What are you doing with your milk?

[ChickenPotPie]

I'm a newbie to goats. My son recently obtained Toggenburg dairy goats for his 4H project and we're just about to get started using the milk (a kid is drinking it all right now). We should have the milk all to ourselves by the end of the week.

I bought some basic milk handling supplies as well as some "stuff" to make yogurt and cheese. lol. I'm so clueless. I'm scared to use it. I'd love to hear what you're doing with your goat milk. Maybe I'll be inspired.


Also, I'm fine with drinking it unpasteurized but my husband isn't. I need to learn how to do this. Do you pasteurize? Why or why not?

 

[Chirpy]

First ... Welcome to BackyardHerds!

Second - have you tasted your goats milk yet? We drink our milk raw. It has so many more health benefits than after it's been pasteurized. As long as you keep the equipment very clean (use a dishwasher to wash everything after every use - if at all possible), your hands are clean when milking, you wash your goats udder and teats before washing and get the milk really cold (below 40 degrees F) as quickly as possible it will be perfectly safe to drink raw. Here's some excellent info: http://www.rawmilkcolorado.org/about_Raw_Milk.php

We are only getting enough milk right now to drink it; not make anything else yet. I have tried Feta cheese with it and it was very good - but we added our own spices to our taste.

Do you have a milk stand? My stand is worth it's weight in gold just so I don't have to bend over so far to milk and it keeps my does stationary.

Good luck and have tons of fun!

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Thanks for the link. I'll have to get my husband to read it. We've tasted the milk. Toggenburg is decidedly 'non-fat milk' not whole milk but I like it just because I know it's good and fresh. My son wants to get a Nubian, sometime in the future, which he hopes will be a "whole milk goat".

He's keeping his goats up at a 4H ranch because we live in the city. They have a milking stand and I love it. I wouldn't want to milk any other way. My son's goat knows the routine already and my son easily gets her up on the stand. It's nice.

My son (9) purchased one Toggenburg show doe (the one we're milking) and was given a pregnant Togg as a gift. She had two kids (male and female). Already have the buckling sold and he'll be picked up after he's weaned. My son wants to make soap from the milk. Boy, this is an adventure that the whole family is enjoying.

 

[helmstead]

Our Nubian doe is currently giving us a gallon a day. Last year we had to milk two of our Nigis at a time to have what we needed...now...we're STORING it haha.

We drink it raw. Yum! I tried to pasteurize it and it tasted terrible! We also make fresh cheese like cream cheese, cottage cheese and the like. I hope to venture into aged cheeses soon.

I personally prefer Nigi milk to Nubian milk. Nigi milk is higher in butterfat than the Nubian milk...so I have more cream to store off the cooled milk (need cream to make cottage cheese) and it's sweeter. Almost NO cream separates from the Nubian milk. Bit of a bummer.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Our Nubian doe is currently giving us a gallon a day. Last year we had to milk two of our Nigis at a time to have what we needed...now...we're STORING it haha.

We drink it raw. Yum! I tried to pasteurize it and it tasted terrible! We also make fresh cheese like cream cheese, cottage cheese and the like. I hope to venture into aged cheeses soon.

I personally prefer Nigi milk to Nubian milk. Nigi milk is higher in butterfat than the Nubian milk...so I have more cream to store off the cooled milk (need cream to make cottage cheese) and it's sweeter. Almost NO cream separates from the Nubian milk. Bit of a bummer.

I don't know much about goats but, it seems to me I read over on BYC that there is a separator for goats milk to separate the cream out?

 

[helmstead]

Yes...but they are EXPENSIVE!! Even used...

 

[Chaty]

try eBay and spell it different ways...I just got a larger stariner and I spelled it different and I got it for $25.00 when they are usually $80...Yep we drink ours raw also and I also freeze mine in double freezer bags...This is for when I dry the does off...

 

[Rence]

My family loves chevre mixed (after I make it, not while I'm making it) with roasted red peppers and some of the liquid from the roasted red peppers...on crackers. I can't keep it in the house that way.

I've also made goat milk cheddar. I have yet to try other cheeses with my goat milk, but I'd like to try cottage cheese and yogurt.

With the cow's milk OTOH, I've made ricotta, mozarella, swiss, cheddar, parmesan, cottage cheese, yogurt, fromage blanc, and I'm dying to find the time to do a munster or even a brie.

 

[freemotion]

How was the goat's milk cheddar? I have a bunch aging in the cellar, the first one won't be 60 days old for another 3 weeks or so. I am going nuts with anticipation!

 

[Rence]

I tried the goat cheddar while it was quite young (we couldn't wait), and it tasted similar to the cow cheddar when we can't wait for it either. However, once aged it might be different and I don't know how that tastes yet. I'm not sure I ever will, but we're trying