Goat milk and cream separators

[Cinebar]

After a six or seven year break from milking goats, I broke down and bought a first freshener LaMancha a month ago.

I'm absolutely loving having the fresh milk coming into the house twice a day and am looking forward to her next lactation when she should produce considerably more. Plus, I may have the opportunity to add a second doe (Saanen - my favorite breed!) this spring.

Anyway, I plan to eventually make cheese and yogurt but right now she isn't producing more than just enough for drinking and cooking and a few puddings and other desserts now and again. But, in the meantime, I would like to get as much cream as I can to make butter.

Goat milk, being naturally homogenized, can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to getting the cream from it. A little bit does rise to the top, but not a whole lot. I am skimming it off and putting in the freezer until I have enough to go to the trouble of the butter churning process but the amount I get each time only amounts to a tablespoon or two.

So, what I would like to know is if anyone here has used a commercial cream separator to get the cream from their goat milk? If so, how did it work? Was it worth the monetary investment (some are very, very expensive but I found one on ebay for less than $75.00).

The cream separators I'm finding are specific to separating the cream from cow milk but I haven't found anything yet that addresses goat milk. I'm wondering if the fact that the goat milk is homogenized is a problem.

Any suggestions?

 

[TanksHill]

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i've only seen them for hundreds of dollars! so for $75 might as well "give it a whirl"

;-)

hey i have lamanchas and a saanen too!

 

[Cinebar]

i've only seen them for hundreds of dollars! so for $75 might as well "give it a whirl"

;-)

hey i have lamanchas and a saanen too!

I thought that the price might make it worthwhile to give it a shot but I'd still have to get a lot of butter to justify it. $75.00 could buy a lot of butter!

I wasn't looking for a LaMancha; in fact, i wasn't even looking to get back into the milking routine at all. But someone who was buying eggs from me had a Nubian and this LaMancha to sell. My original plan was to buy the Nubian but then I saw the LaMancha ("Zilli"). She's beautiful - solid black - and I was thinking it over for a few days and this woman ended up trading the Nubian for some Nigerian Dwarfs so that kind of ended up settling it.

I was really holding out for a Saanen - if I could find one I could afford. I have Saanens from before but they are all getting up there in age and I have no plans to breed any of them at this point. One, my beloved "Sweet Pea," is twelve.

But.....there is a woman near here who has a licensed raw milk goat dairy (Saanens). She does AI of several breeds, including LaMancha, and I was talking to her about getting Zilli bred and she told me that in the spring she will have a couple of nice Saanens for sale. She said they're nice does just not the high production she needs for her dairy. She talked like the price would be reasonable.

I love Saanens - they have the best personality of any goat around in my experience.

Because of a work injury, I can only milk one-handed so it takes me twice a long as it used to but I'm finding that that's ok. I'm finding that being out in the goat house with Zilli on the milk stand and me sitting next to her is almost therapeutically peaceful and calming. Sometimes I have to drag my butt out there but once there I'm in no hurry to finish and get back into the house.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

well tell Zilli she has a twin here... Debbie is her name!

i like the milking also but now that we are starting to get the cold weather i'm ok with drying everyone out.

we like the lamanchas b/c our saanen eats like a horse.. but our lamancha almost always outmilks her! she's a good old gal tho. we also have a mini-mancha who's gonna be a great milker. this year was her first and she is gonna be a machine next spring.

i still think thats a great deal on the cream separator.... great find!

hey i just saw that you are in the nw.. i used to live in seattle

 

[Cinebar]

Do you make butter?

I've made it when I milked before but it just takes so long to get enough to mess with.

I'm still hoping someone might have some experience with goat milk and using a cream separator.

Is your LaMancha "happy?" By that, I mean does she wag her tail a lot? I've always used tail wagging as an indication of heat but Zilli wags her tail a lot.....loke all the time. And she also tends to be pretty vocal. So, I guess I'm going to have to get up close and personal with her to figure out when she needs to be loaded up for the trip to the semen lady.

I'm about 120 miles southeast of Seattle.....in Lewis County.

 

[Blackbird]

Not me, sorry!
I always leave the jar in the back of the fridge until I get an inch or so of cream on top, so about a week. You can also put the milk in a flat pan, like a cake pan, it seems to rise faster that way, less milk to travel up through I guess. Otherwise sitting it out on the counter at room temp will increase speed. I have Nubians, their milk has a higher butterfat and milk protein content so the cream rises easier. I don't use a lot of butter, so it works for me.

If you do get a cream separator, let us know how it works for you!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Do you make butter?

nope. it was too irritating b/c it took so long to get the cream to rise. and i have a buddy with a cow, so free cream for me!

and nope our la mancha isnt vocal at all. our Debbie is as quiet as the day is long... one of the reasons that we love her. nary a peep unless she is in heat.

but she seems happy enough

 

[freemotion]

I read somewhere that the best cream separator for goat's milk is made for goat's milk or at least has a setting for goat's milk, as it is so different from cow's milk in that regard.

I saved cream in the freezer, too. It took months, but the butter was nice...pure white, though. It was a nice experiment, but I won't likely do it again. Too much work to skim and save, and then I'd reduced the butterfat in the milk I was making cheese with.

Making the butter was easy, I just put it in my stand mixer. You have to watch it, as it becomes butter fairly quickly after mixing for 10-15 minutes if I remember correctly. Then the buttermilk splashes out of the mixer bowl if you don't shut it right off.

 

[Cinebar]

I read somewhere that the best cream separator for goat's milk is made for goat's milk or at least has a setting for goat's milk, as it is so different from cow's milk in that regard.

This is what I'm concerned about.

I would hate to invest the money and find out a basic cream separator designed for cow milk will not work for goat milk.

I have a pint sour cream container in the freezer about half full of cream. When it's full, I'll thaw it out and try it and see how much butter I end up with.

I did it a few times when I milked before and the white butter does take a little getting used to. I never bothered adding food coloring.