I was hoping to have a supply of raw milk at least through February. Unfortunately the farmer has decied to dry the cows up now. So my cheesemaking will come to a halt for awhile. Darn it! I could use store bought milk but it wouldn't be the same. I guess in the meantime I will keep reading. And tending to the cheeses in the cave. And of course Sailor's upcoming cheese class! Or.... I'll bet I could find someone around here who milks goats! I'm going to check into it. Thank you all for all the wonderful information and advice. I can't wait until spring!
Susan
Susan,
You probably have a WONDERFUL store bought, low temp pasteurized (LTP), non-homogenized, antiobiotic-free, hormone-free milk in your area. It's produced by Snowville Dairy out of Ohio. It's a fantastic creamline Jersey milk. Best curd set and yield that I have ever had from store bought milk. We have it here in Lexington, but I am currently using another source. Here it runs about $3.50 for a half gallon, and worth every penny.
Thanks for the tip Sailor. I will look into it. I thought I might take a break a turn my attention to some recently neglected hobbies like bellydancing and planning my garden. This year I am going to need an electric fence. Pesky deer. But mostly the groundhog has to go. I'm going to put a price on his head! All the while I'll be reading here and learning lots about cheese. And then I will plan for lots of cheesemaking in the spring. Maybe I'll finally get that pH meter!
Susan
Oooohhh. Today I got the best news ever! My regular farmer guy's cows aren't due to have their cute baby cows until May. But I was chatting with another friend yesterday. Their cows are due early March! So I'll be back in business sooner than expected. However, this guy is strongly opposed to raw milk and pasturizes immediately. He knew I was using this other raw milk and kept warning me.... but was kind enough to show me how to clean milkers etc. He is incredibly meticulous and clean.. darn near sterile. If anyone doesn't need to pasturize it is him. I'm sure he will be happy to share milk with me. Now I just have to work on him about the raw milk thing. Fortunately his wife is agreeeable......
Susan
Susan,glad to hear that you are going to be back in the make much earlier than you though. Perhaps the gentleman that you were writing about just needs a little more education. I have attached a couple of pamphlets that you may have already read that you can give to him(hopefully without creating angst) Cheers!
zenith1: Enjoyed reading the links you provided. Thanks for the post.
Especially the second link, (Campaign for Real Milk Nov 2009) - page 21 - Food borne illness chart - 1999 -2006
Regards: john