Uh… So what do you do after it comes out of the udder?
It’s a question I get a lot–especially from folks of my generation whose previous experience with milk entails grabbing a jug of the white stuff out of the cooler at the grocery store.
As I have shared many times, I have weighed the risks involved with drinking raw milk, and I am very comfortable with my decision. I feel as though the risks of drinking unpasteurized milk are minimal compared to the possible health issues that can arise from consuming pasteurized milk.
That being said, if you plan to have home dairy animals and produce your own milk on your homestead, it’s still important to treat fresh milk with a bit of respect.
I follow a pretty strict set of procedures when I head out to the barn each morning to bring in a bucket of fresh milk. Here is what I do to ensure that our milk is as clean and sweet-tasting as possible.
Six Tips for Safely Handling Raw Milk
Handling Raw Milk Tip #1 Clean Your Cow’s Udder
Before sitting down on my stool to milk, I wipe off Miss Oakley’s udder with a hot, wet towel. She likes to lay in the mud, so sometimes it takes a bit of elbow grease to get her teats clean and pink again. Some folks use bleach to wash their cow’s udder, but I can’t stand that stuff, so hot water is good enough for me.
After washing her down, I spray the first 2-3 squirts of milk from each teat onto the ground (Some folks prefer to spray it into a small cup). The reason for this is to flush out any bacteria or dirt that may be in the tip of the teat.
(Check out Natural Homestead for DIY teat dip, udder wash, and barn wipe recipes!)
Handling Raw Milk Tip #2 Your Raw Milk Container Matters
Next, I grab my stainless steel milk bucket. The type of container you use to store your raw milk is very important. Plastic is a big no-no for me since it’s very difficult to properly clean, AND it tends to hold onto off-smells and tastes. You don’t want to bring a glass container out into the barn since it will shatter the first time your cow (or goat) gets fidgety.
Stainless steel buckets can be a little spendy, but trust me, they are worth the investment. They are easy to sanitize and will survive lots of kicks from a persnickety cow. And make sure you get one with a lid– my lid has saved my milk many times from curious dogs/cats, and dust/dirt/poop/hay that is perpetually floating in barn air.
Handling Raw Milk Tip #3: Strain Your Milk for Debris
It’s never fun to take a big gulp of fresh milk and end up with a hair in your mouth, so always strain your fresh milk ASAP. Floaties WILL happen, no matter how hard to try to prevent it while you are milking…
As I mentioned in my Improvised Milking Equipment post, I use a simple set-up of a reusable coffee filter and canning funnel to strain my milk. However, many dairy supply stores do carry more “official” stainless steel strainers.
How big of a floatie is too big? There are some days when it’s just better to throw in the towel and donate your milk to the chickens or pigs… I’m usually fine with a couple bits of hay or a random hair, but if you get a big clod of manure floating in your bucket, it’s best to just skip bringing it into the house that day… Bonus: your chickens will love you forever.
Handling Raw Milk Tip #4: Cool Your Milk Quickly
It’s important to get your fresh milk as cold as you can as fast as possible (40 degrees F is ideal). Some folks put a small, reusable ice pack in the bottom of their bucket to cool it as it comes out of the cow or goat. I personally haven’t found that to be necessary, but I do bring my bucket inside right away and get it strained, and into the fridge.
Rapid cooling of the milk prevents the bacteria count from rising, and it keeps the milk tasting better, longer. However, keep in mind that once raw milk has naturally soured, it’s still good and can be used for lots of other stuff. If you think you have let your raw milk sit a little too long take a look at 20 Ways to Use Sour Raw Milk so nothing goes to waste.
Handling Raw Milk Tip #5: Store Your Milk in Glass
Only store your milk in glass containers- never plastic. I get my one-gallon jars from Azure Standard (or save big pickle jars- just be sure to wash them thoroughly.)
Place your jars of raw milk towards the back of the refrigerator (avoid the door, since that area tends to be warmer.) If you have home dairy animals, you’ll find that your raw milk jars fill up your fridge rather quickly. So, you might want to keep your eyes open for small, dorm-size fridges at yard sales.
Handling Raw Milk Tip #6: Sanitize and Clean Everything
Cleaning your home dairy equipment thoroughly is a MUST. After I pour my milk into the jars, I immediately run cool (not hot) water over my bucket and filter to wash off the milk solids which can cause build-up if allowed to dry.
I don’t use bleach to wash my equipment (have I mentioned that I hate bleach?), but I do like to run everything through my dishwasher which sanitizes the equipment. If you don’t have a dishwasher, you may hand wash it with a bit of soap and very hot water.
Allow each piece of equipment to air-dry. Don’t dry anything off with a towel, as this can transfer any bacteria that might be hanging out on your dishtowel onto your milking equipment. Make sure everything is completely dry before replacing lids.
Are You Ready for Raw Milk?
Creating a proper milking routine can make all the difference when it comes to your home dairy. Keeping your milking equipment clean and your milk debris-free is the perfect start to ensure you have safe, great-tasting raw milk. My routine may be nothing fancy, but it has ensured that our milk has been safe and great-tasting this far.
Do you have a specific milking routine or any raw milk handling tips?
More About Home Dairy:
- Cheap Milking Equipment for Home Dairy
- 3 Home Dairy Myths That Are Holding You Back
- Got (Raw) Milk? Why We Went Raw
- Home Dairy 101: Cow vs. Goat
Satisfy your DIY home dairy cravings with Natural Homestead! Inside you’ll find tutorials for a homemade acid wash, teat dips, udder salves, udder wash & wipes, and TONS more!
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.
How long does raw milk last in your fridge until its gone bad?
It depends– usually 10-14 days. It gets less “sweet” the longer it sits, but it’s still good. And, even after it sours or clabbers, you can totally still use it for recipes or baking.
My milk would get so sweet you couldn’t stand to drink it! Even the cat didn’t like it after about 7 days.
How long do you have to keep your goat milk in the fridge before you can drink it ??
May I ask why we shouldn’t store the milk in plastic?
Plastic holds onto off-flavors more easily than milk.
Plastic also breaks down over time and chemicals leach into whatever you are storing! Always use glass!
Milk has acids that break down plastic, resulting in plastic particles in your milk. Plus as the others said it doesn’t clean well and holds on to odors.
Milk from barn should be stored in refrigerator immediately or first heated, then cooled and then refrigerated. Which is better?
How long do you have to keep your goat milk in the fridge before you can drink it ??
This is great to know! I was just talking to my mother-in-law about how to keep raw milk. She said when she was growing up they did this and strained it over a cheesecloth. I’m learning so much! I can’t wait to be able to get my own milk cow!
Yes, some folks use cheesecloth to strain, but I prefer the reusable filter since it’s easier to use and clean. 🙂
Is that one that comes in the coffee pot? Like a fine sieve strainer? That does sound easier to clean.
Yep! If you click on teh link for my Improvised Milking Equipment post, I have pics, etc. You can get them on Amazon for about $5 I think.
How much milk do you get per day from one cow? H much land does one cow need? Do you have to have more than one cow? Does it need to be bred every year to keep getting milk?
I am about to transition my 1 yrd old from formula to raw milk.
After I boil the raw milk, how long will it last in the refrigerator?
It should last approx. 2 weeks.
How long do you need to wait to drink the milk after the cow is refreshed? Thinking that it is essential for the calf to get the colostrum just wondering how many days is necessary to wait before drinking. Thanks
We used to do something similar when we had a milk cow. We’ve been looking for a cow to replace her, but it’s a drive to find one and the good ones are usually snatched up quickly. When we do have another dairy cow, I will use some of your tips. Thanks.
If you are near WV we will eventually be selling some of our dairy calves.
Melissa,
Thanks for offering. We live in Maryland, so that may be too far to come (but I’ll mention it to my husband). At this point, we would prefer a dairy cow that is ready to begin milking, since we’ve been without one for so long. Our dairy cow of course only had males while we had her.
I have black angus cows not dairy. However, they give more milk than we can consume.
Just wanted to share a few things that we do with our milk. We do things almost the same way you do! For chilling the milk after milking, a friend of ours suggested using a cooler filled with water to cool the milk down quickly using old water bottles filled with ice to get it cool. That’s how we store our milk as well to free up fridge space just making sure to keep it cold with the ice bottles. With cleaning up the bucket, we use hot water, soap, then rinse, fill buckets with hot water and vinegar, let soak for a bit and then triple rinse. I hate bleach too 😉 Seems to keep things clean for us. We can always tell when something hasn’t been clean quite enough because the milk goes sour faster! Thanks for sharing your routine! Nice to know we are doing things in similar ways 🙂
Also if your milking a cow make sure you cow is TB tested Brucuolis tested also so there is nothing in the cows milk just saying..
Yes, ours has been tested for both.
Another maybe less known ‘disease’ to test for is Q-Fever. It is okay for commercial dairy cows to have a positive Q-Fever result as the pasteurization process kills it, but it can be passed to people through raw milk consumption. We have a Guernsey raw milk dairy here in WA state (Old Silvana Creamery,LLC), and in order to sell the milk the cows have to be Q-Fever free (as well as the other common diseases). We love our raw milk!
Thanks for the heads-up– I’ll look into this!
The strain of TB that cows carry isn’t transferable to humans. 🙂
“The strain of TB that cows carry isn’t transferable to humans”
Really? Are you sure? That’s NOT what we learned in AG school 40 years ago. TB is such a tricky and slippery organism, would you want to take the chance? Especially when the test is so cheap and simple? And especially if the disease is developing a resistance to antibiotics. Of course, you have to be willing to part with your cow if she tests positive… But still, TB and Brucellosis, often called Undulant Fever, causes abortions in both cattle and humans. I would advocate for getting my animals tested, and culling any that show positive. That’s what we did during the 25 years we produced organic raw milk cheese. And by following an annual test regime, once we got it out of the herd, it never came back. If a cow crosses state lines, the laws REQUIRES this test.
Here is a brief history of the glory days of our farm:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.190224608768.125726.774583768&type=3
Am I sure? Not from personal experience or professional training. Simply from reading books that cited the studies. Books by authors whose salary is not paid by those benefitting from the information printed. I mean no disrespect to you by this, but I don’t trust most of the mainstream information available. Most of the time, if you follow the money trail, outcomes support the person/corporation that paid for the study. I used to believe that “they” wouldn’t lie, but I have changed my point of view. I support your right to have your animals tested, I simply don’t believe it should be required by all.
Milk is a very political/polarized/hot button issue that’s heavily controlled by those that make the most profit from it. I don’t wish to engage in battles to change someone else’s mind, but I do like to share alternative views for those that may not have come across them yet.
I appreciate your comment. And agree.
I heard that TB had been eradicated from cows. We raised beef cattle for about 14 years and quit about 4 years ago. When we first started taking them to the sale they would check them for Tb and charge us a fee on our sales and payment slip. The last few years we raised them they quit giving the cows a TB test.
Great tips! We have basically the same routine.
May I suggest doing an “acid wash” on your equipment once in awhile? Every two weeks – a month, I fill the sink with vinegar water and let the equipment soak in that for a half hour. I find that this, in addition to rinsing each day with cool water like you mentioned, helps prevent milk build-up and of course vinegar is sanitizing as well! Then I make sure to wash it all with hot soapy water so the vinegar doesn’t make the milk taste off.
Good idea Lindsey! I will have to start implementing that.
How often do you milk? I want a dairy cow so badly but we can’t have one at our house. I’d have to keep it at my dad’s (which is only a few miles away).
I milk once per day for most of the season. Here is my post on my schedule: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/03/how-to-milk-once-a-day.html 🙂
Oh yeah! I remember reading that one now that you posted it! Thanks for answering though. I have some things to consider. 🙂
We stick our strained milk in the freezer for about an hour and a half to chill it quicker. My goat milk doesn’t seem to get that “goaty” taste this way. Love the blog!
Yes, that’s a good idea as well. However, I know myself, and I KNOW I’d forget to take it out!
It happens 😉 lol
I make formula from goats milk. I wanted to know after I slightly heat it before giving it to baby how long can I safely leave the milk out in room temperature?
Also, can I make whey from goats milk yogurt the same way as from cows yogurt?
Thanks
You have-to set a timer! Take it from one who knows. Now I just tell Siri. ?
Great article. We, also, have used the glass jars and stainless steel pails. One little extra that we decided to do was to sterilize our jars and pails with heat. We wash everything by hand (I don’t think the dishwasher gets the job done well enough) and then pop our jars and pails upside down into the oven. We let them “bake” at 200 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. They are super clean and hot. After doing this for a while, we even tried the oven heat for canning jars and it worked great.
Happy Homesteading!
Hmmm… thanks for the tip Jen! Never thought of doing that.
Jill, thanks for this. I love it – and I love you. And I love that you said “floaties.” We recently switched to raw milk and we LOVE IT! Although I am a bit put off that you get jars from Azure Standard. I feel cheated out here in the East.
You know, I always feel a little bit guilty for referencing Azure Standard, since I know that many of you are cheated back East! 😉 And yes, floaties are a fact of life!
I’m in NJ. I am more “cheated” than anyone. I think we are the only state that outright bans raw milk! I have to go to PA to buy mine and I can’t get there often. They are horrible here.
There is a study showing that milk that ISN’T cooled right away is actually safer. Once cooled, the beneficial bacteria are very slow to reproduce. That said, I’m not in a huge rush to get mine to the fridge, but it is part of the process. I live in a hot climate and don’t have any issues with it souring too soon. I tried placing it in the freezer (and setting a timer to remind me to take it out) and my milk actually stays sweet longet when I DON’T do this, so I stopped.
As for sanitizing, after I rinse my bucket with cool water, I spray it with my vinegar cleaner, which is equal parts water and vinegar and about 10 drops TTO and let it sit overnight. Then I wash with hot soapy water, using Dawn original because it’s the least offensive with chemicals and fragrance. The jars are rinsed as soon as they’re empty and just washed in the dishwasher with our dishes (no sanitizing setting). Nobody I know does anything special to wash the glasses they use to drink milk from, so why do we go out of our way to wash the jars?
I pin butter muslin to the top of the bucket to strain out the floaties before they even go into the bucket, but I also like your reusable filter idea.
Thanks for the tips Kelly! Do you have a link to that study? I’d be really interested in reading it!
I wish I did. The first year I got into this new lifestyle I read EVERYTHING I could find. Books and numerous web pages. All I can remember is that it was a Japanese study. Sorry. 🙁 My undersanding of the why behind it is that all milk has good bacteria and bad bacteria (and/or pathogens) and the good are most generally in such a high number that the bad can’t propogate quickly enough to do any harm. They’re kept in check by the good bacteria. Now, the good bacteria are also what cause the milk to sour as they eat the lactose (milk sugar). There are two principles to consider here-souring, which is NOT a bad thing health wise, it just affects the taste; and safety. The higher the concentration of good bacteria (that grow in warm milk), the safer it is.
That leads to why pasteurized milk is absolutely NOT safe-at least from industrial dairies. The heating process kills ALL of the good bacteria, but only SOME of the bad and hardly any of the pathogens. So we kill of the soldiers that are naturally there to keep the milk safe and then call the end result safer. It doesn’t make logical sense.
Wow-all that stuff I read is starting to come back to me. 🙂
Now that the weather is warming up, well sort of! I have a fridge in the barn that I can stick my milk can in right after milking. Through the winter I’d just shove it in a snow bank until I was done with all the other chores. My question is: Should I strain the milk before leaving it to cool or is it okay to sit in the fridge for an hour or two. Then I would bring it up to the house, strain it and transfer to individual glass 1/2 gallons. I’m trying to come up with warm weather routine that doesn’t require a lot of running back and forth from the house to the barn but also I’m not sure I should be straining milk out in the barn where it’s less clean. I only have one milk bucket and one larger can. So I milk my bucket full, pour into the can, put the lid on, milk another bucket and pour that into the can. Minus of course a little for the cats, dogs etc.
I would *think* it’d be ok to sit for a little while until you were able to strain it. However, that’s just my uneducated opinion. 😉
I agree with Jill, and maybe the longer it sits, the more the floaties sink to the bottom and aren’t an issue if you leave them in the can and give that portion to the pets? You might also want to consider pinning a straining cloth over your bucket to keep the floaties from even getting in. Again, just what I might do, not a professional opinion.
Was just what our vet told us to test for drinking raw milk We dairy farmed for years and always was safe Now we have Irish Dexter Cattle for 15 years and Wisconsin is TB free ..
When I had my goats, I kept my milking pail, glassware and anything else that could be heated, reasonably sanitized by putting them in the oven after I ran them through the dishwasher. Probably overkill, but after I took them out of the dishwasher, I would put them in my oven and turn it on to 225 F 20 minutes, then put canning jar lids loosely screwed on and the pail lid on and close the oven up to let them cool. I reused the canning jar lids as I wasn’t preserving food with them, just wanted to keep the jars sterile. After they were cooled, I screwed the lids on and put them away to use whenever I needed them. I used the pail every day so I just kept the lid on until the next day. I never had any jars explode this way because I think the oven heated slowly enough and because I put the lids on after the jars were heated so there was no pressure inside. Not sure about that-maybe I just got lucky-but it worked well for several years.
Hello. So glad to find this helpful resource! I have just started milking my first goat and have been looking for info on how to safely use my milk. So just to double check this, Jill, you put the fresh milk right into the fridge without first chilling it? Is that correct? I’ve been chilling mine, but I have to say that it is a real hassel and I wouldn’t mind skipping it!
Yes- I just stick it straight in the fridge- has always worked for me, and cuts out a step. 🙂
Thank you! Wonderful to know. I am loving your site and all of the homesteading inspiration!
Holly
I used to just stick my milk in the frige also. After some education, reading, and experimentation I have come up with this routine that suits me well and keeps the milk in top shape.
I immediately strain the milk into very clean glass jars, pop on the lids and into a bucket of ice cold water in the refrigerator. Then out to milk the next doe. Repeating the sequence until I am done. Granted I am close to my barn, but you could filter and place those jars into a cooler of ice water as well. I have lifting restrictions and can’t really carry an ice chest full of milk back to the house. Running back and forth is my answer.
You might check out fankhouser’s cheese pages and Mary Jane Toth’s articles on Hoeger supply’s site. She has a great one on milk chilling and the resultant grade your milk would be classified at using various ways of chilling. Happy milking!
That link about chilling/grades of milk sounds really interesting! I’ll have to check that out. 🙂
Ok, just to clarify, some of you put butter muslin on top of your pail while you are milking to keep floaters out? I may try this. We are getting our first dairy goats this week and want to do everything by the book. I’m trying to figure this all out and get a system in place before I go back to work for the school year! I don’t want to have to do a lot of running back and forth to the house because I don’t want to wake my kids up since my husband leaves at 4:30 am for work. Does anyone use the dishwasher to sanitize? I was planning on it since its easiest. I assumed this was the best way to sanitize. I guess I still have. Lot of learning to do! 🙂
If I freeze raw milk soon after milking, can I use it in winter days
So I was our milk pail in the dishwasher, but it still has a smell to it. Any ideas for getting rid of the smell?
Hmmmm… I’d try soaking it in an acid wash. I like using a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water- you could also add in some lemon essential oil to help deodorize.
That was “wash” in the dishwasher 🙂
I can’t seem to find the answer to this question; Doesn’t the milk separate after you put it in the refrigerator? What do you do with the milk then? Sorry this question seems silly but I just don’t know!
Yes– cow’s milk will separate, goat’s milk will have a little cream rise to the top, but not as much. You can then skim off the cream and use it separately, or stir it back in for whole milk. Either way, the milk is still great for drinking/baking.
I just wanted to share a tip about separating the cream from the milk. If you have a tea/lemonade dispenser the kind that has a spout on the side down close to the bottom, fill with raw milk since cream floats to top milk is at bottom so use spout to get milk when all milk is gone, you now have just cream. I love your page. Thank you for sharing your experience’s with us.
Great tip Leah!
How do you get the spout cleaned properly? I have been thinking about doing this but wasn’t sure how to get the spout properly cleaned and disinfected
We are just switching to raw cows milk. My family is so used to pouring from a jug it will be a bit challenging to pour from a wide mouth container. However, I want to be able to skim the cream off the top and am not a fan of spouts. Please share suggestions for storage containers that make pouring easier.
Response to Sandy’s question regarding containers. Pampered Chef makes Quick Stir 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon containers. They are a must-have for raw milk (in my opinion). Totally love them. Here is the link:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=29291
These Pampered Chef stir containers are amazing, we have 2, and would transfer from the large glass pickle jars for storing the milk (a square of cling wrap between the jar and the lid keeps it fresh) to the PC container for pouring into glasses. Works perfect.
I watched a documentary once that said back in the day once they washed their milking stuff they would scrub it with salt and then rinse and leave it to dry in the sun as the salt and sun are great sanitisers. They used wooden buckets back then of course. But it seemed like a logical thing to do.
Definitely! I hadn’t heard of the salt idea before–but it totally makes sense!
PLEASE…Don’t call it RAW milk…It’s WHOLE milk.
I’ve had 30-40 milk goats so I am very familiar with milking.
just like you said…wipe – squirt – into the bucket – strain into cans (we use cheese cloth) and into the fridge. When I started I was told two things: This job was all about sanitation, and i was told to talk to the goats.
You don’t use a strip cup for the first few squirts to check for mastitis or other possible issues?
Sometimes I do if I’m concerned about there being something wrong, but generally I just squirt onto the ground.
Is there any reason why you don’t store your milk is plastic milk jugs? I am just asking because we have a local farmer in the next city over who sells it to us for $7 and he keeps his in plastic “milk jugs” like you’d get from the store (except he orders them in bulk) but I was curious if this was OK? I definitely DO NOT want to pay $7 a gallon for raw milk if it isn’t ideal.
Plastic can hold off-smells/flavors, and it’s hard to clean if you are reusing it, which is why I prefer glass. However, if he is using new jugs each time, it’ll probably be just fine.
what can i us to test my goat or does milk to see if it is ok to drink? or you can tell me on tdneil@bresnan.net
How long after milking does milk need to “wait”? Our previous herd share farmer said 48 hours so that things like champliobacter could die off (I don’t think I spelled that right). Our new herdshare sometimes send milk from the same day milking. Having had champliobacter (although not from our milk) and knowing how sick I was, I not in any hurry to expose myself or the kids to that again. Any help?
Hmmm… I haven’t heard the 48 hours thing. I usually wait 24 hours– but that’s just so it gets nice and cold.
Hello Jill,
I liked reading about your safety tips. I have goats and one thing that I do differently is that I have a room dedicated to milking and all my equipment is in there. I milk, measure, and strain within a minute of being done with a goat. And I even have a dedicated refrigerator because I never have enough room in my house.
Thanks for sharing.
Janolyn
Do you put each milkings worth of milk in a separate container or can you mix several milkings worth of milk. I am only milking one dairy goat and getting a quart or alittle less twice a day, for a total of about 7 cups a day. So do I need to put each mailing in its own quart jar or can I put it in 1/2 gal or gal jar and keep adding to it. Thanks
I’ve always used grocery-bough milk when making yogurt and I didn’t even care if all i had was powdered milk.
But recently I discovered that there’s actually a dairy processing farm near our place and they sell raw milk. Do you think I could still use them as yogurt milk? With all the enzymes and all?
Thanks
Yes, you can definitely use it to make yogurt–you’ll just need to heat it first. Here’s a tutorial: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/05/how-to-make-yogurt-in-a-mason-jar.html
What is the best cow to buy for milk?
I love Brown Swiss, but many homesteaders like Jerseys. There are many dairy breeds, each suited to a different purpose. 🙂
And we’re a milking shorthorn family. We love how creamy her milk is. My daughter started with Jerseys when she was in 4-H (project cows so they weren’t ours), and the milk didn’t have a whole lot of cream–about an inch after settling. So when we bought our shorthorn from Innisfail we couldn’t believe the difference–it’s very nearly half cream. It is very true that different breeds produce different levels of creaminess.
Anyway, love your blog. I’m a writer, too, and so I appreciate your writing style. You have a great voice.
Thanks Pamela! 🙂 I haven’t had shorthorn milk, but i’ve heard it’s good!
Your website is extremely helpful, thanks for sharing your tips. We are interested in starting out with a small herd of goats and maybe a dairy cow in the next year. I assume we’ll have more milk than we could ever possibly consume. What can we do with the extra to make sure it doesn’t go to waste? Because the milk will be raw, i don’t think i could sell it.
Does anybody know how to condensate “raw milk” to make it last even longer and or does removing the cream prolong life or makes no difference?
Hello, is there a safe amount of mud that is ok to get into the milk bucket? We got a pea sized bit of mud that was discovered in the bottom of the pail when we strained the milk. I am throwing it in the freezer for about 30 min and thinking of using it to make paneer cheese tomorrow which is made by boiling the milk and then adding citric acid or lemon juice. Or should I just toss it? :/
How long is the cream from the milk good for in the fridge? Tks
Jill, you mention stainless steel buckets and how they can be spendy.
Could someone get by with a stainless steel cooking pot instead? If it has ring handles, you can always tie a length of rope through them for a handle (or if someone’s very handy, weld a thick, sturdy wire closed around them for a metal handle), and stainless steel stock pots can be purchased at Walmart and other cheap stores very inexpensively 🙂 Plus, there’s no question about them being dishwasher safe, and they usually come with the lid 🙂
Great tips thanks. I use a small chest freezer rigged with a temp gauge and a commercial dish pan inside for a water bath for cooling…works great. Found it on craigslist almost new for $100. Its what homebrew beer makers use. Will try the vinegar bath for equipment…haven’t used that. Another cream separating idea. I found a commercial food pump that will screw onto a wide mouth jar (it has gallon as well as 1/2 gallon size). I can put it on jar and decant, since it commercial its heavy duty and works quickly.
Jill, did you get those milk bottle style glass jars from Azure? I didn’t find any there, but I did find lots of milk bottle-style bottles (which I imagine are easier to pour) on Amazon 🙂 I will say that the biggest I saw seemed to be a quart, but I think that would make fridge organizing a little easier.
And how do you pour milk from the gallon jugs? I imagine that a regular canning jar style gallon jug would be awfully heavy and slippery?
I don’t have a milk cow yet (1/4 acre city lot-I think the city and the neighbors might have something to say about it…). We hope to get acreage in about six years +/- and then our milk cow dream will come true 😀
In the meantime, if anyone is from north Idaho (Kootenai county or surrounding areas), does anyone know where I can buy raw milk? The one farm I know of that was selling milk dried up their cows and is no longer in the milk business 🙁 And at the store the only cream I can find is UHT ;::( I can’t seem to find any cream that isn’t ultra pasteurized 🙁
If anyone knows of a farm selling milk in the area, please let me know!
I googled your county and it came back to Pleasant Meadow Creamery.. Try that~
Hi,
Where do we get fresh milk from the cow?
I’m living in Naperville area.
Regards
Vijaya vangala.
can you please tell me, Can we wash in the dishwasher
Is it dangerous to leave out raw milk in an airtight glass jug (half-full) at 65 Fahrenheit for 5 hours? Could that help form botulism? I drank some after doing this and would like to not have to worry– does the bacteria in the raw milk not allow for botulism to grow? Any help would be great, thanks.
Can you warm up raw cow’s milk? My kids like their milk on the warm side, but I’m not sure what that does to the actual raw milk itself?
Jill,
We just bought a farm, and having a milk cow has always been something I’ve dreamed of. I’m hoping our family could benefit from raw milk (lots of allergies). I am wondering if you’ve done a post on what you do with all of your milk? We have two kids (one seems to have a slight sensitivity to store bought dairy), and my husband is lactose intolerant, so I dunno if we could drink that much. I mean, cows give a lot of milk. I’m slightly intimidated about being overwhelmed with the amount! We do have chickens, and I would love to get some pigs too. I guess what I’m wondering is, I come in from the barn with all this milk, then what?!
Hi Claire! First of all, I hope you’re able to get your dairy cow! It’s not the easiest job in the world, but it’s so worth it and rewarding! For my family, one of our favorite ways to use up extra milk is through making yogurt. Yogurt is the best for breakfast, especially with homemade granola! You can also feed extra milk to your other farm animals you’re dreaming about, like pigs and the chickens will love the milk as well. You’ll also probably make butter with the cream, and other dairy products like sour cream, cream cheese, mozzarella, cottage cheese, ricotta… (Jill has posts about making most of these!) Good luck! Keep dreaming, and keep homesteading!
Why rinse with cold water? I always assumed that always using hot water for cleaning/rinsing is best.
In my experience, hot water can make things smell bad, or hold in the milk-y smell. I even wash my hands with cool water after milking, because washing with hot water tends to make me smell like milk all day!
Hello,
We are looking at getting a milking cow. She will be a calf, then raised here, then bred, and so forth.
My question is do you test your cows milk every so often? Is it required? Personal preference? Really necessary? I’ve heard so many confusing things on testing/not testing and I just want to go into to it knowing everything I need to, in order to have the best milk for our family.
First-time milker here! I am using a cone reusable coffee filter as you recommended and I noticed there was some of what looked like dirt settled at the bottom of the jar after sitting in the fridge for 24 hours. Is this normal? Or am I doing a poor job in my milking routine? Should I get a real dairy filter? I’d hate to waste the milk but also don’t want to get myself or my family sick!
I have only milked 3 days now. So super newbie! Also, it’s taking me forever to hand milk only 1 quart! Will I get faster with practice? 🙂
Thank you for your advice!
Of course you’ll get better with practice! One day you’ll be milking away quickly and your hands won’t even hurt after! 🙂 As far as filtering, if you’re seeing dirt left in your milk, I would find a better way to strain it. Sometimes tea towels can work well if you don’t want to invest in a dairy strainer, or maybe your coffee filters aren’t as fine as they could be? Jill has a whole post about raw milk that might answer some of your other questions: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/05/from-barn-to-fridge-6-tips-for-safely-handling-raw-milk.html
Our raw milk is only sweet for about 4 days any ideas on how to extend the life of the milk to closer to a week?
Is it safe for my 1 year old baby?
Hello Jill, Thanks for this, i love this.
I wanna share a tip which is related to separating the cream from the milk. If you have a tea dispenser the kind that has a spout on the side down close to the bottom.
thanks and regards
Deniel
I have just started milking three days ago and I’m only getting about a 1/4 cup for each goat. When they finish eating they start pulling in the milk stand so I let them down. I don’t want them to be afraid of the stand. My question is can I mix the different goat’s milk from each day together to make recipes, obviously, 1/4 cup of milk isn’t going to make much of anything, or do I need to wait until I can get more milk out of them to use it? Thank you!
Thanks for sharing
nice info thanks for the help
Great info .Thanks for sharing
Hello,
How long do you have to keep your goat milk in the fridge before you can drink it ??
Wonderful to see this information. I appreciate your efforts to collect the data. thanks
We just bought some raw milk for the first time today. The lady delivers to our town once a week. The kids already tried a spoonful and said it tastes better than the store milk. Do we need to go easy with switching from store to raw milk?
Our milk tastes bad. We are new to milking and it takes us a full hour before we get done and the milk into the freezer to chill fast…do you think that just that whole first hour outside is too long and what makes it taste bad?