The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: farmers wife on November 02, 2015, 03:27:10 pm
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At the moment we are having 3 litres per day - I used to give a lot to the pigs but they have now gone. I dont need 3l per day. What do you do with it? Also once I have milked here whats the best way to store? I have various jugs in the fridge which isnt working as finding the milk is too exposed and not keeping. Is it best just to decant into old plastic 4 pint milk bottles?
Anyone else find milk goes off quickly? I have a walk in fridge but too expensive to keep on just for a few litres of milk.
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Make cheese, yoghurt (and then frozen fruity yoghurt if you have an icecream churner), ice cream, lots of cheese sauce, rice puddings.... etc etc.
My goatsmilk keeps well in covered jugs for quite a few days.... wondering what your problem would be if it doesn't?
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I agree with Anke.
Freeze it?
I knew someone that used to do that nearer winter in case they got snowed in.
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I'm not getting the cream at the moment we bought her recently and think she is slightly under score. Feeding her supplemental lucerne.
I feel the cheese thing is too advanced for me at the moment. I'm still at yogurt stage and its coming out lumpy.
I agree with freezing it however - that can get overwhelming. Possibly the milk is too exposed in the fridge and poss spores from other foods getting in? I was under the impression that fresh milk would keep a good week or so.
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If you are going to freeze it (and that's only worth doing if the supply is going to dry up) then best if you skim the cream off first, otherwise it may separate on thawing. Cheese isn't difficult to make and will last all winter and beyond. You don't need specialist equipment, what you have in the kitchen will do.
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Pop it in plastic sterilized milk bottles and store in fridge or alternatively freeze it in the bottles and take one bottle out at a time for use when needed. How do you store it in the fridge currently? Because milk absorbs smells a good way of keeping them out, if you have it in a jug, is to place cling film over the top of the jug and that keeps the milk smelling nice, however make sure to use it within 2-3 days otherwise it will start to turn.
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I'm thinking that if you're freezing close to 3 litres a day, then you're going to need a lot of freezer capacity. And what are you ultimately freezing it for?
Freezing does not improve the quality or value of milk.
So - why not put it into something now that will add value. Like a calf or a few more pigs?
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I store mine in glass bottles and it lasts about 5 days. Once opened however the 5 day old stuff goes off pretty quickly.
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Ice cream would be a good way of using it up. Here are some more ideas which are really fun!
http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-use-up-a-gallon-of-milk-202264 (http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-use-up-a-gallon-of-milk-202264)
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Mine keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days. In plastic jugs with cling film over.
If you get cream rising, skim it off and fill a jam jar less just over 1/3 full. Shake the jam jar until it's like scrambled egg and 'cleans the glass'. (You'll know when you see it.) Strain to get butter and buttermilk :yum: You can wash the butter in water if you want, or eat it quickly. Add salt to taste.
Easy cheesey - let the milk stand until it turns. Strain through muslin. Eat. The whey is great for pigs or any other livestock - but introduce slowly to let their digestive systems get used to it. A cheese farm local to us lets the cows have the whey, so since your girl is thin, this might be an option for her?
Easy cheesey freezes well. Can use for cooking when thawed.
Easy cheesey lemon squeezey cheesecake. Make biscuit base using ginger biscuits, or digestive biscuits and ginger, and butter, press into tin, chill. Make cheese as above. Add a bit of lemon juice, sugar to taste. Whip till it stiffens. Spread over chilled base. Chill. Eat.
Custard. Bread-and-butter pudding. Blancmange. Milk jelly. White sauce, cheese sauce, creamed leeks.
And yes, calves or pigs. Puppies, chickens, ... Or just take less and let her rest?
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Do you chill it down really quick? The faster the better.
I have a bucket of cold water which (when I remember) I drop the blue plastic freeze packs into, to cool faster, but I'm only getting about a litre now.
A quick way of making cheese is to heat 2pints milk up, squeeze in juice of 2 lemons, allow to stand then strain (I use a jelly bag, should probably use something finer). Can get a bit expensive on lemons but at least you get some cheese, which you can then freeze
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I put the churn in the freezer before I filter the milk into it so the metal is really cold when the milk goes in.
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Do you chill it down really quick? The faster the better.
I have a bucket of cold water which (when I remember) I drop the blue plastic freeze packs into, to cool faster, but I'm only getting about a litre now.
A quick way of making cheese is to heat 2pints milk up, squeeze in juice of 2 lemons, allow to stand then strain (I use a jelly bag, should probably use something finer). Can get a bit expensive on lemons but at least you get some cheese, which you can then freeze
Also works well with white wine vinegar... just made some today. Good cheese to use in a typical English cheesecake.
I heat til just about 90 deg C (not much higher or it tastes "cooked"), slurp in some vinegar and stir. You will see when it separates, it should be quick, then carefully ladle (while still hot) into cheesecloth lined colander, tie up corners of cloth when cool enough to handle, let dribble through for a few hours, add some cream to make.... creamier...
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wow is that like proper cream cheese or want is this similar too? I see cream cheese as made with cultures and rennet.
I'll have to give some of these a go.
I would say my milk is lasting 5 days so reading these is about the same time - I am lazy in chilling it sometimes it sits there for an hour or so while I sort the children out.
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then carefully ladle (while still hot) into cheesecloth lined colander,
any reason why it should be hot Anke? I was told to strain it hot, but found it seemed to hold better if a bit cooler when strained. maybe i didn't put enough lemon in the earlier attempts, and it took a bit longer to 'curd'
When I get a surplus i'll try the vinegar, any idea how much to about a litre?
now the milk is down I'm missing my soft cheese :-)
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wow is that like proper cream cheese or want is this similar too? I see cream cheese as made with cultures and rennet.
Cream cheese is made from cream.
This is curd cheese, also called acid cheese.
You can use cultures if you want, in which case you'd pasteurise (80C for 30 seconds or 68C for 30 minutes), cool to the appropriate temperature (usually 21C to 26C for different cheeses) then add the culture, stir and add the rennet as and when the particular cheese recipe calls for it. Cut or strain, cheddar or not, according to recipe and so on.
You were wanting something quick and easy, and said you don't have much cream, so curd cheese using the ambient bugs seemed more suitable.
A traditional recipe was to put milk in a bag and place the bag under the saddle cloth before going out to ride the range. By evening, the milk was cheese :)
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Just one other thought re the storing quality of your milk... is it possible that your girl has sub-clinical mastitis, (just a high somatic cell count)? That would also lead to milk going off quickly. Could be in just one quarter for example, and not really that noticeable.
A high bacterial count would be the result of dirt/bugs getting into the milk either during or straight after milking. Do you use udder wipes before milking on each quarter?
I personally don't pasteurise my (goats)milk for any of the cheeses I make, except when I make a fresh batch of starter culture (then frozen in ice cube trays and used three at a time per gallon of milk).
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This looks like Ricotta cheese. I'm going to have a go at mozzarella. Just ordered vege rennet.
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This looks like Ricotta cheese. I'm going to have a go at mozzarella. Just ordered vege rennet.
Mozzarella is not the easiest cheese to make.... something like Gouda is much easier. Have you got the Katie Tear book on "cheesemaking and dairying" ? Brilliant recipes and they do work.
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We use seven 4-pint plastic milk cartons with the labels removed and the day of the week written on each one in black marker.
Makes it very easy to know what's what, and how old the milk is. When one is emptied it's sterilised with a little Milton fluid.
I make yoghurt about every other day, and Paneer cheese which doesn't need any culture, just lemon juice or citric acid - makes a nice veggie curry - and have made soft cheese with a culture. Use any whey in bread-making.
For next spring we've got a cheese press. :-)
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This looks like Ricotta cheese. I'm going to have a go at mozzarella. Just ordered vege rennet.
Mozzarella is not the easiest cheese to make.... something like Gouda is much easier. Have you got the Katie Tear book on "cheesemaking and dairying" ? Brilliant recipes and they do work.
And don't I know it ::)