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It was suggested to me to post this here.

Cheese making had interested me in the past, but my problem in starting was finding raw milk in the area. The state prohibits the sale of raw milk for human consumption, and afraid of getting in trouble with the law retailers have stayed from selling it. Goat milk is another story, expensive and also hard to find.

Store bought milk can be used, I heard, by adding calcium chloride. But, I think that God intended the cheese process to happen al naturale, not al homogenated. But, I'm never saying "never."

I searched everywhere online, and in September someone from Florala advertised online about bringing raw milk (for pet consumption) to Valparaiso twice per month.

I don't know if this guy still goes to VP, but I tried to catch him a few times, but never found him.

In Pensacola there are no Whole Foods stores, the nearest is about six hours away and the local farmers markets don't carry the milk.

So I had just about given up. Then one day recently I happened to walk into a small food store in town, called "Ever Man", looking for honey... and found raw milk!

Boing! Time to get cheesy.

They also have the goat's milk, but one quart cost the same as a gallon of raw cow's milk... $5.99.

So, for anyone in my area looking for raw milk, they have it there in Ever Man's, on Garden street... don't remember the building number but it's a green and brown building on the right (if going East.)

Anyway, this is it for now. Sorry for the long blabby post. Just too excited.

Raw milk makes a great cheese but store bought milk works well aso if you add calcium chlroide. I use both. For high fat cheese I use raw and for lower fat cheeses or when I am short on cash I use store bought.

Debi, is there a difference in the final product?

I mean in the taste, curd, et...

Well yes I have to say yes. I find it creamier and I have to make adjustments to my cultures etc. when using raw milk. Less is more when your working with raw milk. I have however made very satisfiying cheeses using store bought milk.

Thanks Debi.

I just got an email from the Valparaiso guy I talked about before.

After almost 60 days, he answers.

The milk costs $8 a gallon, plus the coop fee, plus a sizeable order - prepaid. Then he would tell me where to pick it up.

What  the ...?

Anyway, I'm going to try the store bought to see if I can make it work using the calcium chloride.

Yur welcome Quesa wish I could have helped!

I was paying $6.00/gallon for a great creamline but they have new customers so I am not getting it there anymore. They want $6.00/half gallon plus $2.00 bottle deposit now.

I am back to my original farmer for $6.00/gallon but not as good a quality. Jerseys to Holsteins makes a big difference in milk but still sooooo good to drink! And this family is soo sweet. Now that we are paying for heat I will be using more store bought milk at $21 vise $42 a batch.

Quesa - Look for a non-homogenized milk. Sometimes called cream line. They are out there, just hard to find a source sometimes.

Yah, I've been looking for pasteurized non-homogenated, but no luck.

Been looking for another source of raw milk, too.

The $6 a gallon of raw milk at Ever'Man is a good price, but looking nonetheless in case I can find it cheaper somewhere else. 

I did take a taste of the raw milk, but afraid I was going to get sick and die. Thankfully I was okay, and I found the taste of raw milk very sweet and awesome.

I grew up in a farm and had fresh milk and produce when I was a kid, but then my father died and my mom had to sell stuff to keep it going. Cows were the first to go.

So, I appreciate natural foods and I'm thinking that one day soon I may end up going back to live in the backwoods.

I don't have the exact statistics at my fingertips, but in the past 20 years hundreds of people have died from pasteurized milk. NOT ONE person has died from fresh raw milk.

Farmers depend on processing companies to buy their milk. However, if raw milk was legal everywhere, they could sell direct to the public just like they do tomatos and other produce. Cutting out the bottling companies, farmers could make twice as much as they are currently selling to the processors. Consequently, the big milk companies are constantly lobbying lawmakers about the public health "dangers" of raw milk. And they are pushing harder than ever right now.

I'm really thrilled because a couple of lawmakers have proposed a bill in Wisconsin to legalize sales of raw milk by Grade A dairy farmers.  I really don't think it will pass, since big business has the bucks, while people who want to drink raw milk have a very small voice/pocketbook, I do think it is a step in the right direction that they're even thinking about it on a legislative level.

I think with the big push to go organic a lot of people are searching out local farmers for raw milk.

It's funny but one of my sons best friends (my second son for 29 years) has a lactose allergy (supposidly). He can't drink store bought milk or eat commercial products with milk but we have found out recently he can drink the raw milk I get and eat my raw milk cheeses with no ill effects.

So I have to question - what are they doing to the store bought milk?

for one thing, the somatic cell count in milk from commercial dairies is allowed to be as high as 200,000 ppm.  Admittedly, those germ cells are killed off by pasturization, but when you think about it, store milk basically has pus in it.  Sorry to sicken people here, but it true.

Pasturization kills off the enzyme lactase, which means that many people who don't produce any or adequate amounts of lactase themselves, are lactose intolerant.  Lactase is the enzyme that digests the sugar in milk (lactose). 

I also believe that homogenization distorts milk and creates even more problems than pasturization does, though I've never heard anything scientific to prove my theory.

Having been a butcher in my youth, and understanding the ins and outs of wine making,  I really do think that if many folks really thought about what is actually in their food, it would turn them off.

For example, there is really very little wrong with eating spider legs,  and most of us have (either when sleeping or inadvertently in our food, and most of us are non the worse for it.

A slight digression, but... If you really want to know what you're eating, read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

I agree with you completely Karen .... and Wayne although I will not eat worms! At least I don't think I will. Never been that hungry.