Author Topic: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk  (Read 4103 times)

Dinerdish

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2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« on: March 16, 2011, 04:01:56 PM »
I'm going to make cheese with a gallon of raw and a gallon of gently pasteurized, non-homogenized, milk.

First, should I use any CaCl? If so, how much? Maybe one gallon' s worth? Anyone have experience with this?

Second, what is the best way to incorporate the separated cream back into the milk?
This a minor issue with the raw jersey milk I get. If I get there right after they pour it and use it right away it is no problem. The longer I wait, the more it separates but if I gently shake it up seems to go together pretty well. But this milk I get from the health food store always has a solid layer of congealed cream on top. Even when I let it warm up on the counter for an hour or so it never seems to blend in again. I've also come to realize that shaking milk is a real no no. It takes so little effort to get the cream back into my raw milk that it hasn't seemed to do much harm but still, what is a better way?

Thanks in advance,

Dinerdish

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2011, 04:26:18 PM »
Thanks for the thread, dinerdish, as I had some similar issues with my first creamline experience, my first aged cheese, actually, last month.  Following with interest, and cheese for you.  :)
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george

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Re: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2011, 09:06:02 AM »
For what it's worth, the only times I've ever had problems reincorporating the cream in raw milk were when the milk was old.  If I'm planning to keep it for a while, I shake to reincorporate every day, or at least every other day.  Maybe try to find out the delivery day at the HFS and buy the milk then?  Shouldn't be so thick if it's fresher.

zenith1

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Re: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2011, 01:15:54 PM »
I haven't mixed raw and processed milk before but my guess would be that you are going to have to add some cacl2 at decreased rate. I would probably add the cacl2 in the amount to process only the processed milk quantity-if you were only using 1gallon of processed milk,add the amount of cacl2 that you would normally use for a 1 gallon batch.

Offline Boofer

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Re: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2011, 02:54:02 PM »
Following a tip from linuxboy a while back, I wanted to gain the benefits of raw milk but couldn't afford to use 4 gallons @ $9.99/gallon. My P/H milk is $3.69/gallon. So I use one of the raw and 3 of the P/H for a more affordable make with some of the essence derived from the raw.

In that 4 gallon mix I typically use 1 tsp 30% CACL2 combined with distilled water. Using 1/8 tsp dry calf rennet, I get a good floc in under 10 minutes. Good curd set.

This has been pretty consistent for me. Your mileage may vary. Adjust accordingly.

One more thing: I believe I get a little floc boost by using the raw milk in addition to the P/H.

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ilvalleygal

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Re: 2 ?s about mixing raw and pasteurized milk
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2011, 06:50:59 PM »
When my farmer's goats dried last winter, I had the same issue with organic, vat-pasteurized milk. The thick ring of cream is due to cooking (pasteurizing) the milk. The folks that run the health food store where I go said they run into the same issues when they can't get their raw milk.

We're in Illinois where raw milk sales are allowed when it's direct from the farm to the consumer but retail sales are not allowed.