Simple tips for making dairy products with milk

Milk is an essential ingredient in many dairy products. Here are some simple tips for making dairy products with different kinds of milk, and some quick warnings to help you safely consume raw milk.

To make a full range of dairy products, you need a plentiful source of pasteurized, unhomogenized milk.

• Almost all commercially available milk has been pasteurized to destroy harmful bacteria and also homogenized to break up butterfat globules.
• Homogenized milk can be used to make yogurt but will make only soft, low-quality cheeses and cannot be used for making butter because the cream will not separate out.
• Reconstituted dried milk can also be used for making soft cheese.
• Pasteurized and unhomogenized milk is available from most health food stores (although you must make sure that the animals producing the milk have been tested for disease and have been milked under hygienic conditions).

Raw milk, straight from an animal, can be used but should first be pasteurized.

• The diet of cows and goats affects the quality and flavour of their milk.
• While cows produce their best milk when grazing on rich pastures, goats are not grazers and instead usually prefer to browse on ground-level vegetation, including weeds such as nettles, thistles and blackberries, a varied diet that provides the minerals and proteins that the animals need.
• Any strong-tasting vegetation can flavour milk, including certain weeds, garlic, onions and turnips.
• In some regions, the first green flush of grass and ground cover after rain contains rank-tasting plants.
• Cow's milk is usually off-white in colour. Goat's milk is whiter, sweeter and richer than cow's milk and produces paler cheese and butter.
• Goat's milk is also easier to digest because the butterfat globules are much smaller, making it naturally homogenized. Because of this, goat's milk can be frozen and will not separate when it thaws.
• In times of surplus, pour excess goat's milk into a plastic drink bottle (do not fill it to the top) or into a freezer bag set in a plastic ice-cream container and freeze for later use.

After an animal gives birth do not use the milk for four days in the case of goats, and for two weeks in the case of cows.

• During this period the milk is of a special type called colostrum, high in protein, minerals, vitamins and antibodies, but low in sugar and fats.
• This milk is unsuitable for dairy purposes but is essential to the health of the newborn.
• You should also avoid using milk from cows or goats that appear ill or milk that is pink in colour. In this case, the milk has blood in it, a normal condition for up to five days after giving birth but otherwise a sign of health problems.
• Do not use milk from any animals on medication, such as cows on antibiotics for mastitis (in this case, a blue dye in the medication colours the milk to alert that it is unfit for human consumption).

Milk can be used to make a wide variety of dairy products. Get the most out of your milk with these simple tips!