Sour whey can be good for soaking lentils and chick peas. But not supposed to be good for soaking beans.

Do you make bread? I sometimes make cheese and have sour whey and I use it in my breads.

Thanks, but I no longer make bread because I try not to eat much bread, but good to know about the beans and whey. And it is definitely acidic because I use vinegar to make the cottage cheese.

What about using it as a liquid fertilizer on acid-loving plants?

How much whey do you have? You can make a small batch of ricotta even if you don't have enough for the full recipe.

https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/recipes/cheese-recipe-whey-traditional-ricotta-cheese

https://cheesemaking.com/products/ricotta-cheese-making-recipe

I think it has to be used very carefully even on acid loving plants--I've seen web info suggesting it be used to kill weeds! I've considered making the ricotta too, but I'm one person and I can't use all that cheese at once and neither cottage cheese nor ricotta freeze well.

Can you freeze whey? Or dehydrate it?

Yep, you can freeze it, but freezer space is at a premium in my little house with the small chest freezer. No idea how to dehydrate all that liquid.

According to what I've read, you can use a dehydrator on whey overnight, or reduce in a saucepan until it's sludge then spread on a parchment lined sheet tray to dry. When it's fully dry, if it's solid, and crunching up the paper isn't sufficient, whirr it up in a food processor or blender or mortar and pestle, or maybe even roll in a bag with a rolling pin.

How would you use it once dehydrated?

The commercial whey powder is often used to add protein to foods, and also sometimes as a dough conditioner, though I don't know how it works. And I don't know how homemade compares. I was just thinking powder would be a stable form that could be rehydrated, rather than throwing it away. There are lots of unsubstantiated claims out there. Also lots of things to do with liquid whey essentially for flavor enhancement similar to using miso. With powder, you may need to add some liquid to keep it from stealing moisture from the other ingredients.

Have you seen this article? https://blog.cheesemaking.com/using-that-leftover-whey/?

Yes, it's one of the places I looked, but I didn't pour it around plants because A. it's winter and don't want to fertilize and B. some sites say it can be used to kill weeds, so..... It's pretty acid since I used vinegar to make the cottage cheese.

You could always dilute it. I do that with milk.

And if it's that cold, can you just store it outside until warmer weather?

I think it would rot stored outside, temps go up and down, --mid 20s tonight, 60 later in the week. We don't have winter anymore. But I found someone to take it for her dogs.