Milk that taste different every now and then

[Reptigirl]

So I'm fairly new to goats. I have 2 Nigerian Dwarf does in milk. This is there FF. They are about 5-6 weeks fresh. So far milking has been relatively easy and things have been going great. But something odd I have not been able to figure out.

Most of the time there milk taste wonderful and sweet. Other times is has a weird "tang" to it.

I am pasteurizing it to 160 degrees for 15 seconds and then chilling the pan in a really cold ice bath. I do this RIGHT after milking them. The milk in only in the pail for 10-12 minutes while I am milking them and then it gets strained and pasteurized immediately.

They are eating Purina Goat Chow with a little bit of BOSS mixed in & alfalfa hay. They also have free choice of loose goat minerals.

I am so confused. I can get 3 or 4 quarts of GREAT tasting milk and then get a batch of "tangy" or as I would describe it "goaty". Sometimes this taste is very obvious other times it is mild. Then it goes back to being super sweet again.

Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?

 

[PattySh]

Being it happens occasionally it sounds like it's something they are eating. Either in their hay or pasture. Also, drink it fresh. I find anything over 3 days old is better for cheese.

 

[elevan]

Being it happens occasionally it sounds like it's something they are eating. Either in their hay or pasture. Also, drink it fresh. I find anything over 3 days old is better for cheese.

x2

 

[Reptigirl]

Hum.. the milk has the "funk" usually right away.... I can tell when I'm heating it up you can smell the "goaty" smell coming off of it... Must be something they are eating :/ Guess I'm just gonna have to accept it and make cheese out of it.

 

[freemotion]

Drinking it raw avoids that goatiness in most cases. Do you need to pasteurize for some reason? Why not drink it raw? Much better for you, unless you have a particular reason to pasteurize.

Understand that your body will not utilize the calcium from pasteurized milk, either, so don't consider that as your main source of dietary calcium. I was pretty shocked when I learned this......thanks to a good doctor.

 

[PattySh]

Didn't realize you were pasturizing. I too believe pasturized goat milk tastes "goatee".

 

[julieq]

Drinking it raw avoids that goatiness in most cases. Do you need to pasteurize for some reason? Why not drink it raw? Much better for you, unless you have a particular reason to pasteurize.

Understand that your body will not utilize the calcium from pasteurized milk, either, so don't consider that as your main source of dietary calcium. I was pretty shocked when I learned this......thanks to a good doctor.

Yep! The only wierd tasting goat milk we ever tried was pasteurized!

 

[Roll farms]

*pouty face*
I pasteurize mine and it isn't goaty.

 

[Reptigirl]

Maybe I'll need to give raw a try... Didn't realize the pasteurization would change the taste that much... Hum...

 

[Ariel301]

I find that heating goat milk quickly (as in pasteurizing) gives it a goaty taste. Store bought, pasteurized goat milk always tastes like licking a buck. I figured this out when I tried to microwave some of my milk for hot cocoa and I overheated it, it smelled and tasted like goat. We always use it raw, because it is better for you, and actually safer than pasteurized milk--the US has over a thousand deaths a year from contaminated pasteurized milk, and none from raw milk consumption. (Despite those lovely labels we are required to put on raw milk to sell it, informing our customers that they might die if they drink raw milk!)

It could also be something they are eating, or something hormonal from the goat's body, possibly.