Sherry Lee -- I removed your wasting water comment. Why? Because it's simply not true and since I cannot respond to your comment directly (no reply button), I don't want people mis-led because of ignorance. Yours is not the first "wasting water!" comment I have received over the years and I want to address this misconception: In our case, we have a well and a drain field. Our "gray water" -- like water that goes down the drains, eventually flows into the drain field where it is re-absorbed into the environment. Not wasted -- recycled. Think about it: Where do you think the water goes when it goes down the drain? Off the planet, never to be seen / used again? No. Have any toxins been added to it rendering forever unusable because it went down the drain? No. A well and septic system with drain field is a renewable system. Therefore, I am not wasting water anymore than I would be if I'd taken the water running in my sink and manually tossed it outside.
Michigansnowpony, great response! I was once trained and certified in water and wastewater treatment and you are absolutely right! You describe what is called the hydrologic cycle very simply and very well! Great video! We are just now getting our first goat’s milk! Do you know if the cream still separates if it hasn’t been pasteurized? Thanks
Hi there, I am sure you have had comments on the whole pasteurizing issue, but here is my 2 cents worth hoping you will reconsider. The only reason that pasteurizing is ever necessary is when there is a problem with sanitation in the milking process. If you are fortunate enough to control the whole process from "udder to table" there should be no such problems. What's more is that even the gentlest form of pasteurizing kills the beneficial enzymes that are one of the most significant health benefits of having your own dairy animals (and turns what was one of the most perfect health foods into an acidic, mucus promoting detrimental food product). These healthful enzymes and bacteria have been shown to have TREMENDOUS benefits to people who have access to them, with many diseases eliminated!! Please reconsider your currant practices and don't take my word for it, there is a myriad of info on the net about the health benefits of raw dairy!! Weston A. Price foundation is a great place to start.
Yes, I've researched the raw milk versus pasteurized milk "thing". I'm sure the raw produce IS better than the pasteurized one. However, the fact of the matter is, neither my family nor I like the taste of unpasteurized goat's milk. So, if no one will drink it, it matters not how healthy raw milk may be. : ) (And it's not just my own raw milk that tastes off to me / us -- it's others' as well, so despite my best and their best udder to table practices, raw goat's milk past 8 hours of age does not taste good to our palates.) Irregardless, even pasteurized, I still feel my goat's milk is infinitely better for us than what is commercially sold, so that is what we do.
Well, if you don't like it, there's nothing to do!! :-) Apologies for commenting on what must have been a long running issue for you. One thing that just occurred to me about taste. Do you keep a buck? If so, that could adversely affect the taste of the milk, as I have read. You are certainly right about your milk still being much more desirable than store bought, and to not have to support that agrabiz dairy system is a nice benefit as well. Keep up the great videos!! Della :-)
Yes, I have a buck, but he is housed separately. Even before I kept my own buck, however, I found pasteurized milk to be better tasting. Usually the taste of the milk is only affected by a buck on the property IF he and the does are in together. You have no idea how many times I've defended my right to pasteurize our milk over the years. Some raw-milk folks are downright militant and rude about it! LOL. I am a full supporter of people's right to drink raw milk, but many do not extend the same tolerance to my preference. You however, have been very nice and civil and I appreciate that.
I am so pleased to have been on the earth long enough to learn that everyone deserves to be treated with politeness, as I like being treated by others the same way. Embarrassingly I must admit that that lesson has been rather hard won and I still slip up much more than I would like to admit. I truly can't speak for the other raw milk enthusiasts, but I must admit that occasionally passion looks more like pushiness. (but rudeness is really unacceptable). Well, I have rambled long enough, I hope you have a great weekend and drink lots of still healthy milk!! :-)
Michigansnowpony, I posted my commit before reading the others posted. I will retract my commit about the one on pasteurizing. That is your decision and I still know that your homegrown product is much better than the store bought ones.
Thanks for the video! I found that using a turkey baster to skim the cream off the top of the milk works great. It's a a lot easier than using a spoon.
I don't know why ppl would give you a hard time just because you choose to pasteurize your milk. After all, it is your right to decide what you want to do. What's right for one, may not be right for another, but in the end, we all get to make our own choices. I personally would choose not to pasteurize , but only because I am one of those ppl that feel the more natural the stuff, the better. However, I don't force my ideas on others. Love your videos, keep up the good work and try to ignore those that can't stand to accept that others may do things different for their own reasons :)
Now, YOU are who should be a spokesperson for the raw milk movement! : ) I think all of us who have a home dairy can be and should be supportive of each other irregardless of our choice in how we take our milk because the bottom line is the government would like to regulate all home production of food right out of existence. We need to band together, not argue who's way is better. Kudos to you and thank you for your comment!
🎶When there's something strange in the neighborhood...who ya gonna call? GOAT'S BUTTER!🎶 Haha, couldn't resist.😂 Anyway though, I find it very interesting how goat's milk can be used for products in ways similar to cow's. I hear it's safe for children who are sensitive to cow's milk, and personally I find the taste more appealing. I haven't tasted goat butter before though, I hear it's not really different from cow butter in terms of flavour.
My grandmother made me hand churn with that old fashioned churn with wooden paddles. A Daisy model. Im waiting for my Lamancha to come into her milk. Unlike last year where the farm cats, etc got the excess milk, this time Im making yogurt, ice creme, butter, maybe even goat milk lotion & soap. Bring on the milk! :)
That's a great question -- should have mentioned this in the video. When I was doing my "research" on how to make butter, it was recommended to rinse the butter because buttermilk left in the finished product will make it have an off-taste and/or go bad (rancid) quickly. That's why many butter paddles for working the butter have holes in them -- to help squeeze out the buttermilk.
When I was a cook for Head Start, one of the lessons I taught they kids was how to make butter from cows milk.. They each got to shake the jar and taste the butter they made.. It was a huge success..
ALL my butter is made from Raw goat milk. Personal choice. I am 73 and have been doing this since I as a youngster and NEVER had a problem If you prefer to pasteurize that is fine as well.. Good video.
Your videos are so helpful! Thanks for taking the time to show us the process. We've just started with dairy goats, also french alpines, so we're enjoying the first fruits, so to speak. One thing I've read about goat's milk is that they are better at converting vitamin A from their food, which is why it's white vs. the yellowish tinge that cow's milk often has. It's just what I've read though, so I can't vouch for it! I'd bet that some kind of yellowing is added to commercial butter though.
I love your video thank so much. Your butter is inspiring. A few things.. 1. Yes the liquid leftover from the buttermaking is buttermilk, but it is different than the buttermilk from the store, which is a completely different thing. It's a cultured milk product more like yogurt. 2. Cows milk will make a much yellower butter without food coloring, cows milk already is not as white as goats milk. Yes sometimes store bought has added coloring, but even without it will come out yellow-er.
So funny to see such an old video still being useful so many years later! Thank you for sharing! We are currently milking 2 does and i have about 5 gallons of milk in the fridge and have been trying like crazy to find ways to use the milk, other than the obvious, so as to not be wasteful! My girls are working so hard for us producing and i dont want it to go to waste. But, one can only drink so much milk!
We only strain our milk, but we use a lot of it! Everyday we milk our goats we get about half a gallon of goats from only our Sonnen! It usually goes by fast because we make, butter, ice cream, milkshakes, goat soap and we drink it plane, use it for desserts and cereal and there are 5 of us! And we save money by our eggs and milk and gardens!
@mcfsharp I always stove-top pasteurize my milk. So, my butter is made with pasteurized milk. I know there's lots of supposed benefits from raw milk, but that is out of my comfort range. I find we like the taste of pasteurized milk better and it lasts infinitely longer in the fridge for us.
i just started doing this with serious intentions of making butter. the first time i tried it was YEARS ago with my first goat. it was JUST an attempt and i yielded enough butter from one milking to spread on just one piece of toast. I was encouraged but also discouraged because that was going to take a LOOOOOOOOT more milk than my old girl could provide to actually provide for my family. but at least I knew I could do it! So a few days ago, I quit my job... i had thousands of good reasons. the top reason was my kids were not exactly doing their jobs on the farm. they did routinely milk our goat but there was so much else going on that they couldn't handle..... it was depressing. I had over a gallon of goat milk (several jars) just taking up space because I'm the only one who knows what to do with it, but i never had time or energy because of my soul sucking job.... i didn't want to quit, but I needed to..BUT i was having a really bad day as a result of quitting. I felt like a failure, i felt useless, inept, guilty, irresponsible etc. Forget all the good reasons to quit. I felt like a terrible person because I finally refused to continue on this rapid roller coaster ride into morbid irreversible depression. so I took my frustrations out on the cream that had accumulated in all those jars of milk. It was worth it. Instantly felt better........but it was still a small amount. Maybe half a stick. But now I have full pint jar of nothing but cream and guess what I'm about to do?! As a side note, I built a milk machine from a food saver vacuum sealer which keeps my milk clean odor free. I also used that machine to easily collect even more cream floating on the top. it was time consuming using a spoon and i felt like i was leaving too much behind. So if anyone is crafty and likes to tinker, I HIGHLY recommend this home made milk machine method. sucks it right up. it's a LOT faster. doesn't clog the tubes. The only thing I want to do next is get a little butter churn and maybe ten more milk goats ;)
Yes, I like the re-usable filter better -- less fussy and you just send it through the dishwasher to clean. They last a long time too, so yes, less expensive than buying the paper ones over time.
Hey Renee, I found your youtube channel a couple of months ago whilst looking for videos on lasagna gardening. My family and I are moving to acreage in a couple of months as I am craving the whole self-sufficient organic lifestyle. Your videos are such an inspiration! I have learned so much from you already - BIG thanks! ...
I’ve been making Kefir from raw got milk lately and it’s pretty fun. I am glad to learn you can in fact make butter from naturally homogenized goats milk if you have the time. Thanks for the video! I go through a lot of butter and Kerygold isn’t that cheap and i think it’s dumb to buy butter from Ireland when we’ve got dairy farms in America!
@fmaneko217 -- I'm not sure I understand the question. All butter gets hard in the refridgerator?? Do you mean it won't soften up a bit when left out, or won't melt on toast or??? I don't think it's anything you did wrong, just the nature of butter. I've always wondered what they add to the spreadable stuff to keep it soft in the fridge. Probably something not good for us! : )
I know you stated your butter does not last long in your house (meaning you eat it quickly) but if you do get to the point where you want to store if for more than a few days, make sure to squeeze off as much water as possible. The butter will go rancid much quicker if any of the buttermilk remains. I do something similar to you in a small container but spend quite a bit more time mashing it down to get off as much moisture as possible. Butter also freezes very well. Keep up the great vids!
Cow cream butter is yellow because of beta carotene in the cow's diet. Corn fed cows tend to have lighter butter than grass fed cows who get more beta carotene. Grass fed cow butter tends to be more yellow in the early spring when the grass is lush and gets more pale as the season goes. Yes some butter is mixed with artificial food coloring but usually that is only from cows fed poor quality feed and corn.
If you pasteurize, you might find that bad taste disappears, and you can definitely still make butter with the milk. Maybe a compromise would be to pasteurize the milk you want to skim the cream from for butter?
No, thank you for commenting and being so complimentary. : ) I've not had much luck with my soft cheese attempts thus far. But I'll try again and hopefully, eventually get it right.
As usual Renee, fantastic job on using all your resourses to the fullest and making great vids on cool homemaking ideas. Definately going to try that with store bought cream. Thanks!
My cow butter is yellow. About the color of grocery store butter, I think. I've never compared them side by side, so maybe it is a little lighter, but it's not white, at all. I've never compared them, because store butter isn't as good (in my opinion). Thank you for your videos. I enjoy you and your family very much! You have such nice girls. Congratulations on doing a hard job so well.
I have Nigerian Dwarf goats and they have a high enough butter fat that I can just shake a half filled quart jar of whole raw goats milk to make butter. I really appreciate you posting this video though - saves me from having to go to the trouble to make one myself. :)
Whilst watching your video on goats butter I was wondering if it might be quicker to take off the cream with a turkey baster or by pouring the milk out through a gravy jug that has a bottom spout. I haven't tried it myself yet though so just a thought :)
Nice video! I have goats too and as soon as our little doe grows up we plan on breeding her to get some meat and also (I can't wait) for goat milk. I have made goat cheese from the milk we get from a neighbor and love goat cheese. We used to make butter from fresh cow's milk but I always would put the cream in a large jar and make my young children roll the jar all around on the floor. When it turned they knew it was done. This video brought back some really fun memories for me. Thanks for posting.
Hi, Thank you for replying. I have not opened containers at all but will do so tomorrow. I will transfer it to the bokashi bin as this system seems pretty good for unwanted left overs. Do you use the Bokashi system at all and if so what do you think of it? I have only just started with this and into my second full bin and also I just started a wormery, (my family like fishing and worms go a treat with the fish) although not the right time of the year for us to start a wormery here with such cold weather, this evening it started snowing again and worms do not live well in cold conditions, so expect where you live worms will be doing well? I copied the following to you: Do you feed the chickens with a bokashi it's based on bran which has been 'inoculated' with beneficial micro-organisms. Now it's available dry-mixed with a top quality Layers Mash for feeding to domestic chickens and ducks (suitable for birds over the age of 17 weeks). The beneficial micro-organisms in Bokashi can be thought of as 'friendly bacteria' which help to improve the microflora in the gut. Feeds enhanced with them can help keep your wildfowl healthy generally, but there's another big advantage too: the beneficial micro-organisms work to reduce the bad smells from the animal's dung. I would include more here right now but it would look like I am in the business of looking for a sale but I am not connected to any business or benefiting from doing so, just like to help another human being (and their chicks). Kind regards. Maureen
Yes, the gravy jug is that fat separation thingy. Lots of stores have them and I even saw one in our local dollar store last week.... now I'll have to go back and get one for when I get some goats to milk :)
I LOVE your statement and couldn't agree more. We want to pasteurize ours and most people we've asked have been extremely rude about the fact we even have a desire to pasteurize:( We all have the right to choose what we put in our bodies:)
We have a well and a septic system. Gray water (used water) eventually goes into a drain field where it is absorbed back into the environment. So no worries - no "wasted" water here just because it happens to go down a drain. I promise, it doesn't disappear off the planet. : )
Butter is yellow because of the natural pigment carotene. Carotene comes from the animal's diet if it consists mostly of hay, silage, grains and cereals. Cows milk is somewhat yellower (is that a word - lol) than goat's because of the way they process what they eat - something about the number of stomaches? (not sure)... loved your video - I never knew that about goat cream versus cow cream... had to subscribe cuz I learned so much ! thanks for sharing! :)
cows and goats both have one stomach that is divided into four different sections. each section digests and absorbs different nutrients. lol thought I'd throw that out there but I don't have an explanation for the color difference.
Cow's milk butter is yellow because of the Beta Carotene content which your body then needs to convert to Vitamin A. Goats break that down for you, so the butter is white because it has Vitamin A ready to be absorbed instead of beta carotene.
Great video. We are expecting our first kids in a couple of weeks. I am using this "waiting" time to learn all I can about using goats milk . Can you freeze the butter? How long would it be good in the freezer?
We love your videos! And being that we recently took the plunge and acquired a milk goat, you have been our go-to for all the info! :) Gonna try making butter now, I hope it works!
In the Little House books I remember Laura said her Ma made butter yellow by boiling a bit of grated carrot in the cream, because in the wintertime even the cow's milk would make white butter and that was not considered to be as pretty. I've also heard that if an animal eats calendula petals, it will make their milk/butter yellow. (Though I don't know what it would do to the taste.) But that's just cosmetic. I'm sure white butter is fine, if you like it.
Thank you for sharing this video. I also pasteurize our goat milk before using it. (Old nurse here; I have a lot of respect for listeriosis. 😉) Question for you please: at what temperature do you pasteurize? Thank you! Also in Michigan here. Ann
I hang my butter to drain out water over the sink in cheesecloth overnight with excellent results. I use the buttermilk when I bake bread. So far I have only used cow milk because my goats are new to our farm and not producing yet. I have heard that if one puts a tablespoon of cows milk into a quart of goat milk the cream seperates faster. Do you have an opinon on this? Thanks for the post.
'Cuz it can cool faster, as it's spread out. This is also a concept used in restaurants and places where bulk hot fluids are made - soups, that the fastest way is to give it more surface area to have the heat escape*. And since heat rises (much like cream) it is the same sort of idea. A pan has a greater surface area for the cream to rise up to, while a jar is very closely compacted and the surface volume changes *When they're following optimal code that they use a shallow pan instead of a pot
Good to know. I figured it would be best used in cooking rather than on bread. 30 years, eh -- well that's good to know! Have you ever tried butter powder? I don't want to open up a #10 can, but am dying to know how it is too! I want to try canning butter too! I've seen two different methods from youtubers -- one processed the butter in a canner and one just boiled it and poured it into the jars. I think I'd go with the processing method. It's supposed to last longer.
Hi, thanks for uploading this video. I've been wanting to buy a cream separator but I found it too expensive AND like you we don't have a lot of butter to make, we are milking 2 goats a Saanen and Toggenburgh can't wait to try this. thanks again for sharing.
I loved your super informative video. I remember as a kid, my mom showed me how to whip cream and always cautioned me to stop before it turned into butter..also we had the mixer beaters, bowl and cream ice cold. So, I am wondering if you could just use a mixer to make/form the butter rather than shaking it in a jar? I have actually e-mailed a local farmer re goat/milk shares.....I can not wait to try this!
@sherrilenett -- Woo hoo!!! It's fun too, isn't it? I just dried off our dairy goat as she's due the first week in April and had to buy milk from the store for the first time in ages this week. Usually, I have some put away in the freezer, but didn't have room. (Must get a larger freezer this year!) I can't wait until I have two does to alternate in milk so I never have a dry spell.
Oh how exciting!!!! Will this be your first homestead? If so -- yeehaw!!! You're on your way!!! You will never regret it no matter how tired you are at night. Now, I am glad you are finding my videos helpful. Just remember, I am merely documenting what I / we do on our place. No real expertise here, which is my point in making videos -- if I can do this stuff, anyone can. P.S. the lasagna garden might become a hoophouse this year. . . stay tuned. : )
I have a video up that details how I pasteurize. The only difference is now I use a re-useable coffee filter instead of the paper ones to strain the milk.
Plenty of space then, depending on the lay of the land and such. Around here, a person is more restricted by zoning than anything else. For example, we're on 10.6 acres, and allowed 11 animal "units" -- I think one unit is a dozen chickens, one horse or cow, three sheep, and so forth. Zoning is often the stumbling block when it comes to what you can do with your property in regards to homesteading. If you live in an unzoned county -- woo hoo -- freedom!
How do you pasturize your milk for butter? Do you pasturize it whole and then separate? My mom wants to get a few goats, and I didn't care much for raw *gasp* goat milk (tasted grassy). I'm a fan of whole milk, but I'm not quite sure about goat milk although I LOVE goat cheese. Anyway, thanks a bunch for your help :)
Oh my gosh -- I know exactly what you mean. My first taste of goat's milk was from the store and I was quite sure there was a little dead billy goat in the bottom of the carton -- NASTY stuff! Took me YEARS to try goat's milk again (from a friend's goat that time). So, I am not surprised to hear commercially prepared goat butter might have an off flavor as well. The butter I've made tastes just like regular butter. My husband is a FINICKY one and he pronounced it "good". Thanks
I don't know, I use my own goat's milk (which I DO pasteurize on the stovetop, by the way). From what I understand, store milk (from cows) goes through a homogenization process, so the butterfat might not separate out.
Thank you! I really enjoyed listening to your helpful video and your sweetness really comes through! :-) I will be attempting sheep butter shortly...wish me luck!
Oh someone asked if you can use a mixer...I like to use my foodprocessor. I put in the room temp cream and let it go and in about 4 minutes you have butter. I do it this way when I have a lot to do otherwise the jar method is easier to clean up.
@theprepperswife -- That's an excellent idea with the sun tea jug!!! Your friend is a clever girl. : ) Volume-wise it would be a bit of overkill for me with one goat, but for someone with a cow. . perfect! Goats milk is a bit different than cow's milk in that it's naturally homogenized. That is, the cream doesn't separate out as easily and quickly as cow's milk will, so you have to give it awhile. I've thought of using one of those fat separator pitchers that Lehman's sells too.
I've never seen them in the store, but then, I haven't really been looking for one as the one in the Lehman's catalog was the first time I'd ever seen such an invention. And you know, all kidding aside, that's a great plan: Until you get on your homestead, it's a good thing to work on amassing the "tools" you will need once there, both big and small.
Now that's interesting because I found the colder my cream was, the longer it took to form butter. BUT -- maybe the marble acts like those little beads in nail polish to aid with the mixing.
Thank you for your video. We have our first dairy goat, and will be getting milk shortly. I want to make our own butter, yogurt, and cheese for our family. This was a great video. I think I can do that!
I've been subbing you for some time and totally forgot about this vid. Back in February, I had no idea we'd get an Alpine goat. I'll be skimming the tops of our milk jars to get some butter! The hard part is we rarely have milk past 3 days. lol. Now to go back through all your goat vids... lol
@rebmahendy -- You rinse the butter to remove as much of the liquid (buttermilk) as possible. If you don't rinse it well, your butter will likely develop an off-taste and/or go rancid.
Sally -- I'm finishing up a video series on homestead books that may help you pick and choose from the many. AND -- not to spill the beans, but I have a new book coming that I'm going to be doing another giveaway with. This time I ordered it on purpose. IMHO, it's one of the best homestead books out there.
Great vid. Just found you today and hope to watch your other vids soon! I've made butter for fun with my kids with store bought cream the same way as you showed here. Plus there's a local dairy that offers non-homogenized milk so we can scrape off the top of their whole milk and use it on bread or hot cereals. Thanks for sharing this!
I only use pasteurized milk, so no experience with trying to make butter with raw milk. I have yet to taste raw goat's milk beyond 48 hours old (my own or someone else's) that didn't have an off flavor to me, so I suspect it's the raw factor at work in the butter. But I really can't say for sure. Are you rinsing it really well to get all the liquid out? If not, that can make it taste bad after a few days. Maybe that's the problem?
Yes, butter is butter. I don't know how long it will keep -- I have only made small batches and then used it up quite quickly! Any butter can be frozen though.
@TheMrsVolfie -- All you can do is try it. I don't have an icecream maker myself, so no experience there. You can still find wooden butter paddles in antique stores or from catalogs like Lehmans what help squeeze the whey out of the butter like your Aunt did with a wooden spoon.
Thanks, Renee! I'll be using pasteurized goat milk. I may contact the supplier and see if they'll share some info on butter making using their product! ;)
Have you ever made butter from raw goats milk? and does it taste the same? my husband and I are starting our journey to homestead. We have planned for a few years as we built our family and now we are ready to make that leap. I being a farmer at heart am excited. Experienced homesteaders told me to take it slow and let the farm grow with me and that is what I plan on doing. also. for a family of 4, how many dairy goats should I keep? I was thinking 2 does and 2 bucks. the reason reason for 2 buck is so I can keep them separate and they have a small group, and I can also inter change the breeding and know which buck I can breed the new doe with. thanks for your video's I am learning so much with you.
I'm afraid I don't do anything with raw milk -- I always pasteurize. We don't care for the taste of raw milk and I find the pasteurized milk just keeps better / longer. Since goats are herd animals, you'll want to keep more than one. One full-size dairy goat in milk should give you about a gallon a day (except Nubians, which usually have a lower output, but higher butterfat content). Sometimes you have an exceptional milkers that will give you two gallons a day. You will need to feed well to have that kind of production though (and so your doe doesn't run herself down). You could always keep a wether with your breeding buck for his "herd". I'll be honest: Keeping a buck is a big pain in the butt. But because I live where it's often bad weather during the peak of breeding season, for me it's less problematic to keep a buck than try to get my does to an outside buck when they come into heat. Also, I have had trouble finding folks who will let their buck service outside does. They have a "closed herd" to help prevent any diseases coming onto their property. During breeding season (August through January) bucks pee on themselves and stink to high heaven. You'll want to keep them downwind and away from your home and neighbors as well as your girls in milk. Bucks are also big, boisterous animals and can be difficult to handle. My buck is easily 200 lbs. and he's a handful to say the least, without really meaning to be. For example, he doesn't fit in my goat stand and trimming his hooves is challenging because he has the toughest, hardest, THICKEST hooves I've ever seen in a goat. So, if you have access to a good buck close by, I'd really consider that option before getting my own.
Watched this video when you posted it Renee and waited several months for our first goat freshened. Then it turned out neither of them took. Bummer! So yesterday we bought 2 nanny's "in milk". As soon as we stop drinking it up before it can even cool down, I will definitely make some butter. We made "cultured butter" when I was a child, using an earthenware churn handed down through multiple generations. I wonder if you can make cultured butter from goats milk? Don't see why not.
If you want easy way to seperate the heavier goat's milk, all you need to do is freeze the goats milk solid (preferrably in a half gallon jug or something with a big body and small opening). After freezing the container, take it out of the freezer, remove the lid and turn it up-side-down and let it drain into another container. The heavy milk will thaw out first and drain out, and as you continue to let it that and the heavy milk falls out, you will be left with just a chunk of ice.
Thanks for the lesson I wanted to learn how to seperate the cream without a separator not sure about dye in cows butter to make it yellow made butter from cows cream for years always comes out yellow naturally
It may not be necessary to rinse if you go through butter like my family. lol. All butter has milk solids still left in it that's why in some recipes you have to clarify the butter (which means removing the milk). lol. Also, I think, if you add salt, it helps preserve the butter (hence why store butter usually has salt and unsalted can cost more, more perishable).
@ziggy2sound4u -- Thank you, I usually take youtube along on all my homestead experiments. : ) I wonder what kind of ears you're going to get from that cross?
FYI, the producers may add food coloring to store butter but cow's milk (therefore butter as well) is naturally yellow to an extent because it (should) naturally contain some amount of beta carotene which is also what makes carrots orange. Now with the consequences of factoring farming, that's out the window. But just thought I'd share.
That's a good idea about hanging the butter to drain the whey. Do you then rinse it too afterwards? I would think you'd still have to. I never have enough to justify doing that. : ) I've never heard of adding the cow's milk, so can't comment as to whether it works or not. Being we have the goat's milk, I never buy cow's milk from the store. Give it a go when you get your goats in production and see what happens! I love to experiment with stuff like that.
You are right. I should have said, ". . . unfortunately, there are SOME in favor of raw milk who don't seem able to remain kind and civil. . . ." Sorry for the sweeping statement lumping all raw milk folks in with the rude ones.
@ziggy2sound4u Actually, you don't have to mix breeds to insure no inbreeding. Within one breed, there is plenty of variety in the gene pool. I tend to stick to purebreds simply because the extra offspring are generally easier to sell. Each breed has it's own pros and cons, and when mixing them, predicting the outcome is kinda a wild card.
(pg. 3) discovered raw milk. Now I drink 3 gallons of raw goat milk and at least 1 gallon raw Jersey milk per week. Raw milk and gelatinous bone broth made from chicken feet are the two most healing animal liquids I know of. Raw milk and butter contains the Wulzen factor (antistiffness factor), which is destroyed by pasteurization. Calves fed pasteurized milk develop arthritis while those fed whole raw milk do not. Phosphatase is also required for calcium absorption, but destroyed by
A friend of mine has a jersey cow and she uses a sun tea gallon jug with the spigot in the bottom to remove the milk from below the cream. Then scoops out the cream. Maybe that would be helpful way to do this process?
does it work better than the disposables or does it save money? Or both? I'll need to re-search your videos, sorry about that. Also, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.
Hi Noreen, I didn't know that butter could naturally be yellow(ish) -- interesting! I was just going by the ingredients listed on the boxes we buy. I thought / wondered if maybe the coloring started being added when margarine came to be. Hey -- how is that Red Feather canned butter? I have some but haven't opened any up to try it. Any idea of the shelf-life on it? How are you storing it? Shelf? Fridge? Freezer? Thanks for watching and commenting!
I would just like to correct something you said in your video. The butter in the store is yellow because it is made from cow's milk, which is naturally yellowish. Not because it has had yellow food color added. That is unless you are talking about goat butter which is naturally white, in which case I suppose it would have food color added. Anyway, great video, it was very informative
Mr. Brown, one more thing regarding the mother's breast milk analogy: I do not know of any nursing mothers who pump out their breast milk into a container inside a BARN before feeding it thier bables. (Perhaps if this was if the case, they WOULD be inclined to want to pasteurize it.) Irregardless: Live and let live and to each his own.
I probably didn't rinse the butter well. I did it with my 6 year old boy with the 11 year old and 5 year old boys goofing around in the kitchen, soooo it's a wonder I made anything that even resembled butter LOL!! Our milk usually doesn't make it past 48 hours around here as these boys of mine chug it down like there's no tomorrow. The raw milk is very beneficial as any anti-bodies the goat has developed is transferred in the milk which gets killed off if you pasteurize it.
Sherry Lee -- I removed your wasting water comment. Why? Because it's simply not true and since I cannot respond to your comment directly (no reply button), I don't want people mis-led because of ignorance. Yours is not the first "wasting water!" comment I have received over the years and I want to address this misconception: In our case, we have a well and a drain field. Our "gray water" -- like water that goes down the drains, eventually flows into the drain field where it is re-absorbed into the environment. Not wasted -- recycled. Think about it: Where do you think the water goes when it goes down the drain? Off the planet, never to be seen / used again? No. Have any toxins been added to it rendering forever unusable because it went down the drain? No. A well and septic system with drain field is a renewable system. Therefore, I am not wasting water anymore than I would be if I'd taken the water running in my sink and manually tossed it outside.
Michigansnowpony, I was trying to find a way to message you to ask a question about cabin,g jars. Is there someplace to message you?
Angie Hester You can always send me a private message through youtube. Here's how: ruclips.net/video/RZ5fAG8hIog/видео.html
i LOVE your response lol...
Michigansnowpony, great response! I was once trained and certified in water and wastewater treatment and you are absolutely right! You describe what is called the hydrologic cycle very simply and very well! Great video! We are just now getting our first goat’s milk! Do you know if the cream still separates if it hasn’t been pasteurized? Thanks
Hi there,
I am sure you have had comments on the whole pasteurizing issue, but here is my 2 cents worth hoping you will reconsider. The only reason that pasteurizing is ever necessary is when there is a problem with sanitation in the milking process. If you are fortunate enough to control the whole process from "udder to table" there should be no such problems. What's more is that even the gentlest form of pasteurizing kills the beneficial enzymes that are one of the most significant health benefits of having your own dairy animals (and turns what was one of the most perfect health foods into an acidic, mucus promoting detrimental food product). These healthful enzymes and bacteria have been shown to have TREMENDOUS benefits to people who have access to them, with many diseases eliminated!! Please reconsider your currant practices and don't take my word for it, there is a myriad of info on the net about the health benefits of raw dairy!! Weston A. Price foundation is a great place to start.
Yes, I've researched the raw milk versus pasteurized milk "thing". I'm sure the raw produce IS better than the pasteurized one. However, the fact of the matter is, neither my family nor I like the taste of unpasteurized goat's milk. So, if no one will drink it, it matters not how healthy raw milk may be. : ) (And it's not just my own raw milk that tastes off to me / us -- it's others' as well, so despite my best and their best udder to table practices, raw goat's milk past 8 hours of age does not taste good to our palates.) Irregardless, even pasteurized, I still feel my goat's milk is infinitely better for us than what is commercially sold, so that is what we do.
Well, if you don't like it, there's nothing to do!! :-) Apologies for commenting on what must have been a long running issue for you. One thing that just occurred to me about taste. Do you keep a buck? If so, that could adversely affect the taste of the milk, as I have read. You are certainly right about your milk still being much more desirable than store bought, and to not have to support that agrabiz dairy system is a nice benefit as well. Keep up the great videos!! Della :-)
Yes, I have a buck, but he is housed separately. Even before I kept my own buck, however, I found pasteurized milk to be better tasting. Usually the taste of the milk is only affected by a buck on the property IF he and the does are in together. You have no idea how many times I've defended my right to pasteurize our milk over the years. Some raw-milk folks are downright militant and rude about it! LOL. I am a full supporter of people's right to drink raw milk, but many do not extend the same tolerance to my preference. You however, have been very nice and civil and I appreciate that.
I am so pleased to have been on the earth long enough to learn that everyone deserves to be treated with politeness, as I like being treated by others the same way. Embarrassingly I must admit that that lesson has been rather hard won and I still slip up much more than I would like to admit. I truly can't speak for the other raw milk enthusiasts, but I must admit that occasionally passion looks more like pushiness. (but rudeness is really unacceptable). Well, I have rambled long enough, I hope you have a great weekend and drink lots of still healthy milk!! :-)
Michigansnowpony, I posted my commit before reading the others posted. I will retract my commit about the one on pasteurizing. That is your decision and I still know that your homegrown product is much better than the store bought ones.
Thanks for the video! I found that using a turkey baster to skim the cream off the top of the milk works great. It's a a lot easier than using a spoon.
I think you may have just changed my life :-)
I don't know why ppl would give you a hard time just because you choose to pasteurize your milk. After all, it is your right to decide what you want to do. What's right for one, may not be right for another, but in the end, we all get to make our own choices. I personally would choose not to pasteurize , but only because I am one of those ppl that feel the more natural the stuff, the better. However, I don't force my ideas on others. Love your videos, keep up the good work and try to ignore those that can't stand to accept that others may do things different for their own reasons :)
Now, YOU are who should be a spokesperson for the raw milk movement! : ) I think all of us who have a home dairy can be and should be supportive of each other irregardless of our choice in how we take our milk because the bottom line is the government would like to regulate all home production of food right out of existence. We need to band together, not argue who's way is better. Kudos to you and thank you for your comment!
🎶When there's something strange in the neighborhood...who ya gonna call? GOAT'S BUTTER!🎶
Haha, couldn't resist.😂
Anyway though, I find it very interesting how goat's milk can be used for products in ways similar to cow's. I hear it's safe for children who are sensitive to cow's milk, and personally I find the taste more appealing. I haven't tasted goat butter before though, I hear it's not really different from cow butter in terms of flavour.
My grandmother made me hand churn with that old fashioned churn with wooden paddles. A Daisy model. Im waiting for my Lamancha to come into her milk. Unlike last year where the farm cats, etc got the excess milk, this time Im making yogurt, ice creme, butter, maybe even goat milk lotion & soap. Bring on the milk! :)
Thank you Lisa! It's always nice to hear someone benefitted from one of my videos. : )
That's a great question -- should have mentioned this in the video. When I was doing my "research" on how to make butter, it was recommended to rinse the butter because buttermilk left in the finished product will make it have an off-taste and/or go bad (rancid) quickly. That's why many butter paddles for working the butter have holes in them -- to help squeeze out the buttermilk.
It's a big person who can admit they were wrong and make a sincere apology. Not too many of those people out there anymore........You are one of them.
When I was a cook for Head Start, one of the lessons I taught they kids was how to make butter from cows milk.. They each got to shake the jar and taste the butter they made.. It was a huge success..
ALL my butter is made from Raw goat milk. Personal choice. I am 73 and have been doing this since I as a youngster and NEVER had a problem If you prefer to pasteurize that is fine as well.. Good video.
Hi Peter, would you mind sharing your butter making process? Would love to hear since you've been doing it for so long.
Do you by any chance know if and how I can make goats whipped cream without a cream separator?
Your videos are so helpful! Thanks for taking the time to show us the process. We've just started with dairy goats, also french alpines, so we're enjoying the first fruits, so to speak. One thing I've read about goat's milk is that they are better at converting vitamin A from their food, which is why it's white vs. the yellowish tinge that cow's milk often has. It's just what I've read though, so I can't vouch for it! I'd bet that some kind of yellowing is added to commercial butter though.
I love your video thank so much. Your butter is inspiring.
A few things..
1. Yes the liquid leftover from the buttermaking is buttermilk, but it is different than the buttermilk from the store, which is a completely different thing. It's a cultured milk product more like yogurt.
2. Cows milk will make a much yellower butter without food coloring, cows milk already is not as white as goats milk. Yes sometimes store bought has added coloring, but even without it will come out yellow-er.
So funny to see such an old video still being useful so many years later! Thank you for sharing! We are currently milking 2 does and i have about 5 gallons of milk in the fridge and have been trying like crazy to find ways to use the milk, other than the obvious, so as to not be wasteful! My girls are working so hard for us producing and i dont want it to go to waste. But, one can only drink so much milk!
Buy some pigs, they thrive on it. ;-)
there is so much you can do with it.
butter, cream, cottage cheese, mozzarella, baked goods...
We only strain our milk, but we use a lot of it! Everyday we milk our goats we get about half a gallon of goats from only our Sonnen! It usually goes by fast because we make, butter, ice cream, milkshakes, goat soap and we drink it plane, use it for desserts and cereal and there are 5 of us! And we save money by our eggs and milk and gardens!
@mcfsharp I always stove-top pasteurize my milk. So, my butter is made with pasteurized milk. I know there's lots of supposed benefits from raw milk, but that is out of my comfort range. I find we like the taste of pasteurized milk better and it lasts infinitely longer in the fridge for us.
i just started doing this with serious intentions of making butter. the first time i tried it was YEARS ago with my first goat. it was JUST an attempt and i yielded enough butter from one milking to spread on just one piece of toast.
I was encouraged but also discouraged because that was going to take a LOOOOOOOOT more milk than my old girl could provide to actually provide for my family. but at least I knew I could do it!
So a few days ago, I quit my job... i had thousands of good reasons. the top reason was my kids were not exactly doing their jobs on the farm. they did routinely milk our goat but there was so much else going on that they couldn't handle..... it was depressing. I had over a gallon of goat milk (several jars) just taking up space because I'm the only one who knows what to do with it, but i never had time or energy because of my soul sucking job.... i didn't want to quit, but I needed to..BUT i was having a really bad day as a result of quitting. I felt like a failure, i felt useless, inept, guilty, irresponsible etc. Forget all the good reasons to quit. I felt like a terrible person because I finally refused to continue on this rapid roller coaster ride into morbid irreversible depression. so I took my frustrations out on the cream that had accumulated in all those jars of milk.
It was worth it. Instantly felt better........but it was still a small amount. Maybe half a stick.
But now I have full pint jar of nothing but cream and guess what I'm about to do?!
As a side note, I built a milk machine from a food saver vacuum sealer which keeps my milk clean odor free. I also used that machine to easily collect even more cream floating on the top. it was time consuming using a spoon and i felt like i was leaving too much behind.
So if anyone is crafty and likes to tinker, I HIGHLY recommend this home made milk machine method. sucks it right up. it's a LOT faster. doesn't clog the tubes. The only thing I want to do next is get a little butter churn and maybe ten more milk goats ;)
Yes, I like the re-usable filter better -- less fussy and you just send it through the dishwasher to clean. They last a long time too, so yes, less expensive than buying the paper ones over time.
Hey Renee,
I found your youtube channel a couple of months ago whilst looking for videos on lasagna gardening. My family and I are moving to acreage in a couple of months as I am craving the whole self-sufficient organic lifestyle. Your videos are such an inspiration! I have learned so much from you already - BIG thanks! ...
I’ve been making Kefir from raw got milk lately and it’s pretty fun. I am glad to learn you can in fact make butter from naturally homogenized goats milk if you have the time. Thanks for the video! I go through a lot of butter and Kerygold isn’t that cheap and i think it’s dumb to buy butter from Ireland when we’ve got dairy farms in America!
@fmaneko217 -- I'm not sure I understand the question. All butter gets hard in the refridgerator?? Do you mean it won't soften up a bit when left out, or won't melt on toast or??? I don't think it's anything you did wrong, just the nature of butter. I've always wondered what they add to the spreadable stuff to keep it soft in the fridge. Probably something not good for us! : )
I know you stated your butter does not last long in your house (meaning you eat it quickly) but if you do get to the point where you want to store if for more than a few days, make sure to squeeze off as much water as possible. The butter will go rancid much quicker if any of the buttermilk remains. I do something similar to you in a small container but spend quite a bit more time mashing it down to get off as much moisture as possible. Butter also freezes very well. Keep up the great vids!
Cow cream butter is yellow because of beta carotene in the cow's diet. Corn fed cows tend to have lighter butter than grass fed cows who get more beta carotene. Grass fed cow butter tends to be more yellow in the early spring when the grass is lush and gets more pale as the season goes. Yes some butter is mixed with artificial food coloring but usually that is only from cows fed poor quality feed and corn.
Thanks Dixie. Glad you liked it.
Thank you. : ) Glad you liked it and let me know if you give it a shot.
If you pasteurize, you might find that bad taste disappears, and you can definitely still make butter with the milk. Maybe a compromise would be to pasteurize the milk you want to skim the cream from for butter?
No, thank you for commenting and being so complimentary. : ) I've not had much luck with my soft cheese attempts thus far. But I'll try again and hopefully, eventually get it right.
As usual Renee, fantastic job on using all your resourses to the fullest and making great vids on cool homemaking ideas. Definately going to try that with store bought cream. Thanks!
My cow butter is yellow. About the color of grocery store butter, I think. I've never compared them side by side, so maybe it is a little lighter, but it's not white, at all. I've never compared them, because store butter isn't as good (in my opinion).
Thank you for your videos. I enjoy you and your family very much! You have such nice girls. Congratulations on doing a hard job so well.
I have Nigerian Dwarf goats and they have a high enough butter fat that I can just shake a half filled quart jar of whole raw goats milk to make butter. I really appreciate you posting this video though - saves me from having to go to the trouble to make one myself. :)
Whilst watching your video on goats butter I was wondering if it might be quicker to take off the cream with a turkey baster or by pouring the milk out through a gravy jug that has a bottom spout. I haven't tried it myself yet though so just a thought :)
Nice video! I have goats too and as soon as our little doe grows up we plan on breeding her to get some meat and also (I can't wait) for goat milk. I have made goat cheese from the milk we get from a neighbor and love goat cheese. We used to make butter from fresh cow's milk but I always would put the cream in a large jar and make my young children roll the jar all around on the floor. When it turned they knew it was done. This video brought back some really fun memories for me. Thanks for posting.
Hi,
Thank you for replying.
I have not opened containers at all but will do so tomorrow.
I will transfer it to the bokashi bin as this system seems pretty good
for unwanted left overs.
Do you use the Bokashi system at all and if so what do
you think of it?
I have only just started with this and into my second full bin and also I just started a wormery,
(my family like fishing and worms go a treat with the fish)
although not the right time of the year for us to start a wormery here with such cold weather,
this evening it started snowing again and worms do not live well in cold conditions, so expect where
you live worms will be doing well?
I copied the following to you:
Do you feed the chickens with a bokashi it's based on bran which has been 'inoculated' with beneficial micro-organisms. Now it's available dry-mixed with a top quality Layers Mash for feeding to domestic chickens and ducks (suitable for birds over the age of 17 weeks).
The beneficial micro-organisms in Bokashi can be thought of as 'friendly bacteria' which help to improve the microflora in the gut. Feeds enhanced with them can help keep your wildfowl healthy generally, but there's another big advantage too: the beneficial micro-organisms work to reduce the bad smells from the animal's dung.
I would include more here right now but it would look like I am in the business of looking for a sale but I am
not connected to any business or benefiting from doing so, just like to help another human being (and their chicks).
Kind regards.
Maureen
You can also hang your butter to dry in cheese cloth or a clean cotton cloth for a few hours.
Yes, the gravy jug is that fat separation thingy. Lots of stores have them and I even saw one in our local dollar store last week.... now I'll have to go back and get one for when I get some goats to milk :)
I'm from the Caribbean and our room temp is seriously hot around 32 plus degrees so I find shaking the jar of cream in the fridge works for me
I LOVE your statement and couldn't agree more. We want to pasteurize ours and most people we've asked have been extremely rude about the fact we even have a desire to pasteurize:( We all have the right to choose what we put in our bodies:)
We have a well and a septic system. Gray water (used water) eventually goes into a drain field where it is absorbed back into the environment.
So no worries - no "wasted" water here just because it happens to go down a drain. I promise, it doesn't disappear off the planet. : )
Butter is yellow because of the natural pigment carotene. Carotene comes from the animal's diet if it consists mostly of hay, silage, grains and cereals. Cows milk is somewhat yellower (is that a word - lol) than goat's because of the way they process what they eat - something about the number of stomaches? (not sure)... loved your video - I never knew that about goat cream versus cow cream... had to subscribe cuz I learned so much ! thanks for sharing! :)
cows and goats both have one stomach that is divided into four different sections. each section digests and absorbs different nutrients. lol thought I'd throw that out there but I don't have an explanation for the color difference.
Cow's milk butter is yellow because of the Beta Carotene content which your body then needs to convert to Vitamin A. Goats break that down for you, so the butter is white because it has Vitamin A ready to be absorbed instead of beta carotene.
Great video. We are expecting our first kids in a couple of weeks. I am using this "waiting" time to learn all I can about using goats milk . Can you freeze the butter? How long would it be good in the freezer?
I think it probably would work to use a mixer. I've never tried it myself though. To me, it's easier to just shake the cream a bit in a jar.
We love your videos! And being that we recently took the plunge and acquired a milk goat, you have been our go-to for all the info! :)
Gonna try making butter now, I hope it works!
That's good to know -- I'll try it. I wonder why the depth of the container matters though, since cream rises to the top no matter what? Hmmmm. . . .
Thanks for helping me make my first butter. I just made some about an hour ago. It was great.
In the Little House books I remember Laura said her Ma made butter yellow by boiling a bit of grated carrot in the cream, because in the wintertime even the cow's milk would make white butter and that was not considered to be as pretty.
I've also heard that if an animal eats calendula petals, it will make their milk/butter yellow. (Though I don't know what it would do to the taste.)
But that's just cosmetic. I'm sure white butter is fine, if you like it.
Thank you for sharing this video. I also pasteurize our goat milk before using it. (Old nurse here; I have a lot of respect for listeriosis. 😉)
Question for you please: at what temperature do you pasteurize? Thank you! Also in Michigan here. Ann
Great video! I am looking forward to getting some goats on our homestead and making our own butter. Thank you for the video!
You're very welcome. I love my dairy goats.
I hang my butter to drain out water over the sink in cheesecloth overnight with excellent results. I use the buttermilk when I bake bread. So far I have only used cow milk because my goats are new to our farm and not producing yet. I have heard that if one puts a tablespoon of cows milk into a quart of goat milk the cream seperates faster. Do you have an opinon on this? Thanks for the post.
'Cuz it can cool faster, as it's spread out. This is also a concept used in restaurants and places where bulk hot fluids are made - soups, that the fastest way is to give it more surface area to have the heat escape*. And since heat rises (much like cream) it is the same sort of idea. A pan has a greater surface area for the cream to rise up to, while a jar is very closely compacted and the surface volume changes
*When they're following optimal code that they use a shallow pan instead of a pot
@christo930 -- To us it tastes the same as "regular butter", however, if you don't rinse the whey out well, it will go rancid quickly.
Good to know. I figured it would be best used in cooking rather than on bread. 30 years, eh -- well that's good to know! Have you ever tried butter powder? I don't want to open up a #10 can, but am dying to know how it is too! I want to try canning butter too! I've seen two different methods from youtubers -- one processed the butter in a canner and one just boiled it and poured it into the jars. I think I'd go with the processing method. It's supposed to last longer.
Hi, thanks for uploading this video. I've been wanting to buy a cream separator but I found it too expensive AND like you we don't have a lot of butter to make, we are milking 2 goats a Saanen and Toggenburgh can't wait to try this.
thanks again for sharing.
I loved your super informative video. I remember as a kid, my mom showed me how to whip cream and always cautioned me to stop before it turned into butter..also we had the mixer beaters, bowl and cream ice cold. So, I am wondering if you could just use a mixer to make/form the butter rather than shaking it in a jar? I have actually e-mailed a local farmer re goat/milk shares.....I can not wait to try this!
@sherrilenett -- Woo hoo!!! It's fun too, isn't it? I just dried off our dairy goat as she's due the first week in April and had to buy milk from the store for the first time in ages this week. Usually, I have some put away in the freezer, but didn't have room. (Must get a larger freezer this year!) I can't wait until I have two does to alternate in milk so I never have a dry spell.
Oh how exciting!!!! Will this be your first homestead? If so -- yeehaw!!! You're on your way!!! You will never regret it no matter how tired you are at night. Now, I am glad you are finding my videos helpful. Just remember, I am merely documenting what I / we do on our place. No real expertise here, which is my point in making videos -- if I can do this stuff, anyone can. P.S. the lasagna garden might become a hoophouse this year. . . stay tuned. : )
I have a video up that details how I pasteurize. The only difference is now I use a re-useable coffee filter instead of the paper ones to strain the milk.
Plenty of space then, depending on the lay of the land and such. Around here, a person is more restricted by zoning than anything else. For example, we're on 10.6 acres, and allowed 11 animal "units" -- I think one unit is a dozen chickens, one horse or cow, three sheep, and so forth. Zoning is often the stumbling block when it comes to what you can do with your property in regards to homesteading. If you live in an unzoned county -- woo hoo -- freedom!
How do you pasturize your milk for butter? Do you pasturize it whole and then separate? My mom wants to get a few goats, and I didn't care much for raw *gasp* goat milk (tasted grassy). I'm a fan of whole milk, but I'm not quite sure about goat milk although I LOVE goat cheese. Anyway, thanks a bunch for your help :)
Thanks - I'm just learning as I go. If I can do this stuff, anyone can.
Oh my gosh -- I know exactly what you mean. My first taste of goat's milk was from the store and I was quite sure there was a little dead billy goat in the bottom of the carton -- NASTY stuff! Took me YEARS to try goat's milk again (from a friend's goat that time). So, I am not surprised to hear commercially prepared goat butter might have an off flavor as well. The butter I've made tastes just like regular butter. My husband is a FINICKY one and he pronounced it "good". Thanks
I don't know, I use my own goat's milk (which I DO pasteurize on the stovetop, by the way). From what I understand, store milk (from cows) goes through a homogenization process, so the butterfat might not separate out.
Thank you! I really enjoyed listening to your helpful video and your sweetness really comes through! :-) I will be attempting sheep butter shortly...wish me luck!
Oh someone asked if you can use a mixer...I like to use my foodprocessor. I put in the room temp cream and let it go and in about 4 minutes you have butter. I do it this way when I have a lot to do otherwise the jar method is easier to clean up.
@theprepperswife -- That's an excellent idea with the sun tea jug!!! Your friend is a clever girl. : ) Volume-wise it would be a bit of overkill for me with one goat, but for someone with a cow. . perfect! Goats milk is a bit different than cow's milk in that it's naturally homogenized. That is, the cream doesn't separate out as easily and quickly as cow's milk will, so you have to give it awhile. I've thought of using one of those fat separator pitchers that Lehman's sells too.
I've never seen them in the store, but then, I haven't really been looking for one as the one in the Lehman's catalog was the first time I'd ever seen such an invention. And you know, all kidding aside, that's a great plan: Until you get on your homestead, it's a good thing to work on amassing the "tools" you will need once there, both big and small.
I was surprised to see you pasteurize your milk...but I respect your decision to do whatever you want to your food!
Very helpful . Thank you for the video . Hopefully my daughter and I will be getting goats soon . I'm definitely going to make this
Thank you for teaching me about dairy goats I always refer back to you I hope you continue with the dairy goat videos and garden thank you once again
Now that's interesting because I found the colder my cream was, the longer it took to form butter. BUT -- maybe the marble acts like those little beads in nail polish to aid with the mixing.
Thank you for your video. We have our first dairy goat, and will be getting milk shortly. I want to make our own butter, yogurt, and cheese for our family. This was a great video. I think I can do that!
I've been subbing you for some time and totally forgot about this vid. Back in February, I had no idea we'd get an Alpine goat. I'll be skimming the tops of our milk jars to get some butter! The hard part is we rarely have milk past 3 days. lol. Now to go back through all your goat vids... lol
@rebmahendy -- You rinse the butter to remove as much of the liquid (buttermilk) as possible. If you don't rinse it well, your butter will likely develop an off-taste and/or go rancid.
Hello, can I use this just like cows butter to bake with etc? And how long does it keep for if refridgerated?
Thanks, Great tutorial btw :)
Sally -- I'm finishing up a video series on homestead books that may help you pick and choose from the many. AND -- not to spill the beans, but I have a new book coming that I'm going to be doing another giveaway with. This time I ordered it on purpose. IMHO, it's one of the best homestead books out there.
Great vid. Just found you today and hope to watch your other vids soon!
I've made butter for fun with my kids with store bought cream the same way as you showed here. Plus there's a local dairy that offers non-homogenized milk so we can scrape off the top of their whole milk and use it on bread or hot cereals.
Thanks for sharing this!
I only use pasteurized milk, so no experience with trying to make butter with raw milk. I have yet to taste raw goat's milk beyond 48 hours old (my own or someone else's) that didn't have an off flavor to me, so I suspect it's the raw factor at work in the butter. But I really can't say for sure. Are you rinsing it really well to get all the liquid out? If not, that can make it taste bad after a few days. Maybe that's the problem?
Yes, butter is butter. I don't know how long it will keep -- I have only made small batches and then used it up quite quickly! Any butter can be frozen though.
@TheMrsVolfie -- All you can do is try it. I don't have an icecream maker myself, so no experience there. You can still find wooden butter paddles in antique stores or from catalogs like Lehmans what help squeeze the whey out of the butter like your Aunt did with a wooden spoon.
Thanks, Renee! I'll be using pasteurized goat milk. I may contact the supplier and see if they'll share some info on butter making using their product! ;)
Have you ever made butter from raw goats milk? and does it taste the same? my husband and I are starting our journey to homestead. We have planned for a few years as we built our family and now we are ready to make that leap. I being a farmer at heart am excited. Experienced homesteaders told me to take it slow and let the farm grow with me and that is what I plan on doing. also. for a family of 4, how many dairy goats should I keep? I was thinking 2 does and 2 bucks. the reason reason for 2 buck is so I can keep them separate and they have a small group, and I can also inter change the breeding and know which buck I can breed the new doe with. thanks for your video's I am learning so much with you.
I'm afraid I don't do anything with raw milk -- I always pasteurize. We don't care for the taste of raw milk and I find the pasteurized milk just keeps better / longer. Since goats are herd animals, you'll want to keep more than one. One full-size dairy goat in milk should give you about a gallon a day (except Nubians, which usually have a lower output, but higher butterfat content). Sometimes you have an exceptional milkers that will give you two gallons a day. You will need to feed well to have that kind of production though (and so your doe doesn't run herself down). You could always keep a wether with your breeding buck for his "herd". I'll be honest: Keeping a buck is a big pain in the butt. But because I live where it's often bad weather during the peak of breeding season, for me it's less problematic to keep a buck than try to get my does to an outside buck when they come into heat. Also, I have had trouble finding folks who will let their buck service outside does. They have a "closed herd" to help prevent any diseases coming onto their property. During breeding season (August through January) bucks pee on themselves and stink to high heaven. You'll want to keep them downwind and away from your home and neighbors as well as your girls in milk. Bucks are also big, boisterous animals and can be difficult to handle. My buck is easily 200 lbs. and he's a handful to say the least, without really meaning to be. For example, he doesn't fit in my goat stand and trimming his hooves is challenging because he has the toughest, hardest, THICKEST hooves I've ever seen in a goat. So, if you have access to a good buck close by, I'd really consider that option before getting my own.
I have used the same method with raw goat milk. Works exactly the same. Tastes great.
Watched this video when you posted it Renee and waited several months for our first goat freshened. Then it turned out neither of them took. Bummer! So yesterday we bought 2 nanny's "in milk". As soon as we stop drinking it up before it can even cool down, I will definitely make some butter. We made "cultured butter" when I was a child, using an earthenware churn handed down through multiple generations. I wonder if you can make cultured butter from goats milk? Don't see why not.
If you want easy way to seperate the heavier goat's milk, all you need to do is freeze the goats milk solid (preferrably in a half gallon jug or something with a big body and small opening). After freezing the container, take it out of the freezer, remove the lid and turn it up-side-down and let it drain into another container. The heavy milk will thaw out first and drain out, and as you continue to let it that and the heavy milk falls out, you will be left with just a chunk of ice.
Thanks for the lesson I wanted to learn how to seperate the cream without a separator not sure about dye in cows butter to make it yellow made butter from cows cream for years always comes out yellow naturally
It may not be necessary to rinse if you go through butter like my family. lol. All butter has milk solids still left in it that's why in some recipes you have to clarify the butter (which means removing the milk). lol. Also, I think, if you add salt, it helps preserve the butter (hence why store butter usually has salt and unsalted can cost more, more perishable).
My first "real" job was waitressing at the Country Kitchen on the main drag (Grand River Ave if memory serves.) I bet it's still there, isn't it?
@ziggy2sound4u -- Thank you, I usually take youtube along on all my homestead experiments. : ) I wonder what kind of ears you're going to get from that cross?
FYI, the producers may add food coloring to store butter but cow's milk (therefore butter as well) is naturally yellow to an extent because it (should) naturally contain some amount of beta carotene which is also what makes carrots orange. Now with the consequences of factoring farming, that's out the window. But just thought I'd share.
That's a good idea about hanging the butter to drain the whey. Do you then rinse it too afterwards? I would think you'd still have to. I never have enough to justify doing that. : ) I've never heard of adding the cow's milk, so can't comment as to whether it works or not. Being we have the goat's milk, I never buy cow's milk from the store. Give it a go when you get your goats in production and see what happens! I love to experiment with stuff like that.
You are right. I should have said, ". . . unfortunately, there are SOME in favor of raw milk who don't seem able to remain kind and civil. . . ." Sorry for the sweeping statement lumping all raw milk folks in with the rude ones.
@ziggy2sound4u Actually, you don't have to mix breeds to insure no inbreeding. Within one breed, there is plenty of variety in the gene pool. I tend to stick to purebreds simply because the extra offspring are generally easier to sell. Each breed has it's own pros and cons, and when mixing them, predicting the outcome is kinda a wild card.
Miss seeing your vids so much Rene
(pg. 3) discovered raw milk. Now I drink 3 gallons of raw goat milk and at least 1 gallon raw Jersey milk per week. Raw milk and gelatinous bone broth made from chicken feet are the two most healing animal liquids I know of. Raw milk and butter contains the Wulzen factor (antistiffness factor), which is destroyed by pasteurization. Calves fed pasteurized milk develop arthritis while those fed whole raw milk do not. Phosphatase is also required for calcium absorption, but destroyed by
Great video. Works for me, but I have a question...
Can I use the remaining milk for cheese?
A friend of mine has a jersey cow and she uses a sun tea gallon jug with the spigot in the bottom to remove the milk from below the cream. Then scoops out the cream. Maybe that would be helpful way to do this process?
does it work better than the disposables or does it save money? Or both? I'll need to re-search your videos, sorry about that. Also, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.
Hi Noreen,
I didn't know that butter could naturally be yellow(ish) -- interesting! I was just going by the ingredients listed on the boxes we buy. I thought / wondered if maybe the coloring started being added when margarine came to be.
Hey -- how is that Red Feather canned butter? I have some but haven't opened any up to try it. Any idea of the shelf-life on it? How are you storing it? Shelf? Fridge? Freezer? Thanks for watching and commenting!
I would just like to correct something you said in your video. The butter in the store is yellow because it is made from cow's milk, which is naturally yellowish. Not because it has had yellow food color added. That is unless you are talking about goat butter which is naturally white, in which case I suppose it would have food color added. Anyway, great video, it was very informative
Mr. Brown, one more thing regarding the mother's breast milk analogy: I do not know of any nursing mothers who pump out their breast milk into a container inside a BARN before feeding it thier bables. (Perhaps if this was if the case, they WOULD be inclined to want to pasteurize it.)
Irregardless: Live and let live and to each his own.
I probably didn't rinse the butter well. I did it with my 6 year old boy with the 11 year old and 5 year old boys goofing around in the kitchen, soooo it's a wonder I made anything that even resembled butter LOL!! Our milk usually doesn't make it past 48 hours around here as these boys of mine chug it down like there's no tomorrow. The raw milk is very beneficial as any anti-bodies the goat has developed is transferred in the milk which gets killed off if you pasteurize it.