I have deliberated long and hard about this post. About what to call it, about what to put out there about it. Recent research into raw milk has unearthed a black market much bigger than I realised. There is SOO much literature and paranoia and scaremongering about the consumption of raw milk on the internet. Of course there's loads of supportive articles and recipes and stories that range from the illicit procurement of the product (mainly in the US) and on to the many uses of it. One thing that is standing out to me again and again as I look up recipes for yoghurt, cheeses, butter and ice cream is the utter confusion out there. So many wives tales.. People who purport to organic and/or raw lifestyles yet insist on boiling milk to make yoghurt. I accept that some heat has to be involved in yoghurt making but until I finish my easiyo sachets and start making it myself I won't make further comment except that I've done enough research to know the milk doesn't have to be pasteurised to successfully make yoghurt.
The general theme of the raw milk scaremongering seems to be that if milk isn't pasteurised than it's harmful, full of bacteria. Pasteurisation kills that bacteria, the ones that could potentially hurt you but it also kills the good enzymes that help you. From what I can gather most places, and I say most because I don't really know for sure about all of them, that offer raw milk keep pasture fed cows. Cows that don't eat grains or live the majority (if not all) of their lives on concrete floors. If the cows in the pasture don't ingest the chemicals the other poor things do, if they live a healthy life and are milked in pristine conditions which reduce the likelihood of harmful bacteria to almost nil then why pasteurise their milk? Of course I think meeting the farmer and/or visiting the farm is important. I recently read about a US farmer that was selling off pasteurised milk as raw milk because he could get more for it, so doing your homework is very important.
Before people completely dismiss raw milk as some trendy alternative thing I think they should at least try it. Half a glass won't hurt you but it might help you appreciate the taste and the richness of it. As a fussy person I have never enjoyed the taste of milk, until I drank raw milk. I could drink raw milk like water and now I've started to notice that ice cream has a taste about it that I don't enjoy anymore, a taste I think I associate with pasteurisation. Luckily ice cream makers are cheap, I look forward to making my first batch of ice cream in the near future. Only today I made my first attempt at butter, just a tablespoon worth from milk shaken in a handheld milkshake shaker, the type that is a measuring cup with a lid and a little mixing thing inside. I mixed a little seasalt in it and it was ok. I liked it but I noticed I compared it to the butter I've eaten all my life. This is conditioning and it will pass if I let it. I am keen to try making butter amongst other foods out of milk at various stages of its life. I have milk in my fridge ranging from one week to three weeks old. Every page I look at for inspiration on how to use it states a different method, a different assessment of how okay it is to use for the same thing. Some people say aged raw cream is sour cream, others say it needs lemon mixed in. Trial and error is what it's really going to take I think. I feel like I'm diving into a pool with a lopsided blindfold on. I'm peeking around the sides but I'm not getting the whole picture.
The general theme of the raw milk scaremongering seems to be that if milk isn't pasteurised than it's harmful, full of bacteria. Pasteurisation kills that bacteria, the ones that could potentially hurt you but it also kills the good enzymes that help you. From what I can gather most places, and I say most because I don't really know for sure about all of them, that offer raw milk keep pasture fed cows. Cows that don't eat grains or live the majority (if not all) of their lives on concrete floors. If the cows in the pasture don't ingest the chemicals the other poor things do, if they live a healthy life and are milked in pristine conditions which reduce the likelihood of harmful bacteria to almost nil then why pasteurise their milk? Of course I think meeting the farmer and/or visiting the farm is important. I recently read about a US farmer that was selling off pasteurised milk as raw milk because he could get more for it, so doing your homework is very important.
Before people completely dismiss raw milk as some trendy alternative thing I think they should at least try it. Half a glass won't hurt you but it might help you appreciate the taste and the richness of it. As a fussy person I have never enjoyed the taste of milk, until I drank raw milk. I could drink raw milk like water and now I've started to notice that ice cream has a taste about it that I don't enjoy anymore, a taste I think I associate with pasteurisation. Luckily ice cream makers are cheap, I look forward to making my first batch of ice cream in the near future. Only today I made my first attempt at butter, just a tablespoon worth from milk shaken in a handheld milkshake shaker, the type that is a measuring cup with a lid and a little mixing thing inside. I mixed a little seasalt in it and it was ok. I liked it but I noticed I compared it to the butter I've eaten all my life. This is conditioning and it will pass if I let it. I am keen to try making butter amongst other foods out of milk at various stages of its life. I have milk in my fridge ranging from one week to three weeks old. Every page I look at for inspiration on how to use it states a different method, a different assessment of how okay it is to use for the same thing. Some people say aged raw cream is sour cream, others say it needs lemon mixed in. Trial and error is what it's really going to take I think. I feel like I'm diving into a pool with a lopsided blindfold on. I'm peeking around the sides but I'm not getting the whole picture.
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