Raw Milk

[QuackerJackFarms]

Oh forgot to mention... We are total milk people here. We drink a little under a gallon a day between me and the 3 kids. So for us to not like this milk... it's saying a lot. LOL.

 

[babylady4]

A goat breed starting with an A has to be an Alpine.... here is a good link to the different dairy goat breeds.
http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/goat/factsheet/breeds.htm

Yes there is a difference in the breed of cow and the structure of their milk! The proteins are arranged differently in the milk depending on the breed of cow.
http://www.betacasein.org/?p=variants

Diet is also a factor in the taste of the milk, I will say that I have never tasted metallic milk.... there had to be something wrong, either they are not using all stainless steel plumbing or it was just a fluke.

I have looked into this extensively since I believe I have a daughter who has a sensitivity to the casein in cow milk. If she drinks milk (raw or not) she is fine, but if she eats cheese she exhibits the same symptoms as a person who is lactose intolerant. Lactose is not very high in cheese but is present in milk; casein is VERY high in cheeses and yogurt since a majority of the whey and lactose is drained off and digested by bacteria.

 

[zzGypsy]

yep, "alpine" would be your goat breed...

there is definitely taste difference in the goat breeds' milk as well... we have a bunch of LaManchas and a Kinder, LOVE the milk from both, mild flavored (not goaty) and rich. I *don't* like toggenburg goat milk, it tastes goatier to me, however if I was making some kinds of goat cheese it would be a more appropriate choice to get the "goat cheese" flavor. I've made goat mozzerella from my goat's milk and it tases exACTly like commercial cow's milk mozzerella... if I want a "goat" flavor I have to add stuff to the milk to create it.

there are a LOT of things that can affect the milk taste... breed, diet, how the milk was handled, health of the animal, where in the lactation cycle the animal is (milk content changes the longer they've been in milk). there's a popular theory that keeping a goat buck where the does can smell him changes the taste of the milk (the buck musk makes the does make muskier milk) but in my own experience I haven't found that to be true (conducted the experiment). Bucks do stink during rut season, and if not properly handled, I can see milk picking up the scent of whatever's in it's environment... but the buck-nearby theory didn't hold in our case.

I can only recall "metalic" milk once, and that was drinking fresh milk out of a steel cup, one where you could smell the steel (not unpleasant, but definitely present). don't know if the milk actually tasted like steel, or if it was just my nose picking up the scent while I was drinking the milk, but I can imagine the milk might pick up some of the scent.
I do know that galvanized metals (like many buckets) can give a metalic taste to milk (the tin and zinc do it)... if enamel equipment is used, and there's a break or chip in the enamel, the underlying metal can affect the milk. if stainless steel is used, but it's stainless-over-something-else and the stainless is cracked or damaged, or has been repaired, there might be contamination from that as well.

BTW, the metals coming off a galvanized container can be toxic, although probably not in tiny quantities.

I did a little searching on-line and I found some sources for the following info on what can cause a metalic / off / ricey / soapy / chemical / band-aid / medicinal / skunky / old cooking oil / <many other descriptions> taste in milk (see below). interestingly it's getting anecdotally reported in high percentages (relative to amount of milk sold) for organic products - I think that may have to do with the different rules in feeds for organic milk cows vs. factory-farm cows. here's some of what I found, a variety of these things might apply to the raw milk you purchased.

1) wild onions in the feed (more common than it used to be because of changes in regs about herbicide use)
2) ethanol in the feed (comes from fermentation of feed, either because it has gotten wet or excessive fermentation of silage feed)
3) oxidation of fats (from not cooling milk fast enough, exposure to light in see-through containers especially when stored in lighted dairy displays, exposure of the milk to air during processing, over-aggitation of the milk during handling, also agrivated by ultra-pasturizing process' higher temps)
4) other contamination (cleaning chemicals, improper metals, HDPE from the plastic containers, dust or contaminants from the animals or handling... lots of speculation here)
5) change in regs extending the "use by" date for milk, so milk may be older and less fresh
6) The distinctive medicinal/bandage/band-aid smell is caused by chlorophenols (cleaning agent used in milk processing equipment, cow foot-baths, etc.)
7) soapy taste may be oxidization (fats break down into aldehydes- which are part of what's in soap)
8) soapy-bitter may be rancid from bacterial breakdown of the fat (improper cooling and handling)

the dairy industry defines them this way:
Absorbed – feedy, barny, cowy, unclean, weedy, and musty. (caused by improper handling)
Bacterial – acid, malty, unclean, fruity, and putrid. (caused by improper handling)
Chemical – cowy (ketosis), rancid, oxidized, sunlight, and medicinal. (caused by contamination, medications, improper handling)

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Thanks you guys! GREAT info. I have an email into him now to ask what breed that goat was, and I'll double check that the cow is a Gurnsey.

I was just so disappointed in the cows milk. Now I'm wanting to try a different source to compare. It was just a stale, metallic, bleh taste. So gross. I actually want to try it again and see if it has that bandaide taste..

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Raw Milk Update: The goat that was amazing is a French Alpine. And the cows cream that I skimmed I just put in my coffee and now my coffee tastes like metal. Literally.. like a metal bucket. lol.

I'm getting a goat.

 

[babylady4]

Well now I would like to set up a milk taste test of goat breeds and find out which one I like. I think we were getting our goat milk from the Toggenburg breed since the goat smell and flavor was so strong.....

Of course, I have also heard that if you add molasses to the goats feed the milk will taste just fine.....

Learning a lot here!

 

[zzGypsy]

Well now I would like to set up a milk taste test of goat breeds and find out which one I like. I think we were getting our goat milk from the Toggenburg breed since the goat smell and flavor was so strong.....

Of course, I have also heard that if you add molasses to the goats feed the milk will taste just fine.....

Learning a lot here!

re: breed... it's worth asking about... there are other things that can make the milk more "goaty" even in breeds with milder milk flavor. our lamanchas' milk *does* get goaty the day before it turns... but if we are careful with keeping all the equipment sterilized it'll keep 2 weeks or more before it starts to tell us it's goat milk. not that it ever lasts that long, but we did conduct the experiement.

interestingly our goats don't like molasses - will ignore feed with molasses on it, and goats *never* ignore food!

 

[oldrooster]

more onion taste due to new herbicides????? how about no herbicides?????? If a cow is on untreated grass and there is lots of wild onions growing in a spring field how do you think the milk is going to taste like a sourdough biscuit with honey?????? as I stated before having family who grew up drinking raw milk from a farm raised (the one outside every door of their house) I heard all the stories of how cows on fresh grass of a spring and the milk always tasted as the food the cow ate, you guessed it lots of nice fresh green wild onions....

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
actually, it's exactly the 'no herbicides' that's the problem... there used to be a lot of herbicides that hay farmers treated their fields with to kill the wild onions. many of those are no longer allowed, and in organic milk, *no* herbicides are allowed in the hay production. the result is that hay now is much more likely to have onions in it than it was 20 years ago. ergo, more onion flavor in commercial milk. less herbicide though...

 

[jbschickens]

Butter is super easy to make in small batches and pretty fun too! I've been wanting to get raw milk to make butter, but so far have not been able to find it, so I use cream that I buy at the store. I let it come to room temperature, then fill 1/3 of a mason jar with it and shake it till the butter separates.