# Goat milk



## lkmartin1230 (Mar 6, 2016)

Okay, so I'm trying to convince my mom it is okay to start milking our goats and drinking it and all her negativity towards it is making me question it. I don't want to get sick from it. We will be pastuerizing it because I don't like totally raw milk. I have been breeding Nigerian Dwarfs for quite a few years now and I have never even thought about milking them but wanted to start so I could make cheese and drink the milk instead of all that grocery store stuff. Can anybody tell me whether it would be okay to drink it or not?


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## Latestarter (Mar 6, 2016)

Humans have been drinking goat milk for thousands of years! I'd be surprised if you get a negative response here on BYH 

Edit to say: except for certain breeds/individual animals who have a very "goatie" tasting milk that some do NOT like.


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## frustratedearthmother (Mar 6, 2016)

I think you might be surprised at how GOOD it actually is!  Nigi milk is sweet and delicious!  Good luck with convincing your mom!


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## lkmartin1230 (Mar 6, 2016)

Thanks!! I have no doubt it will be good but she's afraid I'm going to get sick.


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## Latestarter (Mar 6, 2016)

I'm thinking blind taste test... for BOTH of you


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 6, 2016)

we have Nigerian Dwarfs, this will be our 2nd year milking- we pasteurize and drink it, plus make cheese and ice cream!  Each doe's milk tastes differently, we tried each one separately before mixing all together.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 6, 2016)

First the flavor of the milk depends on feed type, hay, as well as breed. Nigerians usually have very creamy sweet milk. 

Keep in mind if you like skim milk or 2% this may be way to rich and creamy for you.

Another factor in the flavor is how fast you chill the milk!

We also pasteurize!

Cannot tell you why and many say it should not make a difference but I can taste any thing "off"...  and this is what I have found.

First strain milk and immediately CHILL! Chill it as fast as you can. If you get a pint or a quart (you mention a Nigie) throw it in the freezer for 30 minutes then move to fridge. CHILLLLLLLLL!

Then at anytime that day or next pasteurize- stove top is easiest for small amounts ( up to a gallon) using a double boiler. Heat milk to 162 degrees, once there heat for 15 seconds.

Now pour that milk into a chilled ss bowl that is surrounded on the outside by ice! Stir stir stir so you chill that milk fast! As fast as you can get it to 45 degrees the better... put in fridge to finish cooling.

That first chilling step before the pasteurizing is the one everyone says you don't need... you can just throw it in a pot and heat to pasteurize... not sure why but it makes a big taste difference for me.

Anyway through lactation their milk may slightly change as they will have a peak for butterfat. 

If a Nigies milk taste off then there is something not right- a friend had a Nigie kid out and they don't like the milk... they have other goats so they were perplexed... I mentioned this to @babsbag  and she mentioned cobalt... cobalt deficiency can cause off taste.
I had forgotten all about it. That is why we goaties share! 

I have tasted NASTY goats milk.... usually from does that have a buck running with them.


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## lkmartin1230 (Mar 6, 2016)

Thank you. I'm excited either way.


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## JohnP (Mar 6, 2016)

"I have tasted NASTY goats milk.... usually from does that have a buck running with them."

What do attribute that to?


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## babsbag (Mar 6, 2016)

A buck that is in rut will stink, really really stink and they pee on themselves frequently. The does will rub on them, they love the buck "perfume" and that odor will permeate everything and it doesn't come off easily. I doe can start to smell almost as bad as the buck and the odor just seems to "stick" to the milk. Some say that even having the buck in the vicinity can affect the flavor of the milk but that has not been my experience. My buck lives in an adjoining pen and I don't have a problem with nasty milk.

I personally don't chill my milk before pasteurizing if I am pasteurizing immediately after milking but I would try it both ways and see if you can tell a difference. I don't intend to chill completely for the dairy either, I will take it to the pasteurizer ASAP. It make no sense financially or time wise for me to chill and then heat it up again. Of course if it does taste different then I will have to change my plans.

If you milk in a clean manner, chill, and pasteurize you should have no worries about getting sick.


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## TAH (Mar 6, 2016)

We milk our Nigerian Lamancha Nubian mix doe. She gives wonderful milk We have friends that have Nigerian Dwarfs and there milk is great. We got a doe that had been fed corn and soy feed, and her milk was awful tasting, as soon as we got her on corn and soy free feed her milk was wonderful. We also feed alfalfa orchard grass ha mix and free choice minerals. Hope you have a good experience with your first try.


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## GLENMAR (Mar 7, 2016)

I bought my goats just for the purpose of raising them to make cheese and use the milk. It's taking me a few years, but now I'm really enjoying it. I'm looking forward to new cheeses this year.

Soft Cheese and Herbs



 






Ricotta


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## Southern by choice (Mar 7, 2016)

Depending on how much cheese you are making and how much you can consume... buy small containers 8 oz- 16 oz.... make your flavored cheese (chevre) and freeze in the size that is best for you. That way once your does are dry you still have cheese.
It is also nice when you know you will have guests... remove from freezer 2 days before and let thaw in fridge.

We freeze for those few months we don't have milk or not a lot of it. 
Don't forget to label them.

Can't wait to start making mozzarella again!  rather @Goat Whisperer  can start making it again.


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## OneFineAcre (Mar 7, 2016)

My goats get feed with soy meal and corn ( as I'm sure most cows on an average commercial dairy )
No negative effect on milk taste


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## TAH (Mar 7, 2016)

GLENMAR 
  Could i get your ricotta cheese recipe? It looks sooooooooo good


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## TAH (Mar 7, 2016)

Southern by choice
Could I get your mozzarella recipe? I would like to try it. Can you make it with older milk?


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## GLENMAR (Mar 7, 2016)

Sure. Let' s see...

1 gallon of goats milk
1/4 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda.


Slowly heat milk to 195F.
Slowly stir in vinegar a little at a time watching for separation of the whey.
If whey is still milky increase heat to 205F.
Gently ladle curds into cheese cloth.
Drain for 1 min.

Place curds in bowl mix in melted butter and baking soda.

It's hard not to eat the whole bowl of it right then!!


takes maybe 30 min total to make.


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## misfitmorgan (May 11, 2016)

GLENMAR said:


> Sure. Let' s see...
> 
> 1 gallon of goats milk
> 1/4 cup vinegar
> ...



So this makes me curious...when i make ricotta from either our goats milk or older store milk i just throw lemon juice, vinegar, or citric acid in it and heat it up. When it separates and the whey goes clear i strain. So i'm very curious what the butter and baking soda are for in this recipe? I'm not a big ricotta fan and really only make it for lasanga or stuffed shells or mancotti.

To the OP when i first tasted goats/sheep milk it was at a 4H taste test. They tricked us though....the 4H leaders took store milk and poured it in mason jars then rinsed the store jugs and put the goat milk and sheep milk in it. They then let us see them pouring the milk....guess what? We were bias so almost every person tasting said the store jug milk was better....half the kids even make gross faces or retching sounds for what they thought was goat/sheep milk but was really store bought cows milk. Really taught me as a young teen that....milk is milk and it all tastes roughly the same....except skim thats nasty lol. We do not pasturize our milk btw so far going on 3yrs not sick yet, there is a lady who lives locally and has been milking and drinking the goats milk for 12yrs no issues yet.


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## alsea1 (May 11, 2016)

If your goats are healthy and you use common sense and proper hygiene the milk will be a safe and quality product.
I have heard that some types of feed can make a milk taste off and that bucks can cause milk to taste bad.
My experience has shown me that my girls produce lovely milk in spite of being in the same pasture  with the boys. Also I feed corn oats and barley daily on the stand and that does not make the milk bad. 
I tried using alf. pellets just to see if there was a difference. I couldn't taste any difference. 
Getting them on green grass did make a big difference in quantity of milk my girls produced but the flavour was not changed either direction. 
I strain into half gal. jars and pop it in the fridge. I don't worry about putting in ice water bath or freezer. 
I think each animal produces a unique milk. That may be where the big difference is.


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## Mike CHS (May 11, 2016)

I noted several posts about freezing the dairy items.  Do most things thaw relatively like the fresh product or does it separate some?


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

Mike CHS said:


> I noted several posts about freezing the dairy items. Do most things thaw relatively like the fresh product or does it separate some?


We have had it thaw both ways... why ? I am not sure. When it has thawed separated we pitch it.


alsea1 said:


> I have heard that some types of feed can make a milk taste off and that bucks can cause milk to taste bad.
> My experience has shown me that my girls produce lovely milk in spite of being in the same pasture  with the boys. Also I feed corn oats and barley daily on the stand and that does not make the milk bad.
> I tried using alf. pellets just to see if there was a difference. I couldn't taste any difference.
> Getting them on green grass did make a big difference in quantity of milk my girls produced but the flavour was not changed either direction.
> ...



I agree each goat has a unique flavor to their milk.
On the flip side... and not to be a jerk but there is a reason why so many people that tried goats milk once say "oooo... I tried goats milk and it was nasty"... it takes a lot of educating to get them to try to understand why the milk they tasted may not have been very good.

I cannot tell you why this is other than it is inherited from my mother's side... but I have a sniffer and tastebuds that can detect anything. I can taste the metals in a shopping cart just by pushing it around... needless to say I don't touch many metals. 

Well you all already knew I was a bit weird.

Here is the "not trying to be a jerk" part-
Most people get use to THEIR goats milk and to them it taste fine. 
I have tried goats milk and goat cheese and goat products from more places than I can count.... 

Most places- the milk is goaty.
Whenever there is a buck in it IS nasty. NEVER had cheese or milk from anywhere where that was not the case. A buck in and it is gross.
I have had goat products where I was looking for the first trashcan I could find to spit it out in.

Ask my DH and everything taste "fine". Ask me and I will smile but give you the truth.  One lady was really offended and I didn't hear from her for a long time. Then one day out of the blue she called and said, "guess what!? I took my buck out of the field and my milk is so different now. I guess I was just so use to it I didn't know any different ... I will never put a buck in again. It is so good!"

The chilling essentially is stopping bacteria from growing.The bacteria may not be at a level that will make you sick but will alter the flavor.

Onions will change the flavor. One reason dairy cattle farmers and goat dairy farmers get it out when they see it.

When goats are in heat it also can change flavor.

If it is ongoing then like @babsbag  reminded me once when I was telling her about a friends goat, it could be cobalt deficiency. 

I don't drink much milk so I do taste test everything. If it is slightly off then DH gets it or the dogs.
OK that didn't sound right... 
DH can't tell so he will say "save that for me then"... I'm not just giving him it because it is off.


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## samssimonsays (May 11, 2016)

I was bummed out about my Nubian's milk tasting like cows milk. Less flavor but like cows milk and I dislike cows milk taste. We are in the process of switching out the feed to change that.

It is totally safe and natural to drink the milk. I will be once there is a difference in her milk sweetness and making things such as cheese and butter from it.


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## alsea1 (May 11, 2016)

I have a pretty acute sense of smell and taste.  Our milk tastes pretty good I think.   It would be fun to be able to taste test different farms milk. 
We  do plan to keep the boys and girls separated as soon as possible.  So it will be interesting to see if things change one way or the other.


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## OneFineAcre (May 11, 2016)

We don't quick chill ours.  We just put in the fridge.  We aren't selling milk now, but we used to sell quite a bit and no one said anything about it tasting off.

We do sell a lot of chevre and no issues.

We had to go and buy some milk from someone recently because we didn't have enough milk on hand for a cheese order.


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## misfitmorgan (May 11, 2016)

Maybe im just not sensitive in the taste department for milk but ive had milk with a buck and without a buck and i didnt notice a difference myself. Everyone has their own things though, like i cant stand any fake sugar at all and i can always taste it. My mom is always trying to slip it in food and i call her on it every single time no matter what kind she uses but she thinks it all taste the same as regular sugar and to her it might. Maybe i'm milk taste blind lol.


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## babsbag (May 11, 2016)

My buck isn't with the ladies but they share a fence line and I don't notice a difference. Now if the buck is in rut and rubbing non stop on the does then I can see where the flavor could be imparted just by the udder being contaminated. 

As far as pasteurizing it is an age old ongoing debate and always will be. But healthy animals can still have e-coli on their udder and it can still be in the milk. You can't see it, smell it, taste it, but you sure can sick from it. A child can die from it. Many dairies that sell raw milk test each and every tank for e-coli before it is bottled. There is a reason for that. Of course everyone can do what they want and this isn't to try and persuade the educated and informed to change their ways but it is to give a heads up to any newbies. Do the research yourself, don't just do what your neighbor does. Be an informed consumer. 

I personally drink it raw on occasion, but if I had children at home I would not give it to them. I also will not sell it raw in my dairy.


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## alsea1 (May 11, 2016)

E Coli is very serious. 
I tried my hand at canning milk in pressure canner for use when the girls are dried up.  I had watched you tube video's and they were claiming that the taste was fine.
LOL. Well, it surely is not fine in my opinion.  I did 17 pints. LOL  They will only get used in cooking. 
The color is still a very bright white. But it just tastes cooked. Duh. What was I thinking.


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

@OneFineAcre  how big are the jars you store in? 

I have found quart size is one thing but once you have 1/2gallon jars and 3 qt or gallon pails there is a big difference.

@alsea1  it is fun going to different farms and taste testing. 

I wish I could store each goats milk in different containers because certain goats have the stuff for mozzarella, certain for creamy stuuf like chevre and cream cheese... then there is my favs for drinking milk and coffee.

When I get my big cooler set up I will be able to do this.. but not now.

Also Babs is dead right... just because an animal looks healthy doesn't mean the goat doesn't have campylobacter, e-coli etc.

When I can I will share why educating yourself in these matters could save your life. I am an advocate for being able to sell off your farm and always will be and am not anti- raw but like Babs most really are not aware of the zoonotic issues. Many of these things won't kill you but can paralyze you  and or destroy your kidneys and when it happens it is so fast there is no turn around. Often people base things on emotion and raw milk is so good for you well... that really isn't the whole picture. It only takes ONE time for you or your child etc life to be changed permanently.


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

alsea1 said:


> E Coli is very serious.
> I tried my hand at canning milk in pressure canner for use when the girls are dried up.  I had watched you tube video's and they were claiming that the taste was fine.
> LOL. Well, it surely is not fine in my opinion.  I did 17 pints. LOL  They will only get used in cooking.
> The color is still a very bright white. But it just tastes cooked. Duh. What was I thinking.



Yes this is where chilling rapidly is most important. I will say stovetop  is far better. I have a pastuerizer and use it but honestly the stovetop is the best because we don't lose flavor and it isn't changed BUT there are a few tricks to it. 

We are going to do a different system with the pasteurizer once we move and am better set up... I think then it will make a big difference. Stovetop disadvantage is you can't do a lot of milk at once and you go through a lot of ice.  

My friend just bought a mini ice maker machine so she always has ice. Right now she gets a gallon a day but come June she will have probably 2- 2 1/2 gallons... 

Still waiting on the type she got as I might get one in the mean time.


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## alsea1 (May 11, 2016)

We did the stove top method to pasteurize and concluded that we just did not like the flavor afterword.
I did find this site and am planning on ordering some kits soon just to see what there is and is not in our milk.
http://alternativedairy.org/test-prices.html


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

alsea1 said:


> We did the stove top method to pasteurize and concluded that we just did not like the flavor afterword.
> I did find this site and am planning on ordering some kits soon just to see what there is and is not in our milk.
> http://alternativedairy.org/test-prices.html



What method did you use? Just curious.
I have found if we start with super chilled milk pasteurize to 162 for 15 seconds then superchill getting the temp down to 60 in under 10 minutes then  to 45 within another 5-10 it is perfect. That is why the "machine" isn't as good IMO.

We have a safgard but we have tried it with a Milky too... still like stove. We do ours over a double boiler as to not scorch the milk.


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## alsea1 (May 11, 2016)

LOL  After posting I realized that these tests are like the cae and cl tests. It is a snapshot in time. The only sure fire way is to test each milking to be accurate in quality claims. 
Does anyone know of test strips or something that is reasonably priced that one could test each batch of milk with?


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

I checked out that site... quickly all be it... no test for Campylobacter.


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## Southern by choice (May 11, 2016)

@babsbag  probably knows... I want to look into that as well.


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## OneFineAcre (May 11, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> @OneFineAcre  how big are the jars you store in?
> 
> I have found quart size is one thing but once you have 1/2gallon jars and 3 qt or gallon pails there is a big difference.
> 
> ...


Quart size.  So, that's probably it.


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## babsbag (May 11, 2016)

I use the safegard pasteurizer but I don't chill it with the pasteurizer, I stick it in an ice bath in the sink.


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## babsbag (May 11, 2016)

I have no idea about a home test kit. I know someone that tests for some stuff but I never really asked what she is testing for. Since I don't typically drink raw milk it was not something I really needed to store in my overcrowded little brain.


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## TAH (May 13, 2016)

Thank you @GLENMAR for your ricotta recipe.
I just got done making some, it is super good. This recipe is a keeper.


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## misfitmorgan (May 14, 2016)

TAH said:


> Thank you @GLENMAR for your ricotta recipe.
> I just got done making some, it is super good. This recipe is a keeper.



What does the baking soda and butter do? I have never heard of adding it before.


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## TAH (May 14, 2016)

I am actually do not know.


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## GLENMAR (May 16, 2016)

It may help with the acidity. I'm not sure the recipe is from Ricki Carrolls book. 
Looks good.


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## lkmartin1230 (May 16, 2016)

I actually ended up trying my first taste of goat cheese, and it tasted A LOT like cream cheese (which I'm not a fan of) but I tried it again later with some strawberry jam cause I'm weird, and it was really good.


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## frustratedearthmother (May 16, 2016)

As long as you found away to enjoy it - it's all good!


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## lkmartin1230 (May 17, 2016)

Yeah. I'm more of the fruit kind of person, I have to sweeten things up a bit tried it with wild blackberries we pick on the family land behind our house and it was even better.


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## frustratedearthmother (May 17, 2016)

Sounds great!


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## lkmartin1230 (May 17, 2016)

It really was.


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## Southern by choice (May 17, 2016)

I just made a blueberry spread for bagels. It is a little too sweet.
I used 3 particular goats milk mixed for the culture.
Lamancha Millie, Mini Lamancha Trouble and Lamancha Zephyr.
Millie and Trouble have very sweet milk with very high butterfat. Zephyr has very creamy milk with high butterfat but not quite as sweet.

Will try the same culture with different does milk next time.

I like to know whose milk is best for which recipes.


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## GLENMAR (May 19, 2016)

I heard that if you let the milk age a few days, it will be goatier, if that's what you like.


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## Southern by choice (May 19, 2016)

GLENMAR said:


> I heard that if you let the milk age a few days, it will be goatier, if that's what you like.



No, I don't want it sharper .. I just need to adjust the recipe to make it less sweet.

I hate "goaty" anything food wise. Only thing I don't mind being goaty is when I give my babies a kiss!


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## GLENMAR (May 20, 2016)

I like to goat twang myself.


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## Southern by choice (May 20, 2016)




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