John's Cheese #015 - Cream Cheese #2

[LadyLiberty]

Dave,
do you have a source of organic pasteurized milk?  Not ultra, but just regular.

We have a very good market here that carries nearly organic raw milk, half and half, and cream.  It's from a local dairy that's about 20 miles from here, in Watsonville (where most of your strawberries come from).  We also have a resource of organic pasteurized milk, which is absolutely delicious milk, and I'm hoping will make excellent cheese.  These are the "happy" cows of California you see in the commercials.

They really are happy, too, I've seen them ambling on the hillsides here, and they look fairly content.

[Cartierusm]

On one program, Modern Mavels, I think they showed real happy cows from one farm. They roam all day long, come in when they need to be milk by themselves and have huge slightly abrasive roller where the cows walk under to itch their backs...seriously. They looked very content. I really do apprciate animals that are taken care of as if they were human.

[LadyLiberty]

On one program, Modern Mavels, I think they showed real happy cows from one farm. They roam all day long, come in when they need to be milk by themselves and have huge slightly abrasive roller where the cows walk under to itch their backs...seriously. They looked very content. I really do apprciate animals that are taken care of as if they were human.

They come in when they need to be milked by themselves???  Wow.  Boy, don't give them a computer and net access! 

[Cartierusm]

Yeah a lot of animals do. I've seen quite a few farms where they wander in when it's time to milk, they've pretty much been conditioned.

[Likesspace]

Joy...
I just now saw the question you asked, and in answer: I do not have access to an organic pasteurized milk in my area.
In my part of the world we can get milk, heavy whipping cream and half and half. After checking, even the half and half is ultra pasteurized.
This is the downfall of living in a very small town.
I have to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to get to a town that has a population of over 20,000. Even there, I cannot find a whole foods store so I guess I'm stuck with what is available.
I really miss living on the farm where I was raised. We never had livestock but with close to a thousand acres, I surely could have found some room for one happy milker.
The only thing that keeps me away from the farm is that I thoroughly hate farming. 

Dave

[DeejayDebi]

I've had a bit of whey draining from Philadephia cream cheese too I think if it were comepletely dry you'd have something entirely different from cream cheese.

[CBBaron]

They come in when they need to be milked by themselves???  Wow.  Boy, don't give them a computer and net access!

This is actually quite common with freelot dairies. Several reasons for this. First the cows are usually fed grain while they get milked, second when they are full of milk it gets quite uncomfortable, and lastly everyone else is doing it (cows are herd animals).

I don't go in for the happy cows idea but I'm sure that pastured grass fed cows are mostly healthier and probably produce better milk. I know several smaller farms around here are doing grass fed cows for milk, however they do not use the common holstein cows (black and white) but rather the smaller Jerseys (brown) and Gurnseys (brown and white). The Holsteins are so productive that they need a higher energy density in their feed than is available in an all grass diet.

More cheese varieties to try to make. And I've just gotten started in this hobby.

Craig 

[leedsfan]

How much probiotic 222 would I need for a 2 gallon batch? 1 teaspoon?