Devonviolet Acres

[Bruce]

Question about raw milk.

Had to pick DD2 up from work Wed and stopped at a farm store that had a raw milk sign. Bought the 1 pint they had to try it. I was expecting it would have a lot of cream but it was pretty much no different than 2%, maybe whole milk. I had been buying non-homogenized whole milk and there definitely was a noticeable cream texture I don't feel in homogenized milk. I would always shake the container before pouring so I didn't end up with only cream, then only no cream.

When raw milk is sold, have they separated out and removed the cream? I figured it was basically a "out of the cow, through a strainer, into the container" sort of process based on the "name".

 

[Devonviolet]

I have a question for you. I know canning sauerkraut kills the beneficial bacteria, but what if you had a "live" jar in the refrigerator and opened up a jar of canned, and added the "live" juice to the canned jar? Would that put the beneficial bacteria back in the canned jar? Reason I am asking is that I just planted a whole flat (64) in cabbage seeds. NO WAY we can eat all that, so my mind went wandering...… Of course, that is assuming that they all sprout, survive transplanting, survive me, continue to grow, survive bugs, grow some more, survive general kill and die conditions and grow to maturity. But I can dream, can't I?

To be honest, I can’t say for sure. If you are able to pressure can it enough to preserve it, without making it really soft, it might work. The only way to know is to try it. The thing to keep in minnd is that the bacteria need natural sugars to grow. If the cabbage is cooked before hand, it will still have the natural sugars. So, it would be worth the try. It will definitely be softer than sauerkraut made from fresh cabbage, though.

I would think if you just pressure canned a pint, and let it cool, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and reserve the liquid, you could add some juice from a fresh batch of sauerkraut juice (2 Tbsp per quart). I use 1/2 cup of sauerkraut juice for one gallon of sauerkraut.

Add 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp sea salt per quart to the previously squeezed cabbage juice. Add enough of this brine to cover (at least 1-12 to 2” below the lip of the jar), place some cabbage leaves on top and a glass fermentation weight (to keep it all under the liquid). Cover and leave it at room temp for 3-7 days, until bubbles stop forming in the liquid. The best room temperature range to ferment sauerkraut is 72-78 degrees F. Although I have made sauerkraut during the summer when our inside temp was 78-80 degrees.

** If you don’t have enough squeezed juice, you can use filtered or distilled water to bring the level up to the amount of liquid you need. If you use tap water, the chlorine in the water will kill off the good bacteria, which create the fermentation. Another way to do it, would be to boil sufficient water (for the brine), and leave it on the stove until it reaches room temperature. That will allow the chlorine to off gas, so it won’t be a problem.

For the “fresh sauerkraut juice” you would likely make a fresh batch of sauerkraut (using fresh [uncooked] cabbage). There are four ways to do that:
1. Be REALLY nice to a friend who makes sauerkraut, and con (ahem ASK) her to give you some juice.
2. Add 2 Tbsp per quart of Kefir whey, to your sauerkraut.
3. Add one packet of one of the vegetable starter culture (I have used both of the following: Caldwell’s Starter Culture for Fresh Vegetables and Body Ecology Culture Starter for making cultured vegetables). I have used one packet for a gallon of sauerkraut. It just took a little longer to ferment on the countertop.
4. Pound the cabbage, to get cabbage juice to flow, and add brine, composed of 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp of sea salt per quart of water, to the cabbage after it is packed into the jar. In this case you are relying on the natural bacteria that are on the cabbage, from growing in the garrden, to create the fermentation.

Does all that make sense?

 

[Devonviolet]

When raw milk is sold, have they separated out and removed the cream? I figured it was basically a "out of the cow, through a strainer, into the container" sort of process based on the "name".

Well, I can’t speak for all raw milk. But the raw cow’s milk, that we buy locally, is filtered, as soon as it is milked, from the cows (about 20 cows at a time). They have a huge filter, that the milk goes through, and it is immediately chilled down to just above freezing, in a tank, where they dispense the milk either into gallon jugs, for sale in their farm store, or into a larger tank where a tanker truck collects it and takes it to a company that bottles it for commercial sales. It is not homogenized on the farm. I do not know where it goes after it leaves the farm, or if it is homogenized.

The cows that they have are jersey cows, and from what the owner tells me, the butter fat is in the 4+% range, but he is working to improve his herd, to where the butterfat is closer to 5%.

The company is called Jersey Girls, and the milk is not homogenized. It does have cream floating on the top, so I also shake it well, before I pour it. You can ask @Latestarter, what he thinks (‘cause he buys milk there too), but DH and I think our Jersey Girls milk is nice and creamy tasting - much better than store bought whole milk. I would say it is almost as good as goat milk.

A question I have for you is, did you buy goat milk or cow milk? I don’t know what the cow breeds produce for butterfat production, except what our Jersey Girls owner told me.

With dairy goats, what I have read, regarding butterfat content in goats is as follows:
1. Nigerian Dwarf - 6-10% butterfat
2. Nubian - 4-5% butterfat
3. LaMancha - 4% butterfat
4. Alpine - 3% butterfat
5. Saanen - 2-3% butterfat

One website, says if you feed your Nubian BOSS it will increase the butterfat content. I haven’t milked Rosemary (a Nubian) yet, but we will continue to feed the girls BOSS when we are milking them. I have high hopes for our milkiing this coming year.

In the end, the breed and how you feed them, will determine how creamy the milk tastes. With cows and goats alike, different breeds produce different amounts of butterfat, which of course will determine how creamy - or not, the milk will taste.

 

[Bruce]

A question I have for you is, did you buy goat milk or cow milk?

To my knowledge it was cow milk since I ASSUME they would say if it was goat milk.

I would say it is almost as good as goat milk.

Well see, there is the other thing. Some time back I bought goat milk at the healthy food store. I expected it to taste distinctly different than cow milk. Not so much. In fact if I didn't know it was goat I would have thought it was cow.

 

[Devonviolet]

Some time back I bought goat milk at the healthy food store. I expected it to taste distinctly different than cow milk. Not so much. In fact if I didn't know it was goat I would have thought it was cow.

There isn’t a lot of diiffference, taste wise - except, when it comes to higher butterfat milk tasting creamier.

 

[Baymule]

1. Be REALLY nice to a friend who makes sauerkraut, and con (ahem ASK) her to give you some juice.


Does all that make sense?

UUUHHHHHH..……………...NOPE. But #1 makes perfect sense!

And maybe a little swapping for some cabbage for sauerkraut juice...….if my cabbages grow!

 

[Devonviolet]

@Bruce, I found the following comparing Cow Milk to goat milk:

 

[Rammy]

I wish I had time to milk a goat. I barely have time to take care of what I have now! It sure would be nice, tho, to learn to make cheese.

 

[Bruce]

There isn’t a lot of diiffference, taste wise - except, when it comes to higher butterfat milk tasting creamier.

Which, according to your prior post, depends a LOT on the breed of goat. Probably true of cow breeds as well. I've no idea what breed of cow the non homogenized milk came from.

And I find it interesting. In that I wasn't able to notice any particular difference between cow and goat milk and have eaten sheep and goat cheeses without a distinct "non cow milk" flavor that people claim they can't stand goat cheese because of the taste. Maybe I don't have the proper taste buds?

 

[goatgurl]

@Bruce or other peoples taste buds are governed by what they think its going to taste/smell/look like just because it was made from goats milk. makes you go hummm