Raw milk?

We've been consuming raw milk for nine years and never been sick. If you cook with milk, it doesn't matter whether it was raw or pasteurized when you started, because the second you hit 170 degrees, it is pasteurized. If it is held at 145 for 30 minutes, it is pasteurized. I did pasteurize for several years to make some of my cheese and yogurt, because of the culture I was using. Once I switched cultures, it worked with raw. If directions for a culture say that you should use pasteurized milk, it may not work with raw. I just pasteurized on the stove. A pasteurizer seems like a huge waste of money to me, because it's basically a fancy crock pot with a timer on it.

I don't try to convince people to drink raw milk, because I think it's just one of those things that either makes sense to you or it doesn't. We all have our own little neurosis. Some people are worried that their goats will die if they don't vaccinate them; I worry that they'll drop dead if I do. After several years of holding my breath and worrying myself sick every time I vaccinated a goat, I finally realized I should just do what feels right to me, which is not vaccinate my goats. (I also did a lot of reading on both sides before making the decision.)

If your goats are healthy, and you maintain clean practices, there is very little chance of getting sick from drinking raw milk, but I never say anything is impossible. The anti-raw milk people kind of drive me nuts because they talk like we can make food 100% safe, but that's impossible, especially when it is in the hands of people making minimum wage who don't care about what they're doing. I would never drink raw milk from a 7,000-head dairy, because those places are just crawling with all sorts of diseases and bacteria, so they should be pasteurizing that milk. Pasteurization is a one-size-fits-all law that was originally created because cows were giving TB to people, but almost every state is now certified TB free in livestock, except I think Michigan was having a problem with TB in deer a few years back. I don't know their current status.

There is a raw milk dairy in California that is quite large, and they've never had a report of illness from their milk, and considering how hard the authorities have been trying to shut down raw milk in that state, I'm sure they'd be jumping all over it if there ever were one. While there are the people on one side saying that you could get sick from raw milk, there are people on the other side saying that there are people who can only consume raw milk, which I also know to be true. We used to have a customer that bought milk for their son, who was born with health problems and as a toddler could digest almost nothing except raw milk. The family eventually moved to the country and got their own goats. I'd suggest reading everything you can find on both sides and then doing what feels right to you.

Replies

Adrienne January 9, 2011 at 10:10pm

I have had goats for about 7 months now, and very soon our two does will freshen. We have been raised on and currently drink whole cows milk from the store, however we have had great experiences with small dairies in the past when we lived in Texas, and let me tell you it was fantastic. I don't plan on pasteurizing unless there is something that specifically requires it. I feel confident that we will be able to maintain healthy practices and early detection of any problems so that there will not be a need for it on a regular basis.

Stacey Sturdevant said:

We consume the milk raw...there really is no better way. It is like melted ice cream. Pasteurized goat milk tastes completely different. You have to decide what is best for you and your situation. Like Deborah, I have heard of raw goat milk helping several people with medical issues.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle January 8, 2011 at 6:59pm

We've been consuming raw milk for nine years and never been sick. If you cook with milk, it doesn't matter whether it was raw or pasteurized when you started, because the second you hit 170 degrees, it is pasteurized. If it is held at 145 for 30 minutes, it is pasteurized. I did pasteurize for several years to make some of my cheese and yogurt, because of the culture I was using. Once I switched cultures, it worked with raw. If directions for a culture say that you should use pasteurized milk, it may not work with raw. I just pasteurized on the stove. A pasteurizer seems like a huge waste of money to me, because it's basically a fancy crock pot with a timer on it.

I don't try to convince people to drink raw milk, because I think it's just one of those things that either makes sense to you or it doesn't. We all have our own little neurosis. Some people are worried that their goats will die if they don't vaccinate them; I worry that they'll drop dead if I do. After several years of holding my breath and worrying myself sick every time I vaccinated a goat, I finally realized I should just do what feels right to me, which is not vaccinate my goats. (I also did a lot of reading on both sides before making the decision.)

If your goats are healthy, and you maintain clean practices, there is very little chance of getting sick from drinking raw milk, but I never say anything is impossible. The anti-raw milk people kind of drive me nuts because they talk like we can make food 100% safe, but that's impossible, especially when it is in the hands of people making minimum wage who don't care about what they're doing. I would never drink raw milk from a 7,000-head dairy, because those places are just crawling with all sorts of diseases and bacteria, so they should be pasteurizing that milk. Pasteurization is a one-size-fits-all law that was originally created because cows were giving TB to people, but almost every state is now certified TB free in livestock, except I think Michigan was having a problem with TB in deer a few years back. I don't know their current status.

There is a raw milk dairy in California that is quite large, and they've never had a report of illness from their milk, and considering how hard the authorities have been trying to shut down raw milk in that state, I'm sure they'd be jumping all over it if there ever were one. While there are the people on one side saying that you could get sick from raw milk, there are people on the other side saying that there are people who can only consume raw milk, which I also know to be true. We used to have a customer that bought milk for their son, who was born with health problems and as a toddler could digest almost nothing except raw milk. The family eventually moved to the country and got their own goats. I'd suggest reading everything you can find on both sides and then doing what feels right to you.

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