Believe it or not~ we live on a farm with goats, have raised them and loved having them for over 4 years, and we don't like goats milk. I can hear all you goat milk loving farm gals out there gasping right now. I know, I know. We have been content with just using the milk to raise calves and making goats milk soap in years past. But this year we have no calves yet due to sky rocket prices, my freezer is overflowing with goats milk, and I can hardly keep up with jars and room in the refrigerator. In one last attempt to figure out how to like goats milk and avoid buying milk from the store when we are swimming in it at home, I brainstormed and came up with a new way to cool it faster. Some research I had done said it needed to be cooled in 8 minutes and ours was never cooled in that time. So..... I changed the way we do things around here. The master plan includes placing a sterilized glass gallon jar into a pail then filling up the pail with ice. This jar (with a milk filter inside of it) gets brought down to the goat barn with the other milking supplies and filled up with water.
While we get the grain measured out and the first goats ready to milk the jar has time to get cold. The goat gets washed up then milked (into a glass jar or stainless steel pail), and as we milk we pour and strain the milk into the jar in small amounts.
The pail can sit in the barn (covered) in the ice water until we finish chores. Every once in a while I swoosh the milk around to make sure it cools evenly. But the next step was to be brave enough to try it again and then convince the kids and Rob to try it.
I tried it first and ~yum~ liked it. The kids weren't so sure that I wasn't just trying to convince them to like it so I could quit spending money on milk. Give it to Micah, he'll try anything.
And, not to be outdone, Grace tried it.
The overall response~ it's good stuff!
It has a very fresh flavor, very light and, well, just fresh. No aftertaste like before, just very good. Must be the cooling time. There is half a gallon of store bought milk in my refrigerator that will be used up quickly, then we will be full time fresh goat milk drinkers. I am convinced! Goats milk is good stuff. Can't wait to see how much our bodies like it as well.
Believe it or not~ we live on a farm with goats, have raised them and loved having them for over 4 years, and we don't like goats milk. I can hear all you goat milk loving farm gals out there gasping right now. I know, I know. We have been content with just using the milk to raise calves and making goats milk soap in years past. But this year we have no calves yet due to sky rocket prices, my freezer is overflowing with goats milk, and I can hardly keep up with jars and room in the refrigerator. In one last attempt to figure out how to like goats milk and avoid buying milk from the store when we are swimming in it at home, I brainstormed and came up with a new way to cool it faster. Some research I had done said it needed to be cooled in 8 minutes and ours was never cooled in that time. So..... I changed the way we do things around here. The master plan includes placing a sterilized glass gallon jar into a pail then filling up the pail with ice. This jar (with a milk filter inside of it) gets brought down to the goat barn with the other milking supplies and filled up with water. 
I tried it first and ~yum~ liked it. The kids weren't so sure that I wasn't just trying to convince them to like it so I could quit spending money on milk. Give it to Micah, he'll try anything.
And, not to be outdone, Grace tried it.
The overall response~ it's good stuff! 
12 comments:
Yay for "goat milk" smart people! Now that we jumped into goat ownership, we are really tempted to just jump in with both feet and get a milk goat or two, but just werent sure if we would like it. All of your knowledge helps!
ugh! other people are always logged on and I don't look:))
Oh! That is SO cool! Yes, cooling the milk quickly is one of the keys to delicious sweet goat's milk. Another one is to handle it gently. Don't shake it up ... because that will cause the lipase to break down the fatty acids ... that will cause it to have a "goaty" taste. I've also found that it takes about 2 weeks after a goat freshens for the milk to sweeten. Maybe you were tasting it too soon before ?? I'm so glad you're enjoying it now!
The kids weren't so sure that I wasn't just trying to convince them to like it so I could quit spending money on milk.
Oh, this had me rolling!
Yay for another leap forward! Now I need you to come put here and help me figure out how I can make our spot work so we can have yummy, fresh milk too!
I forgot to mention how GREAT the barn is looking!!
Oh, and tell Micah that I love the mustache ;-)
I can't stand that goat-y taste either. Someone told me that the closer a billy goat was the more "rank" (or gamey?) the taste of the milk, and they said that's why they used AI for their goats -- their cheeses taste really good and fresh and don't have that rank smell.
Do you find this to be true?
YAY! After all the e-mailing about self-sufficiency, I was wondering when you were going to take that plunge!! Funny you should post this though, as I just typed out a post about my milking methods, and one of the main things I am considering is milking into something with ice in it like you described! You made it look easier than it sounded.
Go for it Scott, er Renee :)), I don't think you will be disappointed~ as long as you cool the milk quick enough.
I have never heard about the shaking part Brenda~ thanks! I will have to remember to be gentle with the milk.
Can't wait until I get a vehicle again, Cathy~ what a good excuse to come and visit:))
KXJ~ I have found that to be true about the buck being too close. Our buck is in the goat barn for now until we get a better spot for him and he still has a distinct smell, although not as bad as at rut season, and I did not notice an odor in the milk. He is on the far side of the barn, away from the does, so maybe that helps.
Red Gate~ it was probably all those emails that kept convicting me to keep trying to figure it out:)) You saved me lots of money!! The new system works well. The milk cools very fast, especially because we pour it into the cold glass jar/ice pail a little at a time. I would like to try to find something that I can put in the jar (like a plastic ice cube) to cool the center down but can still be sterilized. Can't wait to read your post. Someday soon I'll try to do a post on the milking stanchions that Rob and Cole built~ they are wonderful and the goats stand so nice in them rather than having a rodeo every morning tied to a stall gate.
FINALLY!!!! I told you so!! My Belle just freshened yesterday and I can't wait to have some of that liquid gold again!!!
THE BARN LOOKS FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Good for you! Milk here in OK is as high as $4.65 a gallon! I'm glad I don't drink it, but my husband goes through it fast enough! Maybe I should buy him a goat????
Enjoy!
I cool mine in half gallon but I have even lef tit out an dnot gotten it cooled right away and never had a goaty flavor unless the buck was close, their minerals were out of whack or they were starting to come in heat or stressed out. Oh and any goat that had Alpine or Togg in it had goaty flavored milk!... Dont know why.. We all cringe when we have to drink store bought or cows milk. Its just not very good to us.
Well that is interesting Tonia~ some of our old goats were part Alpine~ maybe that was the goaty taste coming through. So glad we tried cooling it a new way.
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