Help: Cheese & Whey and Butter

[AsYouWish]

My apologies. Traditional fooding is still new to me.

So I'm hoping to make some cream cheese and whey (a la NT) out of two quarts of raw milk. Sally Fallon indicates that I should set the milk out at room temperature 1-4 days until it separates. What does this mean exactly? I can see the layer of cream at the top. Is that what I should be looking for? Does there come a point when I have let it set out too long? Thanks for any advice you have to share!

Also, while I'm at it. I tried to make butter out of raw cream (at room temperature). I used a blender and blended and blended and blended for at least a half-hour. I got very little butter solids out of it. The majority of the cream remained liquid with this little bit of solid floating at the top. Any thoughts? TIA.

[Hibou]

re: butter- depending on how much cream, how thick it is, temp, and what kind of appliance you are using, butter can take anywhere from a few minutes to nearly an hour to separate. Is it possible you didn't blend it long enough? When you say "the majority of the cream remained liquid"- did it whip up first, and then turn liquidy again, or did it just stay liquidy the whole time?

I've never used SF's recipe for cream cheese, but I think she means until the solid parts of the milk separate- you will be able to see a clearish liquid on the bottom, and a thicker liquid on top. Hopefully someone else who has used this recipe will have some better advice for you.

[rstump]

I have found that I can't make butter in a blender as it gets to hot and just melts.

I use a hand mixer and heavy raw cream (from a cream separator). Are you useing cream that you pull off the top of milk or cream that has gone thru a separator? I have never had luck using cream I separate myself. Too much liquid and not enough butter fat.

As for the cream cheese....I have made it (but my family didn't like it). WHen they say leave itout.....they mean leave it OUT.....until is separates into curds and whey. They whey is a yellow/clear colored liquid that will beon the bottom. There is a BIG separation not just like on cream/milk.

[AsYouWish]

Thanks for the replies!!!!

Originally Posted by Hibou

When you say "the majority of the cream remained liquid"- did it whip up first, and then turn liquidy again, or did it just stay liquidy the whole time?

IIRC, there was a good portion of it that seemed to get kind of solid and then the majority of that went back to liquid, so I only ended up with just a small portion of solids kind of floating on top. Then there was a lot that was just liquidy the whole time. Sorry. That may not make a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by rstump

Are you useing cream that you pull off the top of milk or cream that has gone thru a separator? I have never had luck using cream I separate myself. Too much liquid and not enough butter fat.

It was cream that I took off the top of the milk myself. Where can I find a separator? Are they expensive?

It was late the evening that I was trying to make the butter in the blender and so once I got tired of dealing with it, I just put the whole blender/pitcher in the fridge. And it has sat in there like that, mostly liquid with the solid chunks congealing on top, for probably over a week since I got busy with Thanksgiving, etc. and didn't have time to deal with it. I took it out a little while ago and it smelled so sour. So I dumped it all. But now I'm thinking maybe the sour smell was normal and I just wasted a bunch of quality buttermilk (that I wouldn't know what to do with anyway, but still...) and butter?? I have decided that this is the most difficult part of transitioning to traditional foods. I don't know what odors/tastes are normal, you know?

Originally Posted by rstump

As for the cream cheese....I have made it (but my family didn't like it). WHen they say leave itout.....they mean leave it OUT.....until is separates into curds and whey. They whey is a yellow/clear colored liquid that will beon the bottom. There is a BIG separation not just like on cream/milk.

The separation did become obvious this evening so I strained it and now have my cheese solids and the whey. I do have a question about the whey though. Is it supposed to be a fleshy/pinkish color? I guess I don't know what odors/tastes/colors are normal.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially about my pink whey.

[Hibou]

Originally Posted by rosidox

IIRC, there was a good portion of it that seemed to get kind of solid and then the majority of that went back to liquid, so I only ended up with just a small portion of solids kind of floating on top. Then there was a lot that was just liquidy the whole time. Sorry. That may not make a lot of sense.



It was cream that I took off the top of the milk myself. Where can I find a separator? Are they expensive?

It was late the evening that I was trying to make the butter in the blender and so once I got tired of dealing with it, I just put the whole blender/pitcher in the fridge. And it has sat in there like that, mostly liquid with the solid chunks congealing on top, for probably over a week since I got busy with Thanksgiving, etc. and didn't have time to deal with it. I took it out a little while ago and it smelled so sour. So I dumped it all. But now I'm thinking maybe the sour smell was normal and I just wasted a bunch of quality buttermilk (that I wouldn't know what to do with anyway, but still...) and butter??

Normally when making butter, it will first whip up like whipping cream. Then it will get stiffer and stiffer and start to look kind of chunky. Eventually, the solid will separate from the buttermilk. fwiw, I have had luck with a food processor, hand beater, and a stand mixer. I usually use the stand mixer now because it is has the biggest capacity, and I can do other things while it mixes for me. I have never used the blender, but could imagine that if it heats up too much, it may be a problem.

Also I agree with the poster above about using cream that has been skimmed. I got some thin cream a couple weeks ago, and it took longer to churn and I didn't get as much butter out of it as usual. You might want to ask your milk supplier if you can buy cream that has already been separated. (I pay $8 for a generous quart.)

One last thing- I usually let my cream sit in the fridge about a week before making butter, or let it sit on the counter for a few hours. "Sour" cream makes delicious cultured butter, so don't feel like you need to throw it out if it smells a little stronger. (Some people prefer fresh churned butter, but we love it cultured!)

HTH. Let us know if you try again how it goes.

[AsYouWish]

Pink Whey

I will hopefully be getting some more raw milk this weekend and intend to ask my supplier about already separated cream. Thanks for the suggestion.

And the cheese and whey -- is the whey supposed to be pink? Anyone know? The milk I used was not the freshest. I had already had it a couple weeks when I separated the curds and whey. It didn't smell bad, but -- as mentioned previously -- I really don't know what normal tastes/smells/colors are when it comes to traditionally prepared food. I don't want to use the whey if it's bad. It really is a lovely pink, but I'm worried that might not be good thing.

[beachbuminthecity]

Originally Posted by rosidox

My apologies. Traditional fooding is still new to me.

So I'm hoping to make some cream cheese and whey (a la NT) out of two quarts of raw milk. Sally Fallon indicates that I should set the milk out at room temperature 1-4 days until it separates.

The process metioned above, can the whey be used for fermenting veggies or is the whey from yogurt better.

[dvons]

Originally Posted by beachbuminthecity

The process metioned above, can the whey be used for fermenting veggies or is the whey from yogurt better.

SF does use the whey for ferementing things. I don't usually fement with it since I find, like some others here, it does cause a slightly slimy texture to veggies. I use the whey as the liquid when I make bread or pancakes or anything else that calls for buttermilk. I've used yogurt whey, keifer whey, whey from when I've made mozzarella cheese. I've also heard that house plants really like whey every once in a while.

[beachbuminthecity]

So, you ferment veggies in salt only. But is the whey from the process that I had in my previous post has the same nutrients as the yogurt and kefir. I think they have different benefits (sour milk oppose to yogurt&kefir). Is this right?