getting started with raw milk

455 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by momto l&a, Mar 29, 2006

mezzaluna

Discussion Starter · Mar 29, 2006

so i've purchased my first raw milk... and it tastes great!

but now i have all sorts of questions... i guess because raw milk is so much more amazing than pasteurized...

i don't actually like milk that much, but i find i consume a lot of other dairy products, so i was interested in making yogurt and butter and maybe cheese.

for making butter, i know you need to let the cream rise to the top - i guess i should do this in a wide mouth jar so i can skim it off? what do you call what's left? milk? do i use it straight as milk? if i don't skim off the cream should i shake or swirl the milk first before using?

yogurt - i've heard you can make yogurt from raw milk w/o heating it up to almost boiling. i have a yogurt maker - should i heat the raw milk to 110 or 115ish, stir in a few spoons of yogurt and and then let set in the yogurt maker? should i just mix it up cold and put in the yogurt maker? should i leave the lid of the yogurt maker partly off to let it be cooler? or should i dispense with the yogurt maker altogether?

thanks for any sage advice

See less See more

Save

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

momto l&a

· #2 · Mar 29, 2006

This is how I make yogurt. I make 2 gallons at a time

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser...YOGURT2000.htm

I see no need for a yogurt maker which saved us money

as I had all the stuff to make it in the directions linked above.

I skim the cream off the milk in the jars I get the milk in with a ladle. We use gallon glass jars like what pinkles and the such come in.

I have tried making yogurt without pasturizing the milk and we didnt care for nor did it last as long.

Yogurt for us if we dont eat it first will last 2 months in an un-opened jar.

Enjoy all your fresh real milk

See less See more

Save

mezzaluna

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 29, 2006

well, i already have a yogurt maker - i'm speculating it was a wedding present to my parents in the mid-70s, but last i tried it, it worked!

my milk is in a half-gallon plastic jug - currently pretty impossible to get the cream off! is there any reason to skim it other than just wanting the cream for other purposes? if i don't skim it should i swirl it in before pouring?

Save

momto l&a

· #4 · Mar 29, 2006

Yep just shake the bottle before using to mix in the cream.

I have a terrible time saving the cream because I feel that cream and milk should stay together for complete nutrition. But then I love homemade butter. But no need to skim unless you want the cream for whipped cream butter etc

How much yogurt does your maker make? Are the container glass of plastic? If it from the 70's I am thinking glass.

Save

mezzaluna

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 29, 2006

the yogurt maker does have glass cups - 5 1-cup sized cups.

when you use the cream what do you do with your skimmed milk? just use it as milk?

Save

fromscatteredtribe

· #6 · Mar 29, 2006

we just bought fresh real raw organic milk yesterday in big plastic jugs for the first time.

i know it is not homogenized either but it does not seem easy to separate.

i am curious what to tell people when they act like you are drinking poison

not to get off subject.....

See less See more

Save

fromscatteredtribe

· #7 · Mar 29, 2006

mom to i and a ....your this link sends me to microsoft's homepage....it appears the link is working and then boom...microsoft.com

Save

mezzaluna

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 29, 2006

i think this is the correct link:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser...YOGURT2000.htm

i was surprised when mine didn't separate quickly, either... it took about 12 hours from when i got it home, and about 24 from when it was milked... i think i probably jostled it enough in transit that it didn't separate as quickly as it could have.

i haven't gotten negative reactions yet, just curiosity. i think it helps that it's legal here, if only slightly - i can buy from the farm, but not in stores.

Save

fromscatteredtribe

· #9 · Mar 29, 2006

our farm is 20 miles away and sells it for 8 dollars a gallon, but it is already jugged and refrigerated. We just hung out with the cows for an hour (including a five day old calf) and the kids ran around the cows and pet them and hung out. then we drove home. unlike cream top milk from trader joe's it is creamy and not separated.....

maybe it is the cold thing. they sell SO MANY gallons. the warning label is giving me a belly ache, but i know it is a legal thing, right? it IS healthier, right? i am not drinking poison in my coffee and feeding my kids bad stuff?

just reassure me a little

See less See more

Save

momto l&a

· #10 · Mar 29, 2006

Thanks for fixing the link mezzaluna

I used the skim milk the same as whole. Sometimes I do skim the milk I make yogurt with as not to have yogurt cream

People have been drinking raw milk for thousands of years and we are here. Those warning labels are good scare tactics.

:

Warm milk separates better.

I find our milk takes a day to separate.

Having glass containers is good. You don't want anything in the plastic leaching into your yogurt.

See less See more

Save

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month