spare milk

[svrn]

they were out of goat milk this week so i thought id give cow milk another try. turns out it doesnt sit well with me at all. i have a gallon and a half though and dont know what i should do with it. butter cream and cheese from cow milk is totally fine for me. what i should i make with it? i just want whats easiest.

[raw-al]

Get some yogurt at the store or Kefir and just put some of the milk in a Mason type jar then add a couple of Tbsp of yogurt or kefir in it, shake it well and put it in a warm place like on the top of the fridge or wherever. In a day or two depending on how warm it is, it will be ready. May help to put the bottle in warm water till it is more suitable for the growth to occur. Then wrap it in a towel to retain the warmth longer before putting it in a warm spot.

[jessica]

yogurt or butter...

[Dorothy]

Hard cheeses are difficult. Cheeses that necessitate added bacteria are not practical. There are some soft cottage type cheeses that would be possible.

Yogurt could be made even if you had some capsules of lactobacillus culture (supplement) handy or could get some from a friend or neighbor - it makes the most sense if you like yogurt and/or kefir.

The thing to ask is what do you want besides easy? If you like cream, use the cream. If you really like butter, then make the cream into butter, if you will eat cheese and not yogurt, then make cheese. If you like fatty yogurt then just make yogurt.

I myself would buy gallons of milk just for the butter. Making butter is very easy from cream with nothing more than a glass jar.

[svrn]

wouldnt using pasteurized milk products introduce toxic bacteria to my milk? also doesnt yogurt have to be heated? could i just take some lactobacillus cultures and dump them in my milk then wait for it to turn into yogurt?

[Dorothy]

I wrote above Troll that you can take lactobacillus cultures for capsules.
It does need some heat. That is why Al said to put it some place warm like on your fridge wrapped in a towel. I have used a heating pad with success as well as my dehydrator. I have never had success in a "warm" place of the house myself. Yogurt cultures reproduce the most at around 110 degrees but will be killed at 115. Much under 100 and you will get something more like clabbered milk - which some people like anyway.

I repeat my question though - what do you LIKE?

[svrn]

would simply leaving it to clabber make it digestible?
i put some honey in my jar and shook it. maybe that will help as well.

[cherimoya_kid]

I've gotten to the point that all I eat of dairy is the cultured cream, and even that in moderation.  I find that my joints are in better shape when i use it in moderation, even grassfed.

[jessica]

troll just leave it on the counter til the cream separates, you can spoon that off and then let it sit to turn into sour cream, it will be more digestible and, if it is true raw milk, will already have bacteria and enzymes active in it

[Dorothy]

Putting honey in it will most likely kill the bacteria that would clabber the milk. Honey is a bactericide. If you want to add honey - do that after fermentation.

Clabbering might or might not make it more digestible for you - depends on you. I personally detest the taste of clabbered milk.

[svrn]

aajonus said that putting honey in the milk is a way to make kefir

[Dorothy]

If you want to call that kefir - I sure wouldn't. Kefir is a very specific bacteria. You need a kefir starter to make kefir. I guess something eventually would grow - especially if your honey isn't the best. People can and do get honey to ferment - but it's not easy. Honey is one of the best natural preservatives.

I guess you could try the honey and see what happens. I wouldn't want to take the chance of wasting the good cream though myself - cuz I love butter. By this point the cream has come to the surface of the milk. Why not take off the cream and use it by itself or to make butter and try AV's "kefir" or yogurt with the rest? 

[svrn]

many people on this forum say that as soon as you add any water to honey it starts to ferment easily.

[Dorothy]

That is the opposite of what I have read and not my experience - but whatever. Sounds like you've already made your decision. Makes no difference to me. Bon apetit.

[raw-al]

Aajonus says that one of the bacteria in raw honey prevents the bad bacteria from taking over while the other variety of bacteria in the honey makes it turn into kefir, or what he calls kefir. We do it that way exclusively and the whole point of doing it is to have bacteria break down the milk into easier to digest food, which it does.

I am not sure i can believe all the stuff about true kefir and kefir grains making the perfect stuff. That's advertising AFAIAC

[Dorothy]

Hasn't worked for me Al - and certainly hasn't worked for kombucha or any of the other ferments I've tried using honey - but I'm no expert on the subject like AV.

The kefir thing is about labels. Some people seem to call just about anything fermented either kefir or yogurt. I like to be a little bit more specific myself in that labeling. But if you want to call what I call clabbered milk with honey kefir - enjoy! Makes no difference to me. I'm not advertising anything, not selling anything, have no investment in any of it. Just trying to be helpful in my own little limited way.

Again - bon apetit with whatever you like to call your ferment!

[svrn]

kefir honey worked great for me. i did it before and it didnt work but this time i shook the jar so the honey was even throughout the milk and i got the best kefir i ever tasted. i likeit more than kefir grain kefir.

[Dorothy]

What brand of honey did you use Troll?

[svrn]

no brand its from the amish folks at my dairy buying club. Its usually liquid honey, dont know if it works with crystallized.