BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Fire Ant Farm]

You make cheese! Now I really want to visit with you! I'll bring the wine and crackers.

Bien sur!!!

Hey ant do you use goat milk or cows milk for cheese?

I use raw cow's milk right now. I get my raw milk from a farmer in LaCoste that has really great grass fed Jersey cows. Tons of cream. Most of the time, I make whole milk yogurt (or yogurt cheese), but sometimes I pull off the cream layer (I can get around a pint or more of cream per gallon) and make homemade butter (either cultured or sweet cream), which I freeze in little Mason jars (and make low fat yogurt with the rest). I also make all sorts of cheeses (just for myself) - halloumi, mozzarella, or ricotta, or fromage blanc are easiest (you should try it!). The hard cheeses (monterey jack, cheddar) are more labor intensive and time consuming, and require patience, but are totally worth it. I wax them and age them in a wine fridge. (It was pretty funny one time when I went out of town and had to enlist a "cheese-sitter" to come turn the cheeses for me...)

I ordered 4 gallons for pick up on Monday, will make a 2 lb mini-wheel of Monterey Jack. Haven't decided whether to make cheddar, gouda, or baby swiss with the other 2 gallons. (I have lots of yogurt so no need for more of that right now.) I also ordered additional cream - I'm making mascarpone cheese to have for Christmas (which is as easy as falling off a log - but yummier!) - I'll put it on homemade (high octane) fruitcake!

When I retire, I want to get dairy goats. I would have gotten them already, but it's really too much to handle on my own right now with the full time job. When I can get goat's milk, I make a great chèvre...

@DesertChic , check out www.cheesemaking.com, pick a beginner cheese recipe, and try it! Most of their recipes give different guidance if you have fresh/raw vs. store bought, and guidance on what store bought milks will and won't work if that's what you have access to...

- Ant Farm

 

[miss heny]

Ah okay, we have dairy goats but are still working on our cheese making

 

[hellbender]

Bien sur!!!
I use raw cow's milk right now. I get my raw milk from a farmer in LaCoste that has really great grass fed Jersey cows. Tons of cream. Most of the time, I make whole milk yogurt (or yogurt cheese), but sometimes I pull off the cream layer (I can get around a pint or more of cream per gallon) and make homemade butter (either cultured or sweet cream), which I freeze in little Mason jars (and make low fat yogurt with the rest). I also make all sorts of cheeses (just for myself) - halloumi, mozzarella, or ricotta, or fromage blanc are easiest (you should try it!). The hard cheeses (monterey jack, cheddar) are more labor intensive and time consuming, and require patience, but are totally worth it. I wax them and age them in a wine fridge. (It was pretty funny one time when I went out of town and had to enlist a "cheese-sitter" to come turn the cheeses for me...)

I ordered 4 gallons for pick up on Monday, will make a 2 lb mini-wheel of Monterey Jack. Haven't decided whether to make cheddar, gouda, or baby swiss with the other 2 gallons. (I have lots of yogurt so no need for more of that right now.) I also ordered additional cream - I'm making mascarpone cheese to have for Christmas (which is as easy as falling off a log - but yummier!) - I'll put it on homemade (high octane) fruitcake!

When I retire, I want to get dairy goats. I would have gotten them already, but it's really too much to handle on my own right now with the full time job. When I can get goat's milk, I make a great chèvre...

@DesertChic , check out www.cheesemaking.com, pick a beginner cheese recipe, and try it! Most of their recipes give different guidance if you have fresh/raw vs. store bought, and guidance on what store bought milks will and won't work if that's what you have access to...

- Ant Farm

We don't use cow's milk but everything sounds great!!! Pasteurized milk should be outlawed!!!

 

[miss heny]

I...disagree for a reason.

There are things in milk that if you are bottle feeding can be past on, we pasteurize ourselves to prevent that. Now, the silly laws they have for all the raw milk for humans? Yea toss it

 

[varidgerunner]

Pasteurized milk is good for city folks who have never eaten anything that didn't come wrapped in cellophane. But if you are a farmer you have already had worse things than unpasteurized milk in your mouth, so you are exposed to anything you could possibly get from it already.

I'm not a cheese maker, but I'm married to one, so I'm more like quality control. I am getting ready to make a sandwich with a couple slabs of colby with some leerdammer in between with some cottage cheese as a condiment. With a few prunes for dessert, of course. We have Nubians and Jerseys, so no mad dash to grab a gallon of milk at the store when it calls for snow here.

 

[varidgerunner]

Ah okay, we have dairy goats but are still working on our cheese making

You need to make chevre. It is so easy you can almost make it by accident.

 

[miss heny]

LOL ATM we have No milk, bad year with mastitis, worms, injuries.... We are known far to well at the vet school

 

[varidgerunner]

Best thing we ever started doing for goats was supplementing with copper oxide wire particles. Helps with parasites and just overall health. We send in liver samples to make sure we aren't giving too much. There were some studies that got people scared of copper and most of the minerals labeled goat are pretty low in copper. Most of the studies were geared toward sheep that were having problems with toxicity. Many minerals are labeled 'sheep&goat'. I even give copper to my sheep. No problems, have to use less chemical wormer as a result. Have been regularly sending in liver samples, so I'm not just going on anecdotal evidence. Might be something you want to look into and choose for yourself. Many will preach the evils of copper based on one little study on one unique and obscure flock of sheep, but copper is used regularly on sheep in Australia and New Zealand, (not that they would know anything about sheep.) Completely depends on your individual soil and the soil where your feed is grown. Whatever your view on copper, it is undeniable that animals, especially ruminants, more especially goats, need a good balanced mineral to promote overall health.

 

[miss heny]

That what we do too haha Its just MS this year been bad with the worms and everything...also too our goats seem to enjoy trying to injure themselves this year

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

That what we do too haha Its just MS this year been bad with the worms and everything...also too our goats seem to enjoy trying to injure themselves this year

Bummer you're having so many issues. But yeah, when you have milk again, chèvre is not only AMAZING tasting, but STUPID easy to make. Falling off a log is definitely harder.

All those cheeses I named? All can be made with goat milk as well - most cheeses can be make with cow, goat, or sheep (or other) milk, though there will be taste differences and some traditionalists are persnickety about some of the special cheeses (e.g., only sheep's milk, etc.).

But chèvre has to be made with goat's milk, IMHO. I've made it with the "right" cultures with very good fresh raw cow's milk, and while it was good soft cheese, it was NOT chèvre.

- Ant Farm