What is whole milk?

[Toolip]

I am SO, utterly embarrassed to have to ask this but I just got my first two quarts of BEAUTIFUL, grass-fed, raw jersey milk... so I have to ask... Is whole milk the stuff straight from the cow, with ALL the cream on it? If I take the cream off, what do I do with the skim milk?
Also, this quart has over an inch of cream floating on the top whereas other (pasteurized but not homogenized whole milk) has a much thinner layer of cream. Does it just vary from cow to cow? Time of year? Fore milk vs hind milk?
So much to learn!

[Magelet]

yup, whole milk is milk with all the fat on it. skim milk would be if you took the cream off. That said, it is still radically different than skim milk from the store (and would contain more fat.) If I pulled the cream off for other purposes, I'd probably only pull about half the cream, and use the rest just the same as I would whole milk, for drinking, smoothies (and not for cooking if it's raw, but if it's not raw, for cookign)/. an inch for a quart isn't even the most. I've gotten two quart jars with 3+ inches of cream.

Partly, it's the breed of cow. Holsteins (the classic black and white cow so common in america) make a LOT of lower fat milk and do fairly well on a grain-fed diet and confined life. Or at least they do the least badly. Jersey's and guernsey's make less milk overall, but a lot richer, tastier milk. other breeds vary as well. I am not sure if season or hind/fore milk make a difference or not. it's also possible that the amount of time since the cow had a calf might affect it.

[Toolip]

That's kind of strange, that there's so much variability. I guess there's "straight from a cow" milk and "whole" milk. "whole" milk is 4% fat, right? This milk looks like it's 10-15% fat, at least.
I guess it's just weird to me because so many people talk about the importance of full fat dairy, but that is not just one thing, it's anywhere from 4-15%+.... right? That's a HUGE range.

[kl5]

It may look like it's 10-15% fat, but it's really not. The percentage of milk fat ranges from about 3.5% to about 5% depending on the breed (one chart comparing Australian breeds is here, at bottom of page). It will also vary seasonally, depending on what the cows are eating, how recently they calved, etc.

And I know you probably know this based on your putting quotes around "whole," but commercial "whole" milk is anything but. Like skim and the lower percentage milks, all the fat is removed and added back in during processing at set ratios. The variability in raw milk is one of the (many) things I enjoy about it!

[blueridgewoman]

There's a ton of variability, yes. I guess I look at it sort of like human breastmilk- breastmilk changes based on a ton of factors...time of year, diet, exercise, supply, that kind of thing.

I get Jersey milk as well for my daughter (I apparently can't tolerate milk, even raw) and I'll say that there are some weeks that we get a jar that's seriously at least 30% cream, and sometimes we get one that has only about two inches on top. I think part of it is based on where you are in the jar lineup when they fill the jars as well as the biological factors. Either way though, it's tasty.

[Llyra]

It depends not just on the breed, but on the individual cow, and how long it's been since she bore a calf, and her milking schedule, and how much she's eating. Just like the fat percentage in a mama's breastmilk will vary from day to day, so will a cow's.

The industry "standard" is based on Holsteins. There are Jersey cows that make milk with a much higher percentage of fat.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by kl5

It may look like it's 10-15% fat, but it's really not. The percentage of milk fat ranges from about 3.5% to about 5% depending on the breed (one chart comparing Australian breeds is here, at bottom of page). It will also vary seasonally, depending on what the cows are eating, how recently they calved, etc.

Well, I know that the cream floating on the top is not 100% fat. I'm just comparing it to the other non-homogenized milk I buy where there is about 1/4 inch of cream on top, and this has more like 2 inches. And they are both considered whole milk. If the milk with 1/4 inch of cream is really 4% fat, then this milk must be much, much higher.
I keep reading the importance of having enough fat in your milk... so what is enough? The more the better? Why not just drink cream? What is "whole fat" dairy? Is it considered whatever comes out of the cow?
I didn't know this milk would bring up so many questions for me!!

[Toolip]

Also, thank you everyone for all your responses!

[Magelet]

I do think the more the better, and I do drink cream sometimes but it's expensive, and it's not.... it's not sustainable, in the sense that if you are only drinking cream, you are having to throw out (or find another use for) the skimmed milk, and I think there are a lot of nutrients in the rest of the milk.

I think the ideal would be drinking whole milk as in straight from the cow milk from breeds with a higher fat ratio.