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Ever had raw milk that tastes, well… a little “off”?
If you have your own dairy animals, or purchase fresh milk from local farmers, it’s likely you’ve run into a gallon or two that tastes a little different than what you were expecting.
There are many factors that may play a part in off flavors in raw milk. The Encyclopedia of Country Living (one of my most fav homesteading books E-VAH.) has a handy list of reasons your raw milk might be funky. And the book publishers have generously allowed me to reprint that portion of the book here for you today.
(Note: This list only applies to RAW milk. If your pasteurized, store-bought milk is smelling/tasting strange, please throw it away.)
16 Possible Reasons for Off-Flavors in Milk
(Reprinted with permission from page 786 of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. My comments are italics.)
1. Did you use something other than seamless stainless steel, food-grade plastic, or glass to milk into, strain into, or store milk in? (Check out my improvised milking equipment ideas.)
2. Was there exposure to sunlight or fluorescent light? That causes oxidation and off-flavor.
3. Is the drinking water for your milker extra high in iron or copper?
4. Did you add warm milk to chilled milk or let chilled milk turn warm? (Learn more about safe raw milk handling practices here)
5. Is it late in your milker’s lactation?
6. Did you feed onions, garlic, cabbage, turnip, or other strong-flavored vegetables or silage closer than seven hours to milking time? Most of those foods work fine to feed if given right after a milking. But don’t ever feed onions or garlic.
7. Are there other strong-tasting weeds in your animal’s pasture that she’s eating?
8. Did the doe smell strong odors within the few hours before milking, such as from a buck? Or was the buck near the milk?
9. Are you milking in a dirty, manure-filled, ammonia-reeking barn? (The milking place is best separated from more fragrant parts of your barn by doors.)
10. Did any manure, dirt, or hair get into the milk? (It helps to brush your milker before you milk.)
11. Did you wash your hands and her udder and teats, then dry them, before you started milking?
12. Are you smoking around the milk?
13. Do you daily wash milk containers with homemade soap, then rinse with boiling water? Do you boil your straining cheesecloths in water with a little lye before reusing or else dry them a high heat in a dryer? (I like to run all of my equipment through my dishwasher, which gets hot enough to sterilize. I personally prefer to use a reusable coffee strainer instead of cheesecloth.)
14. Are you getting your milk cooled to 40 degrees F or less within an hour after milking and then keeping it cool?
15. Did you serve the milk within 24 hours? (I usually let my milk chill for at least 24 hours before drinking. However, I will note that the sooner you drink the milk, the “sweeter” it is. I use/drink milk that is 1-2 weeks old all the time– but nothing is quite as nice as milk from the previous day’s chores.)
16. Is there something wrong with your milker’s health?
The list you just read barely scratches the surface of the home dairy portion of the Encyclopedia of Country Living. You’ll find milking techniques and tips, recipes, troubleshooting, and a whole lot more. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again– this is one volume that you don’t want to be without!
Ever had funky milk? What caused it?
This post was sponsored by Random House Publishing. However, all opinions expressed here are strictly my own. The official Prairie Homestead giveaway policy can be found HERE.
Thanks for posting this list! We have had the problem with our milk tasting alittle “off” several times and this was very helpful. I have been wanting this book for quite a while and if I don’t win then I think I need to find a place in the budget to purchase it!
Some of the reasons were interesting .
What memories this post brings – my grandparents had a dairy farm when I was growing up and I recall many of these “problems” Grandpa would explain if the milk tasted different! It never tasted bad, but sometimes it was different. People who have never known the taste of fresh, raw milk are surely missing a treat!
This sounds like the book I need. I am new, but very into the Homesteading lifestyle.
I would love to be off the grid but I’ll settle for more self sufficient. I’m with Kathy, if I don’t
win a copy, I may have to budget for it. It sounds great!
This book sounds awesome! I got land and am trying to be self sufficient and help the family out. we have some “kinda” related books but nothing that sounds as helpful as this! Hope I win it! If not I might really have to consider buying it!
Also thanks for all your great posts!
I never have a problem with the milk we buy from the store.The last two days it strongly taste like copper but I am the only one who thinks this .Is it the milk or me , I thought it was because I had a surgery a couple weeks ago and I’m anemic and havnt been taking my iron medication. But I never really do and it started just a couple days ago so is it me or the milk.?
We have a small family farm with lots of different animals (chickens, mini jerseys, rabbits, etc), garden and such; would LOVE to win this! I bet it has a wealth of information. After the adoption of my nephew (who is 5) is complete, maybe I can order it if I don’t win.
I would SO love this book!
I grew up drinking raw milk from my grandfather’s farm. The cows’ milk always tasted “off” for the first several days when they started eating grass out in the pasture in the spring, after a long winter of eating hay.Other than that, I don’t remember its ever tasting “off.” I’m grateful to have grown up drinking fresh milk.
This is what I remember, too. It tasted green. I can remember eating alot of dry cereal during this time, as a kid, because I didnt like to use the milk.
Would this info be the same for dairy goats? Always love your post even if i dont have the same issue nice to have the knowledge if the subject comes up. Thanks
Yes– all the points would apply to goats too. 🙂
Should have said “Lora” above, not “Loray”! I also drank fresh goat’s milk at times. I don’t remember ever having an issue with that tasting “off.”
We don’t own cows–only dogs–but I just wanted to stop in and stay thank you so much for this giveaway! We would be blessed by a copy of this book! Thanks again. 🙂
I also wanted to comment that, in the past when we did drink store-bought cows milk, there were plenty of times the milk tasted off…actually, AWFUL!!! It would be neat to own goats, and to provide fresh milk for my family.
The book sounds great… so informative. Thanks for sharing it! I’ll be checking it out whether I win or not.
30+ years experience of having our own goats – and I will say for goats, sometimes taste issues are genetic. Many classic goat cheese flavors are due to the micro-climate the goat lives in and the actual genetics. We have owned many of the dairy breeds over the years, and have found for us, the most distinctive flavor of milk came from our Toggenburgs and Toggenburg crosses. Our Alpines and Nubians’ produced milk very similar to cows milk in taste.
Yes, good point– I’ve only ever had Nubians, so I can’t say I’ve personally had this issue. But I have heard numerous people say it. 🙂
this book sounds wonderful! I am in my first year of homesteading. What an adventure, actually at this moment I am waiting on my (first) dairy goat to give birth!! Oh what an adventure. Love your blog, thank you for your work.
warmly,
Tammy
Thanks Tammy! Best of luck on your first goat birth– it’s so much fun! 🙂
I would just like to thank you for all the things you take the time to post on your blog. I know if I ever need help with anything in particular between you and Cooke’s Frontier, I can always find the answer. Keep up the good work!
It is my privilege Cheryl– thanks so much for your kind words! 🙂
This sounds like an amazing book I hear a lot of people talk about it would love to have my own copy. :o)
To chill the milk within an hour does that happen well in a glass jar in the fridge or should I be doing something different?
Also where do you get the reuseable coffee filters and what do you place them in to strain the milk?
Thanks
I’ve always chilled mine in the glass jar and it’s worked fine. 🙂
You can get the reusable filters through Amazon, or in the coffee aisle of a place like Target. I usually stack it inside a canning funnel.
I am sorry, but did I miss the announcement for the giveaway winners???
I have not seen anything in my e-mail newsletters I receive, and was just curious…..
Yes– I sent out an email a while back– you should have received it– maybe your spam filter caught it? Here is the post: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/?p=5005
My raw milk farmer was very adamant that we wait 24 hours after the milking before drinking the milk. He pointed out that studies have shown any bad bacteria was killed by the good guys in raw milk within 24 hours. And while he takes every precaution I like that he insists on also waiting for that period before he gives the milk to everyone. Thought this may be worth a mention for anyone wary of fresh milk.
Interesting– I’ve never heard that about the 24 hours period before- but it does make sense. I usually wait 24 hours just to let it cool completely.
Now this blog to me is extremely fascinating. I could probably spend days wrapped up in country living as it’s something I grew up with in Hawaii. Of course, our way of living had many different techniques, which is why I’m interested in the general “American” way of country living. Great stuff!
Thanks JR! 🙂
I am new to the world of raw milk and absolutely love all that is offers. I do not know however what raw milk is supposed to be like and I am wondering about what we get. Is a barnyard flavor in the milk normal?
No– a barnyard flavor isn’t normal. Raw milk may or may not have a slightly “stronger” or “sweeter” flavor that your typical store bought stuff, but if it tastes like a cow, it’s probably either old or hasn’t been handled correctly.
This post was really timely for me, because we’ve been receiving raw cream through a friend of a friend, and honestly…we hate it. The flavour seemed “off” and it goes sour within 6 days of getting it. We had just decided to stop getting it, because we just couldn’t get used to it. Raw milk isn’t readily available, so it was a hard decision. But after reading this list, I think we made the right choice because I can think of several factors that could easily be involved. My mom has had fresh cream from other sources – including while visiting relatives earlier this year – so we know the taste isn’t typical. We’ll keep our ears to the ground for a better source!
Raw cream usually doesn’t last too long– 6 days sounds about right. BUT, if it tastes funky, I can totally understand you not wanting to get it anymore. 🙂
So, if we have creamline raw milk, does the cream make the milk ‘spoil’ faster? We’re noticing fresh milk is great, but 5-8 days later it’s horrible to smell and I refuse to taste. It’s not really a sour smell, but cowy. We use a milker, all tools cleaned/sanitized daily, and cooled well. We’re so confused!
I have my own dairy goats and milk them daily so that I will have fresh raw milk to drink and to make my own cheese.
Last Summer my milk had an off taste and I finally figured out that I had a problem with my refrigerator. I put a refrigerator thermometer in mine and found the temperature was staying too warm. After an adjustment, the milk is back to normal.
Thank you for this post. I recently had my first try of raw milk. I wanted to try to make clotted cream. When I first tasted it it tasted like aged parmesan cheese. I imagined something much more delicious. My family likened it to the memory of baby spit up. My clotted cream seemed quite bitter. I guess it was $14 ( 2 gallons) of bad milk. I may try again someday but it is discouraging. Raw milk should taste better right?
Yes–it should. But it can totally depend on the animal and how old it is. 🙂
We have a buck that is 4 months old. Would having a buck around the moms, make their milk taste off? If we neuter him, would that make the goat milk taste better?…..because Iv’e been taught that having boy goats around make the milk taste goaty.
Sometimes it just depends on the goat. I raised Sanaans, LaManchas, Nubians and A French Alpine. The French Alpine’s Milk tasted like a goat smells! She ate what the other goats ate, was milked in the same area and her milk was awful. So her milk went straight to the pigs or the dogs or barn cats. Warning, once you start giving barn cats goat milk, they show up and try to help milk.
For a while, our milk was bitter. After much research, we found a two fold factor… magnesium deficiency, so we supplemented dolomite, and noxious weeds, so we were more careful about where she pastured.
with so many “city dwellers” now trying natural products most don’t know what is supposed to taste like. having farmers offer a taste so people can recognize the difference would help some have done this at the farmers market and it actually sold their product. people dont know what to expect so they wont buy milk from goats thinking it will taste strange. again it is always laws that are there to “protect” us often protect us from the better things in life.
Grampa
Even though negative motivations pushed many immigrant groups away from their homelands, some groups came to Canada for positive opportunities and adventures presented to them by Canadian immigration agencies. Advertisements for the Canadian West were distributed in different European countries, and the recruitment of ethnically desirable immigrants by Canadian immigration agents flourished. The most ethnically and culturally desirable immigrants to Canada between 1867 and 1914 – though not all the most productive Prairie farmers – were the British, Belgians, Americans, Poles, Dutch, German, Finns, and Scandinavians.