Raw Milk, Pasteurize Or Not For Making Cheese

[yeri]

Guys i have another question, i'm not yet make any kind of cheese, but i dont want to make any mistake at my first cheese trial, i plan to use a raw milk directly from the cow farm here at salatiga, but i believe there will be another bacteria beside the bacteria from the rennet and from the cultures do i need to cook the milk first  to kill the unwanted bacteria, before i start the cheese making process? And do i need to steriliZe the pressing tools before i use it to press the cheese?  Thanks before for answering my question and dont get bored with me guys......

[susanky]

Yeri,
I am far from an expert put maybe can at least get us started with an answer.  Raw milk (uncooked/pasturized) is rather controversial.  I think it makes and excellent cheese and it is what I use.  But you must know the source and be confident that it is clean and not contaminated.  Yes, milk naturally contains bacteria.  But that can even be a good thing.  However the potential for dangerous bacteria exists.  You can search and find lots of discussions on this forum. 

And yes, everything that comes in contact with your cheese should be sterilized.
Susan

[MrsKK]

If you are allowed to visit the farm and observe their milking, filtering, and storage practices and are able to look at their milk testing results AND if this is milk that you feel comfortable drinking raw, then I would say you could feel comfortable using the milk raw for cheesemaking purposes.

If you don't feel comfortable drinking the milk raw, then age the cheese for at least six months or pasturize the milk before making the cheese.

Either way, it is going to be much better cheese than what you would make from pasturized, homogenized milk from the store.

[KosherBaker]

You can search and find lots of discussions on this forum. 

I would second this advice, this forum contain an absolute wealth of info. A great read indeed.

[yeri]

most of cow farm in my country still is a traditional farm, that perhaps not so steril..... so i think i have to cook it first.

[INGrandad]

I agree. I grew up on a dairy farm, and know what can get into milk, and the problems that cows have. That said, I drank it raw from the bulk tank until I was 18 and to my knowledge was never sickened by anything in it.

THe worse I think is small farms without pipelines and thereby, pipeline filtration. I remember when young pouring the milk from the canister milker (one that holds all the milk from the cow). Now just how good a job had I really done washing those teats? Cow's udders in bad weather either come into the parlor covered in mud from being outside, or covered in manure from laying in the tramp shed all day. Yeah, there's disinfectant in the wash water, but after  a few cows.......  THen you poor that milk directly into a  milk can and then its stored in a cooler. Bottom line; never filtered.

Pipeline operations, even on small farms, have a filter that all milk goes through. I can tell you that wash those udders as well as you might, the stuff that's left in the filter sock will make a believer of you. I still see milk coolers and milk cans setting around at some Amish places around here. Blehhh.

[MrsKK]

I milk by hand into a two-gallon pail, then dump that into a cloth-covered larger pail, so that is my first filtration.

When I get to the house, I filter the milk again through a "permanent" coffee filter (fine metal mesh).  Yep, I catch lots of things on both of those filters.  No way that I would drink unfiltered milk without pasturizing it first.

[steffb503]

If you can find a farm licensed to sell raw milk it would have to be filtered and cooled according to regulations. They will also have done sediment tests to be sure they were filtering it properly.

[MrsMarbles]

Hmm.  I wonder if those rules apply to milk bought through herd shares.  Probably not, since I know I've found straw in my purchased raw goat's milk.  It convinced me that maybe I should be pasteurizing any milk from that farm. 

[susanky]

If the milk is filtered, how could there still be straw?  Did you ever have a chance to watch the milking process?  Surely they must follow some kind of stadard if they are allowed to sell milk.  Hopefully that was just a one time event.  I have my farmer give it to me straight from the cow and filter it myself.  Maybe I have control issues....
Susan

[steffb503]

I would think most doing herd shares are doing so because that is the only way to sell raw milk. There is probably no regulations governing those types of programs.
I can see the milk getting filtered and then maybe poured into another container for the customer, maybe the person pouring had hay on his sleeve, maybe the container had hay in it prior to filling with milk that no one noticed.