Sometimes people ask “what do I do with my raw milk?” This surprises me! You do the same thing with raw milk that you do with supermarket milk- drink it, cook with it, and put it in coffee! But you can do so much more with raw milk! If there is a lot of cream on top, you can scoop the cream off and put it on fruit or a bowl of oatmeal. Conventional milk is homogenized so the cream does not separate.
You can use the cream to make ice cream.
You can make butter!
You can also make soft cheeses.
You can make yogurt, buttermilk or kefir. Recipes below.
These last three things (yogurt, buttermilk and kefir) are fermented products that can be easily made with raw milk. I do not like using supermarket (conventional, pasteurized) milk to make the fermented items, although I know there are recipes out there that start with conventional milk. Conventional milk will go bad (putrefy) if left out too long or under very warm conditions. Raw milk will not putrefy but instead it will “sour”. Soured milk is the way that folks kept milk for longer periods of time back before refrigeration. Soured milk has solids (the curds) and clear liquid (the whey). Remember little Miss Muffet? “Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet eating her curds and whey, along came a spider…..”
Anytime you “sour” milk you will have curds and whey, whether it is yogurt, buttermilk or kefir. I have made all three. Buttermilk and kefir seem to be the easiest as they sour at room temperature. Yogurt has to have elevated temperature (about 110 deg F) for extended time so that can be trickier. All of these products are very healthy for your gut. Raw milk itself is good for the gut but fermented products are even better. Here is a description of fermentation:
Fermented foods are foods that have been through a process of lacto-fermentation in which natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics. Natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a more digestible form. This, along with the bevy of probiotics created during the fermentation process, could explain the link between consumption of fermented foods and improved digestion. (WellnessMama.com)
Kefir is a popular traditional drink in Russia. Kefir originated many centuries ago in the Caucasus Mountains. The word kefir means pleasure drink. You need kefir “grains” to make this product and these can be gotten from a friend or neighbor who makes kefir or maybe on-line. Here are my directions on how to make Kefir:
Buttermilk does not need “grains” but only a “starter”. The starter can be a small amount of previously made buttermilk OR it can be a powdered starter from a health food store or on-line. I get starters from Cheesemaking.com. Just put a small amount into a quart jar of milk and set the jar on the counter until it has thickened.
Yogurt is a bit more complicated for it is best to heat the milk to remove the existing (good) bacteria so that the yogurt can multiply without competition and make a smoother product. You can get yogurt directions on the internet.
Raw milk is wonderful! I grew up drinking raw milk and it’s amazing that it has become almost criminal to do so nowadays (thanks to the dairy industry) but there is a groundswell of interest in consuming nutritious and safe raw milk. I haven’t always had the best luck with my attempts at buttermilk and cheese but the milk is so good that I find myself just wanting to drink and cook with it!
i’m late to the party but I see your comments.
Such great information. I don’t have gut issues to worry about but certainly like the idea of replacing pasteurized milk with whole milk regardless. Thanks Jackie!
Even if you can’t or don’t want to seek out raw milk, you can opt for organic whole milk which is available in stores (whereas raw milk has to be picked up from the farm). Although it is pasteurized, it is the next best thing to the milk “right from the cow”.