Raw milk & what to do....

[SRUEDU]

We recently started buying and using raw milk. We make the butter from the cream and then have the liquid left over from it... What do you do with that leftover liquid? I know there has to be something... We tried using it in biscuit recipes w/no success. Could have been the recipe too, but I just hate throwing the liquid out when I KNOW there MUST be something that I could do with it!!!

[lakemom]

That's buttermilk. Use it in any recipe that calls for buttermilk. Pancakes is the first thing that comes to my mind.

[momtoesther]

I use it in my bread recipe instead of the water it calls for.

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by momtoesther I use it in my bread recipe instead of the water it calls for.

Same here. It's a good way to not waste the nutrition of the liquid.

It is buttermilk but it's traditional buttermilk rather than cultured buttermilk (which is what you find in the store). Cultured buttermilk is very similar to a runny yogurt (it's been cultured with bacteria) and is what is generally called for in "buttermilk" xyz recipes.

[happyhats]

I'm about to embark on the raw milk journey myself. How is it you make butter from your raw milk? Can you use it to make yogurt, etc the same way you do pasteurized? I was reading a really awesome blog about how to make yogurt, farmer's cheese, greek yogurt, and cream cheese. Since we don't drink milk a whole lot we'd love to use our dairy that way.

[blackannis]

Originally Posted by happyhats I'm about to embark on the raw milk journey myself. How is it you make butter from your raw milk? Can you use it to make yogurt, etc the same way you do pasteurized? I was reading a really awesome blog about how to make yogurt, farmer's cheese, greek yogurt, and cream cheese. Since we don't drink milk a whole lot we'd love to use our dairy that way.

I'm jealous of you all who have found raw milk sources--we don't have any affordable ones, so have to make do with low-temp pasteurized (which still makes a huge flavor difference). Some day we will have our own dairy animals . . .

To make butter, you take cream and beat it with a paddle (as opposed to whipping it with a whisk, which produces whipped cream). If you have a stand mixer, it's really easy to do with the paddle mixing attachment.

I don't think there's too much difference between using raw and pasteurized milk for cheese and yogurt--most things are about the same, from what I know. You do sometimes need to check the pH though, don't you? I know the one raw-milk mozzarella recipe in Ricki Carroll's book requires testing the mik's pH.

[SRUEDU]

Originally Posted by blackannis . To make butter, you take cream and beat it with a paddle (as opposed to whipping it with a whisk, which produces whipped cream). If you have a stand mixer, it's really easy to do with the paddle mixing attachment.

Okay, I soooo have to try the paddle, never even thought of using it. I always use the whisk on my mixer. Stick in my cream, and turn it on, walk away, come back in about 20 min, pour the stuff into a floursack towel, squeeze the buttermilke off, then throw back into the mixer and whisk some more until it is completely butter. Then rinse, mold and refrigerate. Once hard I throw it in the freezer to make it last longer... Never even thought to try the beater!!!

I do make my yogurt with my milk, I scrape off the cream, then shake what cream I didn't get off back into the milk. Then just make it like the recipe says. I do have to add gelatin or powdered milk to thicken it, but we use it primarily for smoothies here, so it doesn't have to be perfect. The frozen fruit thickens the smoothies up.

[NATTYBATSMOM]

You can also just use the cream for a variety of recipes that calls for whipping cream including alfredo sauce. Oh yum. That's what we tend to use it for. And I do have a recipe for chocolate cake from scratch that calls for buttermilk.

[blackannis]

Originally Posted by SRUEDU I do make my yogurt with my milk, I scrape off the cream, then shake what cream I didn't get off back into the milk. Then just make it like the recipe says. I do have to add gelatin or powdered milk to thicken it, but we use it primarily for smoothies here, so it doesn't have to be perfect. The frozen fruit thickens the smoothies up.

Have you tried doing a butter-muslin drain (line a colander with butter muslin, put it over a bowl, dump in the yogurt, and stick it in the fridge until it's the right consistency)? I LOVE how the yogurt comes out when I've done that--it's lovely and thick and tastes amazing with a little bit of honey or jam . . .