Raw Milk

My Mom's family owned a dairy farm where I enjoyed many of my growing up days working hard and learning a lot. Everything was very clean and we enjoyed milk from the cows without worry or problems.
As I got older and the farm sold as they were no longer able to manage, we went to store milk of which I have never been able to drink. In researching "why", I gather it is the pasteurization process that caused intolerance.
As I am thinking to try raw milk again, I am curious to thoughts others might have on this.
Thanks :-)

The pasturization process should not have much effect, though who know what enzymes might be destroyed in the process. Sometimes lactose intolerance does not start till later in life. Have you tried goatsmilk? I buy local bottled milk that has been pasturized, but not homogenized. The cream rises to the top and the milk tastes wonderful. I think the glass bottle and the freshness has a lot to do with it.

I get raw milk from my neighbor whenever she has any available. I is absolutly better for you and easier to digest than the store bought boiled to death stuff.

I say if you can get it, go for it.

If you can get the raw milk you can make cheese and butter! The pasturized stuff never works as well for that, even the stuff I get in the bottles.

I'm a bit of a control freak. For me, raw milk/eggs need to come from my cow and flock. I know where they came from, their health, what food goes into them, their living conditions and comfortable with my own personal hygiene.

Thanks :-)
This supplier is well approved.
Has anyone made cheese?

I get raw milk from a neighbor and I swear I feel better drinking it than when I drink store milk. I've made vinegar cheese with it; was going to try culturing some, but then the arrangement kind of fell apart during the holidays. They are making all sorts of cheese, butter, yogurt...

Go for it.

I used to make it when my friend had cows. I used lady's bedstraw for rennet when I couldn't get the tablets. We made cottage chese, white farm cheese and cream cheese. It was so wonderful. We also made our own yogurt and butter. All you need for the yogurt is a spoonfull of Dannon. Though I used to add more milk solids by adding powdered milk. It made a thicker yogurt. If you make butter, you have to let the cream age for a few days before using or it will take forever!

Chiming in now that I have a mo. Pasteurized milk has lactose, raw milk has lactin. So if you are lactose intolerant, you may have better luck with raw milk. Been drinking it safely for years. If the milk is kept from open air and chilled immediately in a sanitary container it will keep for two weeks and should still be under gov't requirements for maximum bacteria count. There are a couple of threads going right now about making cheese - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/938329/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/940228/

And listen to Jyl about (well and Jay ^_^, but) about aging the cream -and rinse the butter REALLY well)

Abutilon, the real milk movement grows stronger every day as people discover what farm fresh milk from pastured cows used to be like. Lactose intolerance is proving to be the the result of pasteurization. Many folks who have been tested and diagnosed for lactose intolerance are able to drink quality raw milk

But let's be clear here - the raw milk has to be from healthy cows and produced in a clean, well managed dairy. Although many producers who sell to the processors for the pasteurized milk market produce a milk suitable for raw consumption, many others do not. You need to know where your milk comes from. The demand for quality raw milk far exceeds the supply.

You should also be aware that raw milk is not legal in all states and is at the center of the controversy on whether farmers have the right to sell directly to consumers and whether consumers have the right to chose the foods they want to eat and feed their families. Several states ag dept's have raided local small farms with sheriff and police swat teams. Pennsylvania is one of the state practicing overzealous farm raids, with current legal action currently taking place. California, NY, Ohio and Ontario have also been the scene of these farm raids.

If you find a quality producer, please be sure that they have the emergency phone number of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Better yet, make sure they have this link to the FTCLDF page with resources to help them survive a farm raid:
http://www.ftcldf.org/farm-raids.html

This is probably far more information that you wanted. I apologize if it seems overwhelming. It's amazing that this has become so controversial. Food processors stand to lose a lot of money as knowledge of the benefits of farm fresh milk spreads across the planet. People in Canada and Australia are also fighting for their right to choose raw milk.

When you tell people that you are drinking raw milk, you will likely be given some "friendly" advice about the supposed hazards of drinking raw milk. There is a lot of misinformation repeatedly published by those with a vested interest in the processing of milk. Here are some stats in case you need them:

We've never pasteurized our goat's milk. I'm a fanatic about keeping everything clean. I think the milk is much healthier this way when done in sanitary conditions.

I agree wholeheartedly Sue. I can drink small amounts of pasteurized/cooked milk only if I regularly consume raw milk.

Dang. I've read about the differences between lactin and lactose and can't find 'em. Must have been an older book somewhere -the type and digestibility of the two sugars were different...Anybody else seen this?

Did you try the raw milk facts website?

Looked and googled as well. I didn't have enough time to really study like I should, but all the definitions of lactin call it lactose. As much study as you've done, I'm guessing that is as fishy to you as to me. I'll try again though...

Thanks for all this information:-)

In the last weeks. I was able to find excellent well approved sources for both cow and goats milk. Got a little extra to try some cheese. I used to make it with my Grandmother, but no written recipes. I remember pretty well though .. lol
Anyone with any simple recipes to get me started again?

Those two links I posted above are the best I've seen here ---though it sounds like Jyl and a few others are holding out on us....

From "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll


1/2 gal. whole milk
juice of 2-3 lemons
salt (optional)
herbs (optional)

1. Directly heat milk to 185-200* F. Add juice of 2 of the lemons and stir.

2, Cover and let the milk set for 15 min. You are looking for a clear separation of curds and whey, not milky whey. If the milk has not yet set, add more of the remaining lemon juice until it does set.

3. Pour the curds into a colander lined with butter muslin. (The first time I made this cheese, I just used an piece of old linen that I had boiled first for cleanliness). Tie the corners of the cloth into a knot and hang the bag to drain for 1-2 hours, or until the curds have stopped draining.

4. Remove the cheese from the bag. Add salt and herbs to taste, if desired.

This will store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and yields about 1 pound.

Abutilon, if you want to make raw milk cheeses rather than cheeses that require cooking the milk, I recommend you join the raw dairy group at yahoo. They have a lot of information in the database and files section of the group site, including how to make raw cottage cheese, raw milk kefir and traditional recipes for using clabbered milk.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawDairy/

Jyl isn't holding out, she just never writes a recipe down. probably used a handfull of lady's bedstraw to a couple of quarts of milk and warmed it in the crock pot to just above body temp. Then fished out the weeds and turned it off. When it was a big lump, I cut the curd and drained it. After it was drained, I added salt, pepper, herbs or whatever, then packed it in tubs or drained it further for whatever kind of cheese I was trying to get.

I'm pretty much a dump and we'll see kind of person. Of course that leads to the seemed like a good idea at the time senerio".

Now that sounds interesting. I'll have to look up lady's bedstraw. It sounds similar to making thistle head cheese.

High or low in the crockpot?

Hah. Ooops -sorry Jyl!! -I'm a chronic Dump-n-See-er myself...but you know the grass (er, cheese) is always greener on the other side of the fence...

Jay- I do that one with vinegar, then add garlic, basil, parsley, and dried onion. Oh and of course sea salt!

I've done the vinegar one too, but the book has slightly different instructions and I plain didn't feel like typing that much.

There's rennet cheese, too, which is quick and simple. I haven't tried it yet, but I will....

Crock pot on low. The Lady's Bedstraw is an herbal rennet.

Well now I'm really curious...what sort of flavor/texture do you get with the -errmm-Lady's Bedstraw one? (feeling lost and a little ignerrut here...well and maybe wild -Lady's bedstraw?!)

It does give it a bit of an herbal taste, but I thought it pretty nice. I just had trouble of the sheeps stomach thing with the rennit tablets, though they do work faster and make a bit firmer curds. I still grow Lasy's bedstraw even though I don't make the cheese any more. It's pretty in wreaths and keeps the sweet hay smell even after it's dried. It was once used to stuff mattresses and as a strewing herb.

There's also vegetable rennet tablets and liquid available from
www.cheesemaking.com

and probably others.

Thanks for the info on the bedstraw; I'm going to look it up for a strewing herb. =0) We certainly track enough hay into the house during the course of the day... might as well add a strewing herb. LOL Maybe help with the smell of whatever it is on my shoes...

Jay

Same here. I'm hoping to get my herb garden started this year...

The raw milk has not bothered me at all. Sure glad I found it :-)

I had lady's bedstraw in summer before finding the raw milk.
I have many herbs. All is frozen now.
We have had a very cold winter. Who knows what will come back in spring.
But I have wintered a number of herbs in the greenhouse.

Thanks Everyone :-)
Going to try the lemon cheese tonight.

Doooo telll!! And thanks for the update!