Nutritious milk, cheesemaking, and pasteurization

[freemotion]

This is why I want a dairy goat.....could not find reasonably-priced raw milk in my area ($8 per gallon and quite a drive to get it.) I have everything I need to start making cheese, and no access to proper milk!

Before anyone gets upset about the raw part, milk is heated in the cheesemaking process. For any recipes where it is not, I will know, because I milked her myself, how clean the milk is.....kinda like the eggs I wash and the ones I don't wash. Chances of harmful bacteria and infection are extremely low in the well-kept and healthy conditions in my back field.

Got a newsletter from New England Cheesemaking Supply just now and there is a link to a great article on ultra-pasteurization. It ruins cheesemaking and ruins the nutrition of the milk! One of the reasons we do not get enough calcium from dairy in this country....very high numbers for osteoporosis, and very high numbers for dairy consumption....hmmmm.....

Here is an excerpt and the link: "The research has also shown that exposing the milk to a higher temperature would not be a good option because a higher temperature could be detrimental to its nutritional value.

Rather than trying to force industrial dairies to clean up their act in order to improve the health of their herds, the FDA has put its support behind higher-temperature pasteurization.

Pasteurization should not be an excuse to produce dirty milk.
In other words much of what is being done for milk processing today is based on bad science."

http://www.cheesemaking.com/MoreAboutMilk.html

 

[Beekissed]

We toured a dairy with the kids one day and I was appalled at the "cleanliness" of the place! They took a damp rag and went down the line and gave the cows a cursory swipe of the udders before attaching the milkers. My boy saw one of the workers flick a piece of manure off the milker before attaching it. The milk was piped into a vat in the next room....an open vat! The room was a simple block room with dirt and grime evident, stringers of dirty cobwebs festooning the corners and ceiling...right above the open vat of milk! I was very glad we had done away with eating dairy when I took that tour!

I'd boil the crap out of that kind of milk too!!!

When we had our milk cow, those udders were thoroughly cleansed with warm soapy water with a good ratio of vinegar. Any excess hair was trimmed back and, immediately after milking into the disinfected buckets, the milk was strained and placed into glass jars and cooled in the spring.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Rather than trying to force industrial dairies to clean up their act in order to improve the health of their herds, the FDA has put its support behind higher-temperature pasteurization.

I sure do not like hearing this! Or what Beekissed saw! Here everything had better be in order when the inspector comes or it's written up. No cobwebs, dead flies, dirt or hay on the floor or elsewhere. Everything washed and clean. And for peat sakes don't argue with the inspector, no matter what!

By the sound of it there is some shakingup that needs to be done at the FDA!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Oooooooooohhhhh I sooooooooo miss raw milk!!!!!!

Dh worked for a local dairy farm for years. I used to go watch the milking process on the days his boss was feeling generous and would let me They would use an iodine dip on each cow teat, then go down with a damp cloth and wipe the cows down. One cloth was used per 10 cows (unless the cloth got really nasty, then they'd get a clean one) and then the milkers would be placed and the milk pumped through all stainless steal lines that never touched air. The milk went into a filtering system, then a cooling system, then in an enclosed 40,000 gallon milk container with agitator and cooling unit.

Next 10 cows would come in and the process all over with a clean towel. They shipped grade A milk for United Dairy, but we got ours straight from the milk tank just out of the filters. Ice cold and loaded in cream.

DH said they wouldn't be allowed to use vinegar like you did, Bee, because of risk of curdling the milk. The milk was tested daily, and if any hint of penicillian, vinegar, onions, etc showed up in the milk, the entire 40,000 gallons was dumped. Once another shift mixed up pens and treated cows were accidently milked on a day my husband off. They fired EVERYONE. DH got a call at home said, "Cows were mixed up, you're fired." He argued back, "It's my day off! I wasn't even there!" They got it straightened out and he was hired back that night with a raise The milk for the entire day was lost, though.

 

[Beekissed]

WOW! No wonder milk is so expensive! I haven't bought it for so long that I no longer know what it costs, but I've heard its very expensive now.

Now, let me get this straight....they wouldn't let minute amounts of vinegar in soapy water on a teat, but will gladly dip a teat in iodine and let THAT get in the milk? I know they wiped it off with a damp cloth, but from what I've seen, they don't do a good, thorough scrub down....just a lick and a promise.

 

[Sebrightmom]

This is the reason I got my millking goats. We have been drinking raw milk since November. I have also started making cheese and goat milk soap. I love my Nubians.I have made cheese a few times now. I still need to practice. I can't wait until I can afford to get a cream separater. I am hoping to get one this spring.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

WOW! No wonder milk is so expensive! I haven't bought it for so long that I no longer know what it costs, but I've heard its very expensive now.

Now, let me get this straight....they wouldn't let minute amounts of vinegar in soapy water on a teat, but will gladly dip a teat in iodine and let THAT get in the milk? I know they wiped it off with a damp cloth, but from what I've seen, they don't do a good, thorough scrub down....just a lick and a promise.

Well, I can't speak for the other shifts, but I know my husband and his milking partner wiped those cows down pretty good. He said he didn't want poop or anything else in his milk

 

[Farmer Kitty]

WOW! No wonder milk is so expensive! I haven't bought it for so long that I no longer know what it costs, but I've heard its very expensive now.

Now, let me get this straight....they wouldn't let minute amounts of vinegar in soapy water on a teat, but will gladly dip a teat in iodine and let THAT get in the milk? I know they wiped it off with a damp cloth, but from what I've seen, they don't do a good, thorough scrub down....just a lick and a promise.

Well, I can't speak for the other shifts, but I know my husband and his milking partner wiped those cows down pretty good. He said he didn't want poop or anything else in his milk

Ours are also cleaned good. Wash bucket with water and udderwash. A clean paper towel for each cow. If a unit gets kicked off it gets cleaned off before going back on the cows. Pipeline here so the milk goes from the cow into the claw up the hose, into the stainless steel pipeline, threw the filter and into a closed bulktank.

No antibiotics allowed. Milk tested each pickup. They also test for somatic cell (mastitis, etc.) butterfat, protein, water content.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

No antibiotics allowed. Milk tested each pickup. They also test for somatic cell (mastitis, etc.) butterfat, protein, water content.

Yes, they tested for all that. Some of the people that worked there...Oh the stories DH and I could tell!! One time, people that MY husband helped get a job there added water to UP the milk they had milked that shift...because they skipped half the cows! They were milking 900 head 3 times a day AND THESE TWO SKIPPED HALF. The two "culprits" got a week off without pay.

Another time, this Russian woman who was employed there mixed dry cows up with the milk cows. What a mess! And she and her partner ran them on through and milked them anyway!

My favorite times at the farm were the days I got to witness a calving! (witnessed a breeding once..Um...yea made sure I didn't go back to watch that!)

 

[freemotion]

Although I am confident that there are plenty of people who handle their cows and milk responsibly, there are many who don't, and workers who don't give a carp, as the stories tell!!! All that milk goes to the same place to be processed, all mixed in together, and yikes, into the grocery stores!

It is obvious that ultra-pasteurization is about money, not safety. Or nutrition. We REALLY have to take control of our own health, and that also means taking control of our own food.

I wish there were some good dairies near me that would sell raw milk right from the cow, practically. The closest that I've found online would be about 1 1/2 hour drive each way! Nevermind the price of gas, I have better things to do with 3 hours.....how many goat milkings would that be?

I really wish I could have cow's milk, for the cream.....oh, to make my own butter, sour cream, whipped cream, etc. And all the types of cheesed one can make from cow's milk. There actually are a couple of dairies nearby, one that I actually drive right by at least once a week....but they don't want to be bothered selling to me. That particular one has Gurnsey's, too! Oh, the cream!!!