Make cheese?

It's possible to go too far....

Other than for cheese, why do you need raw milk?

That is an interesting letter, Bob. I hadn't thought about raw milk in
years. I used to buy it regularly for the kids, back in Calif. in the '60s
through '70s. Altadena Dairy, purchased at health food stores. Eventually
became unavailable. I think it's definitely better for you than the
pasteurized stuff. As I remember, it tasted noticeably better, too.

However, at this point in time it's not clear to me that adults really need
or benefit from milk, pasteurized or not. All that lactose can't be good for
ya.

I think it's possible to find unpasteurized cheeses, that's probably more
useful. If you can get some really rich raw milk, how about making yogurt?
That gets rid of most of the lactose. Bet it would taste great, too,
compared to that made with pasteurized milk.

HG

I didn't read the link -- maybe the answer is there.  

But if you don't drink milk, why buy it?  I don't understand the
question --

I buy milk now because my son goes through it like water.  But if it
wasn't for him, I don't think my fridge would mind if there wasn't a
jug of milk in there.  

LOL!  What am I missing here?  

Is it that you want to buy milk to make yogurt, but you have to buy it
in such a large quantity that you have to find another use for it as
well?  You can get Dannon Natural Yogurt for less than $3.00 a carton
-- does that help?  

Bob,

If you want some fresh butter, this is where you start.  Just let the
milk set at room temp until it sours (clabbers) then seal in a large jar
 and shake. Be sure to release some of the pressure from the jar from
time to time by unscrewing the cap.  The butter will collect together in
the liquid and form a ball.

Shazam! Home made butter!

Enjoy,

George

I'm a bit squeamish about unpastuerized milk.  I have no doubt that raw milk
would be healthier.  However, I have no idea what the statistics are on
getting food poisoning from it.  I understand that here in California I can
buy raw milk off-the-shelf at Whole foods.

The other raw issue is raw eggs.  With eggs, the risk is known.  On the East
Coast (the trouble area) 1 in 10,000 eggs has salmonella.  On the West Coast
the rare bad egg is supposed to be very rare.  So, I do eat a few raw eggs
in protein shakes.  There is a new issue, that if a bird flu infection hits,
one might be exposed through raw eggs before the media gives the alarm....

I knew someone who's kidneys were severely damaged by an E coli infection.
After some years of dialysis he died.  Raw milk seems like the kind of food
that would have a risk for E coli.  (cows have poop) (there was even an
unpasteurized juice company that got  E coli)

Salmonella is treatable, E Coli H0157 does serious damage.

Curds & Whey
5 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup of lemon juice OR 3 tablespoons (soup spoons) white vinegar
dash of salt.

Heat 5 cups of milk in saucepan until bubbles form around the edges. Add
lemon juice or vinegar and let simmer for 2 minutes without stirring. Allow
to stand for 45 minutes in pan. DO NOT STIR. Pour mixture into a cheesecloth
if available or a threadbare dishcloth while suspended over a bowl (I attach
the cloth with clothespins to the sides of bowl before pouring the mixture
in.) Allow the whey to drain through into the bowl leaving the curds in the
cloth. After most the of the whey has drained through, tie the cloth to a
faucet and allow the cheese to drain for an additional hour.

After you make yogurt, you can turn it into an excellent cream
cheese.  I think I've posted this before, but just in case, here's
what I do:

I start with 3/4 gallon of raw milk (what my big thermos holds) and
heat it to near boiling.  I don't do this for safety, but so that the
only active cultures in the milk will be the ones I'm adding.  Turn
off the heat and let the temperature drop to 115F, then whisk a cup of
plain yogurt into it.  This "starter" adds the cultures that turn it
into yogurt.  Pour the whole thing through a sieve into the thermos,
screw the lid on tight, and put it somewhere where I won't jostle it.
The next day, I move it to the fridge.

So now I've got 3/4 gallon of yogurt, and I really don't care for the
stuff.  So a couple days later, after it's cooled, I save back 1 cup
for the next batch's starter, and dump the rest into a colander over
which I've put a chunk of sheer curtain that's about a yard square.
(Books recommend cheesecloth, but it's a pain to work with.  An old
sheer curtain does the job very well, and can be washed later and
reused.)

Gather the cloth up around the yogurt, and tie the top closed with a
piece of twine or something.  Now suspend this over a bowl in some
way.  (I hang mine from the kitchen cabinet with a bent clothes
hanger.)  Let it hang for 24 hours, so the whey can drain out of it.
(I don't know exactly what ends up in the whey, but I assume that's
where the carbs go.  Cats would probably drink it, or you can toss it
out.)  After 24 hours, you'll have a nice, smooth cream cheese.  If
you leave it up for 48 hours, it'll be drier and denser, so determine
your own preferences there.

I've made cream cheese directly from milk, with the rennet and the
constant stirring for hours, and it didn't work nearly as well as this
method, which is also far easier.  By the way, you can start with
whole or skim milk, so you might as well skim the cream off for butter
or something else first.