Raw Milk Collection

Every 4 or 6 days we wash out our 20 litre milk collection container and head off to the nearby dairy farm to collect more milk. Our consumption is relatively small for daily latte's and cups of tea. However, the cats and dogs love their milk and they consume by far the Lion's share.

The process is straight forward. Arrive at the dairy at one of the predefined milking times either 7 am or 4.30 pm. Sometimes they run a bit late or a bit early. Late isn't a problem as we always have a chat.

Once at the dairy it's into the vat room and turn off the vat pump. There is a brief wait to allow milk to accumulate in the pre-filter receiver. Once sufficient milk has accumulated the hose to the vat is disconnected and held over my collection container which has a large funnel inserted. One of the milkers turns on the pump while I hold everything steady. It only takes a couple of minutes to fill the 20 litre plastic drum. I reconnect the hose to the vat and they turn the receiver pump to automatic. They return to milking and I wash out the vat room.

Our 20 litre milk collection container

Once home, the milk is emptied into our 25 litre cheese making vat and any drinking milk scooped into bottles for refrigeration. How much milk we bottle each time depends on the cheese making program. With Camembert, Yogurt, Fetta and some other soft cheeses we will bottle about half the milk. With harder cheeses we may only bottle 2 or 4 litres and get more milk sooner.

25 litre chees making vat

After bottling the bottles go into the kitchen refrigerator and the cheese vat goes into the Cave refrigerator for cooling.

Theses are milk bottles kept from when we use to buy Bio Dynamic milk from the supermarket

We collect afternoon milk as much as possible because it contains the highest level of butterfat. Morning milk is a bit thin on butterfat.

Remaining milk being refrigerated.

After cooling the cheese vat milk overnight the cream rises to the top and forma a thick layer which wrinkles as you scoop it out. If making Camembert or Blue we leave the cream alone but for yogurt and Fetta and some other cheeses we scoop out the cream.

Our preference is cultured butter and the cream has a culture added and left at room temperature for 24 or more hours before processing. The Buttermilk is used to make scones and any leftover given to the cats and dogs.

Depending on time the next day the remaining milk in the cheese making vat is then processed in the kitchen into cheese with any whey kept for grain soaking.

Cleaning the 20 litre collection container is an important task. A rinse with cold water, Add a few litres of hot water and some detergent, a vigorous shake, empty and rinse again with cold water leaving a litre or so of cold water in the container. A tea spoon or two of Potassium Metabisulfite is added and another  vigorous shake and that is it. The Metabisulphite will ensure no nasty growths in the container. When we go to use it again it just requires a quick rinse.

More Milk!!

There I was this morning just about to write about the use of Zones at HHF and instead I glanced at the email Inbox. Big mistake leading to a change in topic.

Loren Cordain had sent out an email about The Paleo Diet and in particular an article he wrote on Dairy: Milking for all it's Worth

I won't refer to this as a long article as it really qualifies as a book. Anyway the tome writes off milk and milk products as the cause of a large number of health problems. Based on loads of research, studies and statistics there is an overwhelming case against milk it is difficult to argue against the arguments.

 

A good summary of findings is in Q&A

In a comment elsewhere the author in responding to a question in Dairy and Saturated Fats said “I suspect that raw milk would elicit a similar response”.

If you give this a bit of thought you might come to the same conclusion as I do and that is the vast majority of people drink pasteurised and processed milk and its by-products and the research provides a cloud over its food value and its health benefits.

So what about raw milk? Well you may want to take it on trust as I do that being an unadulterated product it is probably not too bad for you especially if you come from a gene pool that has an affection for the product.

And so we make our own decisions on this.

But just on diets lets make some observations:

Paleo (Loren Cordain) is High Animal Protein, Low Carbohydrate

The China Study (T. Colin Campbell) is No animal Protein

Joel Fuhrman is some Animal Protein but mainly Plant Based

Atkins (not so popular) is High Animal Protein Low Carbohydrate

Leslie Kenton (decades ahead in nutrition) High Animal Protein, Low Carbohydrate

Bernstein (Diabetes) are Low Carbohydrate, High protein

CSIRO is High Protein, Low Carbohydrate

Low GI laps over everywhere

And finally the Traditional Mediterranean is balanced.

 

In all contradictory advice I'll take the middle road.

The Things We Keep

Years ago before the Internet whenever we read an interesting article on a topic that attracted us we would either keep the article or photocopy the section that drew our attention. Over time there is a build up of material and because there is a filing cabinet they find their way into the cabinet under some heading or another.

In recent years it became obvious that it was easier to research a topic via our own extensive collection of books, the public library and the Internet. The filing cabinet of documents becoming largely redundant. Gradually a review of this collection of suspension folders has been occurring and much material is finding its way into either compost, recycling or reused as note paper before joining the previous two homes.

Anything that is extremely rare and worth keeping which isn't much joins a binder and is held in place with a plastic pocket.

One such binder is on cheese making. It contains many recipes for making cheeses and technical articles on the process.

This morning by chance over Green Tea (being a fast day that is all we get) I reviewed an article from the filing cabinet before deciding its fate.

 

These are extracts. I'd love to give attribution but there is no indication of source on the photocopy to help.

“Rennet works best when milk is warm and contains soluble calcium. Milk naturally contains calcium in a soluble form, but if it is boiled or heated to a high temperature this calcium becomes insoluble, and rennet will not work. “

“Pasteurisation also kills most of the lactic acid-producing bacteria in milk”

“In the past acid-curd cheese was traditionally made from milk which had gone sour. However, this was raw milk which soured 'normally'. It is not advisable to use pasteurised milk which has soured or gone off for cheese making or in cooking. Pasteurized milk keeps for longer because nearly all the lactic acid bacteria are destroyed by the heat treatment. If it does go 'off' this may be caused by the growth of other bacteria which could be harmful. It is wiser to throw such milk away.”

 

I'd have to dispute the claim that pasteurised milk keeps longer with the exception of UHT milk. Our raw milk keeps well for 10 days. And why would you put UHT milk into your body?

So what was the point in introducing pasteurisation to milk? A conscious effort to increase Osteoporosis or provide a medium for dangerous bacteria?

Raw Milk Cheeses

Recently been rereading a research article on raw milk cheeses published by Institut National de La Recherche Agronomique. Authored by E. Beuvier and S. Buchin.

Firstly the hygienic aspects : Overall dairy products have a very good safety record accounting for only about 5% of bacterial outbreaks in France and 1-5% in six other countries (USA, Finland, The Netherlands, England and Wales, Germany and Poland) between 1988 and 1997. Raw and Pasteurised cheeses each accounted for 30% of that 1-5%. Interestingly E. Coli and Salmonella die slowly during the maturation of hard cheeses. The USA legislates that raw milk cheeses mature for at least 60 days.

Secondly the sensory aspects: Raw milk cheeses ripen faster and develop a stronger odour/flavour.

“Besides the intensity of flavour, differences in the flavour profile of cheese can observed. The flavour of ripened cheese is richer and more complex when indigenous microflora is present in the milk to be processed.”

In almost all comparison studies raw milk cheeses received a higher score for pungent attribute.

It is really a personal choice whether to use pasteurised or raw milk. Quite often availability dictates that choice. For us it's a belief that the food we consume should be as little interfered with as possible.

Gorgonzola, Brie, Parmesan and Cheddar at Home Hill Farm

Camembert and Roquefort

Camembert is relatively easy to make. Said after ten years experience and a fair share of mistakes and failures. But after a while you get into a groove and it becomes second nature. The important thing is to keep trying and take notes on each cheese. Each cheese we make has a Cheese Making Note that stays on the Cheese refrigerator until the cheese is consumed. Any special useful changes are added to the cheese making book as margin notes e.g. length of brining on small Camembert rounds. We use the Cheeselinks book for most of our cheeses and both the Normandy Camembert and Brie recipes make excellent small rounds.

Roquefort is a different matter. Having found real Roquefort in a small supermarket in nearby Gloucester NSW it became an imperative to attempt to replicate the texture and flavour. The initial challenge was not having Sheep's milk. Raw cow's milk was the only option. The research indicated that a higher fat level was required and this was achieved by adding back cream skimmed from a larger quantity of milk. All the other processes such as starters, timings for each stage, salting and aging were accumulated from various cheese books and then the experimenting started.

The end result is a very creamy, bluey cheese which is nothing like Roquefort in texture and flavour. However what has resulted is a great blue which has now become a staple. The experimentation will continue but without Sheep's milk we can only dream.

Camembert in its Humidifier

Roquefort in Cheese Wrap stored on edge to allow maximum airflow through holes
 

Partially Aged Roqufort

Roquefort Recipe

% Moisture 42.44 % Fat 29 % Protein 20 % Salt 4.1

Temperature 30 C pH 6.5

Cheeselinks Cultures B&C i.e. Lactococcus Lactis, Lactococcus Cremoris, Leuconostoc, Streptococcus Thermopilus, Lactobacillus Delbreukii Bulgaricus

Rennet 5 ml/20 L

Set for 2-2 1/2 hours
Curd cut 1-3 cm
Stir 2-5 times over 40-60 mins
Drain to Curd depth and fill hoops
No Pressing
Drain 2-3 days turning regularly
Dry Salt 4.1% of Curd weight
Ripen at 8- 10 C for 18-25 days
Pierce holes
Wrap
Stack on sides
5-10 months at 1 C (or 8-10 C for quicker ripening)


Cheese Refrigerator - Bottom Shelves: Haloumi and Fetta, Middle Shelves: Camembert and Roquefort in Humidifiers, Top Shelf: Cheddars and  Havarti, Door: Parmesans.

Butter Making

Up until recently we have been making unsalted sweet butter from our surplus cream. Sweet meaning it is not cultured or salted. It is kept in the freezer and a batch defrosted as needed. Small inexpensive plastic containers are best and if care is taken not to damage them they can be re-used many many times and if damaged recycled. Occasionally we come across freezable glass containers which we buy as well but they always have plastic lids. Each container has a scrap of paper taped on with the date.

Some months ago we tried a cultured butter from a small butter maker in Victoria. This led onto culturing our cream and trying to make the same flavour. The recipe is in the Cheeselinks book and the starter was one we keep for cheese making (B Flora). Being raw cream it did need some experimentation to ascertain the best culturing time. A lot depends on the cream harvested that day and the ambient temperature. Fairly easy to decide when to churn just by tasting. If you want to be technical pH should be 4.6 and the temperature at 8 degrees Celsius.

Once an acceptable flavour or the technical measurements are met the churning is done. It is a lot quicker with cultured cream. Our churn is a cheap food processor using the plastic mixing blade. The speed is set to just below half and it all happens quite quickly after that.

This is all done in what we call the La Cave when making wine so supposedly it should be called the the Dairy Room when making butter. On the other hand it is also where keep the bulk food supplies so therefore the Pantry. And the Onions, Garlic, Nuts and Turmeric are in drying racks so therefore the drying room. The main reason for doing it out there is because it can be a noisy operation when the food processor is doing multiple batches.

We collect our 20 litres of milk every 3-5 days. Each time it is settled in a 25 litre stainless steel pot overnight in the spare refrigerator. The cream rises to the top and is skimmed off. If Camembert or one of the creamy blues is on the cards then some milk is drained off for other usage and the cream added back to make a double and sometimes triple cream Camembert or a very rich soft creamy blue cheese. Every now and then some of it goes towards making some ice cream.

We use raw milk in tea and coffee and for the cats and dogs. We found over the last decade that the raw milk keeps better than the bought stuff. The longest period was 10 days before there was an obvious souring and the milk would curdle in hot tea. The important thing is to chill it as quickly as possible after collection. The Somatic Cell Count also effects its keeping qualities. Raw milk cheeses tend to ripen quicker than pasteurised and have more complex flavours and sensory attributes due to the indigenous micro flora. Our supplier posts the laboratory tests for Somatic Cell Count and Total Platelet Count in the vat room every 2^nd day. Knowing the quality of the milk provides the confidence to use it as we do.

Inexpensive and aging Food Processor

Home Made Butter Paddles from Recycled Pallets Dressed with Olive Oil

Raw Milk, Spring Vegetables, Orchard Fruit Fly Control

Milk

Collected milk yesterday afternoon, just over 20 litres which will last the week. Not just for us, the dogs and cats love the stuff, even the chooks want some. Not any ordinary milk but straight from the cow, unpasteurised and still warm. There are a couple of friendly dairy farmers close by who are happy to part company with some of their production in exchange for some “cash money”.

This isn’t A2 milk nor is it organic or biodynamic, but it does have one important feature in that it is not pasteurised or homogenised. A2 milk is found in the older breeds such as Jersey, Asian and African cows. A1 milk is found in breeds such as Holsteins. A1 milk has mutated beta casein so that it liberates BCM 7 into the tract of the animal consuming it. BCM 7 has been linked to neurological impairment. Dr Keith Woodford’s The Devil in the Milk looks at this in much detail but a quick reference is Wikipedia. Briefly, his research shows a direct correlation between populations exposure to A1 milk and incidence of autoimmune disease, heart disease, type 1 diabetes, autism and schizophrenia

William Campbell Douglass MD writes in The Milk of Human Kindness Is Not Pasteurized about the negative aspects of pasteurisation. There are other studies, in particular Francis M. Pottenger, Jr. Again refer to an article in Wikipedia called Pottenger’s Cats. In summary, cats on raw milk as opposed to pasteurised were healthier.

Our raw milk has a shelf life of 7-10 days. The important factors are making sure the containers in which it is stored are thoroughly cleaned each time and also that the milk is refrigerated quickly to 4 degrees Celsius or lower ie put in a normal refrigerator.



Weekly Milk Supply Home Bottling

The farmer we purchase from receives quality awards for his milk. The quality is measured by low SCC (Somatic Cell Count) i.e. a measure of pathogenic bacteria responsible for mastitis and TPC (Total Platelet Count) i.e. measurement of all bacteria in the milk. When milk is collected from dairy farms the temperature is recorded to ensure the vat is operating correctly and the samples taken are also tested for the presence of antibiotics. Our dairy farmer takes enormous pride in keeping his counts at low levels, his refrigeration correctly working and the milk from any cows treated with antibiotics not put in the vat. He even drinks his own milk

Vegetables



Asparagus Bed

An interesting thing is going on with our Asparagus. The 2 year old plants (Connovers Colossal and Argenteuil) came up as expected during the last week of August and the first week of September. These we won’t harvest for at least another year. The four year old Mary Washington’s did nothing until early October. Most unusual and unexplained. Our favourite way of eating Asparagus is to lightly steam them and serve whole spears sprinkled with Parmesan, chopped hard boiled egg and a good splash of dressing. The dressing is made from Apple Cider Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, some Miso a dash of Shoyu and some Balsamic Vinegar .



Tomato Bed Trellis

What we call the Tomato Bed is all planted out. It’s a bed a metre wide and about 30 metres long made from a layer of composted cow manure, a layer of litter from the chook yard and a layer of mulch hay. It’s that long because we can’t ever seem to reduce the number of varieties we like to try. This year there are 15 varieties and 25 seedlings interplanted with some Basil. These don’t take up all the 30 metres and so there are some capsicum and eggplant at one end. No staking involved. Instead, three layers of mesh at 400 mm spacing (roughly) are supported by steel posts every 2.5 metres. The plants grow up through the mesh and don’t need staking, just tuck in any outside branches during the growing season. The ease of maintenance appeals to our lack of discipline.



Tomato Puree

We preserve very few fruits and vegetables. Eating fresh is important and so we have a pick and eat policy. However, Tomatoes provide great flavour to Pasta sauces, stews and all types of other dishes. When we have had our fill of fresh tomatoes, the bottling starts. Tomatoes through a blender, then into a big pot, raised to a rolling boil for few minutes and into steel capped glass jars. About 50-70 keep us supplied for the rest of the year with a few left over in case of a disaster in the tomato bed the next year. Jars are easily acquired from friends who prefer pre-packaged pasta sauces.

This tomato puree keeps for years. Leave in the seeds and skins. It is crazy to remove these when they contain so many of the vitamins and minerals. The sauces may look a little better without the skin and seed but not as healthy. If we want a more intense tomato sauce we mix some dried tomatoes with the tomato puree in a blender before cooking. This gives a thick very rich tomato flavour. The tomatoes are dried in a Nara drier which has five trays. Thick slices of tomato sprinkled with salt to help preserve. You need to experiment a bit until you get a feel for the quantity of salt. If they are too salty they can be soaked in hot water before use. Dry them quite dry and place in a jar covering with extra virgin olive oil. Don’t fill all five trays to start. Start with 2-3 trays of freshly cut tomatoes then when they are partially done add the remaining trays. This eliminates the possibly of any mould forming because of the humidity.

The Tomato bed is not just the tomatoes it also includes a large weed matted area planted to melons, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, beans, and okra. The bed is out in a paddock and we move it every year. That’s right, dismantle and erect. It takes about 3 days in total and then for the next 8-9 months it provides food. The by products are the increased fertility and grass cover of the once barren hilltop. Over the last 17 years we have worked from one end of the ridge to the other and last year returned to the beginning. Another form of rotational planting.



Melon Bed

We have settled on two types of climbing beans. One is called a Rattlesnake. Its attraction is the quality in taste, no matter how mature it becomes. It is prolific and has an extended growing season. The other is the Chinese Snake Bean. You know those thin 300-400 mm long things. Best picked early when crunchy. A different but pleasant taste, prolific and again a long growing season.

Should also mention the Japanese climbing cucumber. Will climb easily up a space saving trellis, can be eaten small or large. Can grow quite large fruit which is still tasty and has a long growing season.

Cabbage can be a useful vegetable. We’ve found two recipes.

Recipe 1 Sauerkraut: using a Russian mother’s old recipe. Slice into ribbons, finely chop some carrot, add some dill or caraway seeds then spent a few minutes scrunching this so that is all nicely bruised. Stuff it very firmly into a huge glass container or enamelled pot and weigh down so that the liquid covers the pulp. This will ferment over the next week and can then be sealed and stored in the refrigerator indefinitely. And by the way the Carrot and seeds can be left out.

Recipe 2 Asian Cabbage: cut into ribbons enough cabbage for immediate use. Place in a saucepan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil (or butter), add chopped dry chilli to taste with a liberal sprinkle of Fish Sauce. Simmer till tender and serve with whatever else you are having. Make sure the Fish Sauce is real ie salt and fish only not one of the fake ones with added this and that.

Just a note on Extra Virgin Olive Oil. There a lots of good Australian oils available at very good prices; we use it in all our cooking. Aldi have one of the best which has been tested for quality and definitely price. Cold pressed and less than 1% acidity. Some of the imports have tested with higher acidity and some have also been adulterated with other oils. Stay clear of Pomace oil unless you are using it for making soap or lubrication. It is chemically extracted and not a healthy product.

Orchard



Bagged Fruit

Spring has arrived and with it the self defence plans are implemented. The Tropical Peach and Nectarine trees have flowered and the small green fruit appeared. On go the fruit fly and parrot protection bags. For these early ripening fruits, paper bags (ex Green Harvest) are placed over the fruit. Usually with small fruit we’ll do 30-40 bags as that is about as much as can be eaten during the season. The Apricots, early Plum and non tropical Nectarine are next and the traditional Peach. The Tropical Apple is a longer ripening fruit and has huge bunches which require large cloth bags. By the time the Tropical Apple is ready to harvest the parrots are desperate and will shred paper bags. With larger fruit such as apples and pears, 20 bags are sufficient, unless it’s for Cider or Perry then it’s an all out effort.

This can be a tedious task, however securing a supply of fruit is vital. But with earphones attached listening to local radio passes the time pleasantly. We find netting helped with the birds but was very damaging to trees when removal was required and didn’t help with fruit fly. We have tried various organic pots and potions against fruit fly but at best only a small percentage of the flies are caught. The only 100% solutions are bagging and chemical sprays. Chemical sprays are not acceptable to us.

Mulberries are on at the moment. The sweetest fruit is that which falls into your hand when touched. It is impossible to keep for any length of time. We pick a couple of hours before eating at the earliest or just forage from the tree.