First thing to try?

[chaoticzenmom]

I just got the NT book and am filled with questions.

Will I have to figure out whey and Piima before I can get anything out of the cultures section? Will this require much space?

How have you organized your kitchen to accomodate this way of eating? I already have a redwine vinegar crock on my counter, but I'm wondering if I need more crocks! Have you found affordable crocks? I just lucked on this one at a thrift store.

How do you like Raw milk? Do you feel comfortable making raw milk products? In your opinion, what makes raw milk dangerous? I've eaten a lot of raw milk products in France, but not yogurts, etc...just cheeses.

I'm thinking that I"ll buy raw milk, but use it in stuff, not really drink it, but ferment it all and use that. Can you freeze raw milk?

Thanks in advance. I'm really excited to try some stuff...but what to try first!?

[Magelet]

I haven't made whey or piima, but I've made some ferments. It works.

I haven't really organized it differently, I don't think. I leave mason jars of ferments on a bit of free counter space. I don't have any crocks, I only use mason jars. I push the sauerkraut or pickles under the brine everyday, and it works. Kombucha I also do in a mason jar.

I love raw milk. It tastes SO much better than standard milk. I don't believe real raw milk to be dangerous. The danger in milk, which requires it to pasteurized, is in several things: the fact that many dairy's milk is put together in one big tank, the fact that the cows are unhealthy, the fact that the cows are not kept in clean conditions, and the fact that the cows are fed grains instead of primarily grass. I don't worry in the least about milk from cows on grass (pasture when possible) with a small grain supplement as a treat during milking, with farmer's who keep a clean dairy, from healthy cows, which is processed (though that really just means bottling...) in small batches. I haven't made raw milk products, its expensive enough that when I get it, I drink it straight. Cultured milk negates some of the harm of non-homogenized low temp-pasteurized milk, in my mind, so since Raw milk is a delicacy here, I don't culture it.

Try something that sounds good first. Do you love sauerkraut? Make that. Pickles? yogurt? soup? (Just a note, with the fermented vegetables, you probably need less salt than the NT recipes call for, and some of the meal recipes are a bit.... strange, though others are AMAZING. For instance, I know the pink gazpacho, and the red enchilada sauce are truly delicious! Sometimes its a good bet, if you aren't sure the recipe is going to turn out well, to ask on here or elsewhere, if people have tried it. Or you can fly by the seat of your pants. A large portion of them are quite tasty.)