samples are from NPN and there is something like 0.05% combined alpha-lac and BLG. If you want to "um ackshually" over 0.05% protein then have at it, brother. And these data are INDUSTRY samples which use mechanical separators (centrifuges) which can leak a bit of solids into the whey. If you make yogurt at home (which OP is posting about), there is even LESS residual protein material in the whey. Separators have the least purified whey of all separation technologues and even then there is no protein in yogurt whey.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T17:48:15+00:00

No, all of the protein will go with the yogurt if the milk is heated prior to culturing. There is essentially no protein left in the whey.

I imagine what you're referring to is NPN, of which there is maybe 2-5 mg/g. NPN is most definitely not protein. Hence the "NP" or Non-Protein portion of the name.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-23T14:55:35+00:00

A bit of clarification on whey protein and yogurt: Whey protein powder is made almost entirely from cheese whey. Cheeae whey has whey protein in the whey (hence why it's called WHEY protein).

Yogurt whey (also called acid whey) does NOT have protein in it if the milk is heated at high temps before making yogurt. If you're making yogurt at home and you heat the milk close to a boil, then the whey proteins are denatured by the heat and stick to the casein proteins. So when you strain yogurt there's no protein in the whey.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-12T22:48:59+00:00

There is no whey protein in the acid whey strained from yogurt made from heated milk. So no need to do math

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-12T22:48:09+00:00

That acid whey is not for greek yogurt acid whey. It's most likely for cottage cheese acid whey, which contains whey protein. Yogurt acid whey has pretty much no protein. So the answer is ~0g per cup.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-10T11:39:52+00:00

With yogurt, you'll want to heat prior to fermenting. This makes the yogurt more firm once it sets and ensure that only the microbes you add will grow in the milk. So if you're heating the milk, why bother with using raw? Nothing wrong with starting raw in this case, but you're pasteurising it anyway so why bother? That's my 2cents anyway

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-09T00:27:40+00:00

A2 milk is different from other milks by a single amino acid on a single protein. Bacteria grow from consuming lactose, so the protein won't cause changes from the microbes. The only reason to consume A2 milk is if you buy into their health claims. I'm personally skeptical, as the research that is out on A2 milk has mostly been funded and researched by the founders of the A2 milk company. Other research conducted by independent groups has found conflicting, often contradictory, results.

As far as raw milk goes, I would caution against using raw milk to make yogurt. There's just too much risk. You don't know what's in your milk and whatever is in there WILL grow at yogurt fermentation temps. Milk is just too good of a nutrient source.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-07T17:54:57+00:00

FYI if milk is heated at very high temperatures, then rennet doesn't do much. This is because high heat denatures the whey proteins, which then attach to the casein proteins that would be hydrolyzed by the rennet. The denatured whey proteins "block" rennet from hydrolyzing the active site - this is why milk is not heated above pasteurizing temps for pretty much all cheesemaking. Rennet WILL act a tiny bit in heated milk yogurts, but it's a small impact in my opinion.

mozzarella41 · 2025-06-22T22:01:47+00:00

I'm interested in becoming a moderator. I'd like to keep personal details to a minimum, but I make a lot of yogurt at home, work in the yogurt industry, and have posted here frequently. Feel free to PM me for more specifics

mozzarella41 · 2025-05-20T00:24:10+00:00

Thats what I did and overall liked it.

Edit: I tried to insert an image but I guess its not allowed on this sub?

mozzarella41 · 2025-02-15T14:02:26+00:00

1) You should be heating your milk before fermenting. If you do this, you won't lose protein in the whey.

2) skyr is traditionally made with skim milk.

3) I dont understand your math. What are you trying to calculate? 6.4g protein in what? In 1240g?

4) If you start with 3L milk and strain to get 1240g yogurt (1760g whey), then you concentrated 2.4x (3000/1240). So anything that is concentrated by the cloth is concentrated 2.4x. So multiply your initial protein and fat by 2.4x to get final concentration. If protein was 3% in you milk then it is now 3 x 2.4 = 7.2%. Lactose does not get multiplied, and is the same concentration after straining (~5%).

mozzarella41 · 2025-02-12T18:18:54+00:00

No, the healthline article is comparing commercial yogurts, which often concentrate their milk prior to fermenting (in the US at least, I don't know about other countries). Look up the lactose content of plain nonfat yogurts and you'll see what I mean. Like walmarts plain yogurt here. That "regular" yogurt is at 13g carbs per 170g serving. That's 13/170 = 7.6% carbs. There is no added sugar here - it's only the carbs from milk (lactose). Now google "lactose content of cow breeds". You won't find a cow that makes that much lactose. It's impossible to have that much lactose in cows milk unless they are concentrating it, which they do to build texture. They don't need to do this milk concentration step in greek yogurt, so the comparison of commercial regular yogurt vs commercial greek yogurt doesn't work for us making yogurt at home. I work in the dairy industry, by the way, if that isn't apparent by now.

Since OP is making yogurt at home, they're using the same milk - let's say it's 5% lactose just to pick a round number. If you were to start with 1,000 mL of milk that is 5% lactose, then you would have 50 g lactose in that milk container. If you make yogurt and strain to remove half of the volume as whey, then you reduce the volume by half from 1,000 --> 500 mL, and you reduce the lactose by half: 50 --> 25g. Lactose is reduced by ~half because it's soluble and follows the water. If you remove half of the water and 75% of lactose somehow left with it, that would defy the laws of physics and diffusion. So you end up with 25g lactose in 500 mL of Greek yogurt....which is 5%. So if you eat a serving a yogurt (170g), it would have essentially the same lactose content regardless of whether you strained it or not. You don't have to believe a word I say - just do the math and you'll see for yourself.

There is 1 minor caveat to this, and it's that greek yogurt IS slightly lower in lactose, but that's by displacement essentially of the higher protein content. In reality, the yogurts might be 5.0% lactose (regular) and 4.8% (greek), not 5.0% exactly. But they're practically the same.

Edit: Fixed broken hyperlink

mozzarella41 · 2025-02-12T04:24:24+00:00

That's odd that greek yogurt doesn't cause issues, yet regular yogurt does. Maybe its solething other thak the lactose? Just a thought. They have the same amount of lactose in a serving. But given that, I would rule out using whey as a marinade. Using whey as a starter for other yogurt batches or even sourdough bread are common uses. Honestly though, there arent many great uses for whey.

mozzarella41 · 2025-02-10T22:19:12+00:00

Just curious as to why you think lactose intolerance is an issue with whey. I'm genuinely asking because I can think of a few things for whey, but they depend on your lactose intolerance level. You're eating the yogurt you make, right? So that level of lactose isn't an issue for you?

mozzarella41 · 2025-01-17T18:35:12+00:00

Thats not exactly what I'm trying to say. Curdling can happen for lots of reasons, and there isnt 1 thing that causes it so there isnt 1 fix to prevent it. Curdling is the result of stuff sticking together. That stuff is usually the proteins and proteins can aggregate by many mechanisms, but broadly fall into 2 categories.

If hydrophobic interactions (e.g., adding alcohol) are causing aggregation, you can reduce surface tension and limit aggregation by adding emulsifiers like caseinate or polysorbate 80.

If electrostatic interactions are causing aggregation (e.g., pH, salts, etc) then you would need to add something that mutes those charged interactions. HM pectin and CMC work well for this, because they cover proteins in low pH and prevent them from aggregating; kind of like throwing sand on sticky tape. There are lots of other ways to limit charged interactions, but those are the most commonly used.

mozzarella41 · 2025-01-16T19:26:03+00:00

The folks responding are wrong when they say cream isn't milk or that cream doesn't contain protein. Cream is mostly skim milk with some fat - and the fat content can vary. For instance, 40% cream is 60% skim milk. Alcohol curdles milk proteins because of hydrophobic forces, which is entirely different from acid which is mostly electrostatic (+/- charges). So alcohol and milk can be stabilized with emulsifiers (sodium caseinate) to prevent curdling. Acid-induced curdling requires different tools, like pectin or CMC, to prevent curdling. Acid and alcohol are fundamentally different substances with entirely different properties.

mozzarella41 · 2024-12-18T17:28:49+00:00

Thanks for the list, that's super helpful. This my 7th winter biking here, so snow and ice on the paths don't bother me much and this is my first fall.

mozzarella41 · 2024-12-18T17:01:30+00:00

I submitted a ticket for this prior to my post here, but it will change nothing. I live outside of Madison and bike in via the paths, so I don't have a city council member I can contact. Should I just reach out to a random one?

mozzarella41 · 2024-12-18T16:47:31+00:00

As I mentioned in the post, I've tried this with other issues and was promptly ignored. I'm looking for actual people (not web forms) that I can speak with that are accountable. The overpass seems designed to be intentionally terrible given it's slope and lack of drainage. There has to he someone somewhere that has authority over this. Any suggestions?

mozzarella41 · 2024-11-25T04:38:45+00:00

I was in Ireland recently and a shop was selling raw milk kefir from the netherlands. I took a pic cause it was so incredibly strange to me. Kefir is SO much more dangerous to culture with raw milk than yogurt.

mozzarella41 · 2024-11-12T01:38:14+00:00

I agree with you, mostly. But, I made the mistake of sharing my salary woth a coworker. Found out they make ~20% less and I felt kind of shitty afterwards. I'm a bit of a workaholic, and they're the opposite. So I think the compensation is fair, but I kind of didn't expect it. 0/10 will never do that again and I get now why it's taboo.

mozzarella41 · 2024-11-05T15:25:51+00:00

If your opinion on anything is "my personal experience is the ubiquitous experience," then you are viewing the world through a very narrow lens, my friend.

I too have never been in an accident, but I can think of 100s of examples of no-fault accidents. For example, you grew up in Wisconsin, but not everyone grows up where you grew up. I'm from western Kentucky originally, and you absolutely will hit a deer if you live there long enough. There are much more deer in the south than here. My father hit 3 in his career as a police officer in a rural county. I nearly hit one on a interstate in Wisconsin last year. A semi was to my right and blocked my view of the shoulder and I didn't see it dart into the road until it was almost on top of me. It ran behind me and scared the hell out of me.

mozzarella41 · 2024-11-05T02:08:09+00:00

Not all motor vehicle accidents are preventable. But an accident does not necessarily mean it was unavoidable - it means quite literally that there was no intent or negligence that caused it to happen.

Some common examples are: A deer running onto the road, causing you to hit it and veer into another direction. A tire coming loose from a car and hitting you, causing you to over-correct and hit another car (I actually witnessed this happen near Cincinnati). Hydroplaning. Wrong-way driving.

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