Got Milk? Tips for Great Tasting Goats Milk.

Got Milk?  Tips for great tasing goats milk.  I love goats milk.  When I first got my goats my family turned their nose up at the milk.  Since we had a house full of kids we went through a lot of milk.

Goats milk can be great tasting

I didn’t tell them, but just mixed the milk in with the cow’s milk.  I know a sneaky moms trick on a budget.  It did help the jug of milk go a lot farther.

I drink goat’s milk because I really like it.  Goats milk has been given a bad name mostly because of the way that it is handled.  If not handled correctly and if the animal is not fed properly, it will have a bad taste.  But then again, nothing can taste better than what you feed it.  If you feed it weeds, well you get the idea!

A fun story about my journey

Quite a few years ago I had a goat I was selling.  The people came to look at her and to taste her milk.  I gave them all a taste of the creamy cold milk and needless to say they were ranting and raving about how good it tasted.

My husband wouldn’t drink the goat’s milk and was laughing when they said how good it was.  He asked for a glass of her milk to try, just to test it for himself.  After taking a sip he said, “why are you selling this goat??  The milk is good.”

We all laughed, and I assured him this goats sister, “Cookie”  had really good milk also.    He was sold and will drink goats milk, as long as it tastes good.  This is what I do to make sure the goats milk tastes great!

A few tips to make goats milk taste great!

•  So first off what you feed your goats will make a big difference in the way the milk tastes.  If you feed them weeds, well, that is probably what it will taste like.  I believe it is important to feed them good quality hay.  We raise alfalfa hay so that is what mine are fed.  I also feed COB, (corn, oats, and barley).  The more grain I feed the higher production, but at the same time, you need to be careful not to feed too much.  Grain is high in protein and could cause your goat to bloat, which can be fatal.  The same is true for alfalfa hay.  Ours is high in protein, so I am careful how much I feed my goats.  I have also found with one of my goats when I feed her molasses it will give the milk a different flavor.
• I make sure to milk it into a glass container.  I like to use something I can put a lid on so nothing will get into the milk on the way to the house.  I am a really picky milker, probably even a little OCD about it.
• It is really important to cool the milk as quickly as possible.  I take the milk into the house, strain it, and pour it into a milk bottle then it goes right into the refrigerator.  I only use metal and glass with my milk.  Plastic seems to hold flavors of other things and affects the milk.

This is similar to the strainer that I use.  I put milk filters in it to catch anything that may be in the milk.

I like to use milk bottles.  They fit nicely in the door of my refrigerator and I can put another one right next to it.  I rotate the bottles of milk and we take the one in the front.

We have noticed a jug of milk that is only partially full will not keep as long because the milk we use is raw milk.  If I have only a small amount of milk to put into the refrigerator I use a smaller jug.

To Pasturize or not

This is really a personal preferance.  I drink the milk without pasturizing it.  I am very picky what goats I bring into my herd to keep my goats disease free.  When I bring a goat into my herd (which is usually only a buck, I test him before putting him with the herd).

If my grandkids are drinking the milk we do pastruize it.

Which ever you decide  it is important to make sure your bottles you are milking into are clean.  Make sure and wash the udder of the goat and clip any long hairs that may be in the way of milking.  Pour your strained milk into clean bottles.

Hair, straw, and other things that drop into the milk will cause the milk to pick up bad flavors.  Cleanliness is very important not only for the flavor but for your health when milking your goat.

Got Milk?

I hope you enjoyed my blog post.  Please feel free to share it.  Also, I would love to hear your ideas, just post them below.