Finally managed to procure raw milk! What now?

August 6, 2023 12:00 PM

Aside from drinking it straight, making lattes, panna cotta, or pudding, what recipes would you recommend to highlight the flavor?
posted by wheatlets to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

What a coincidence! I was just now looking at making mozzarella. I haven't tried it yet, so can't tell how it works.
posted by mumimor at 12:07 PM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Raw milk is never safe. Pasteurization saves lives. Since you probably won't heed my advice, at least don't feed anything you've made with raw milk to anyone else, especially a child, elderly person, or anyone who's immunocompromised.
posted by twelve cent archie at 12:11 PM on August 6, 2023 [96 favorites]

I want to gently suggest that drinking raw milk doesn't square that well with a reluctance to take antibiotics, as you might put yourself in a position of needing massive doses of them.

You can, however, pasteurize raw milk at home, which many people with small family farms will do. Since you will not be ultra-pasteurizing it, and presumably you bought this from a small farm, it will still not taste like boring grocery store milk--and it would be much safer. I honestly would probably enjoy it mostly unadulterated after that, drinking it straight or using it in milky lattes or something like that. Also, presuming it's not homogenized, spreading the cream that rises to the top on a fresh english muffin or scone with some jam..

Please beware health claims from people selling raw milk.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:27 PM on August 6, 2023 [30 favorites]

Best answer: One of the risks of raw milk is tuberculosis, and a six-month course of some of the world's most hardcore antibiotics. Do Not Risk.
posted by heatherlogan at 12:37 PM on August 6, 2023 [13 favorites]

Came to say pretty much what Kutsuwamushi said. My spouse is from a Transylvanian family that exclusively buys raw milk, BUT they make a point of pasteurizing it via double boiler for safety.

(FWIW, this family is not a particularly risk-averse family. They also store cooked food in a slightly cooler than room temp pantry for 12-36 hours and eat it without worries. But--based on experience--they consider unpasteurized milk a bridge too far.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:37 PM on August 6, 2023 [6 favorites]

Others have said plenty about raw milk. For what it's worth, I grew up in a place where we only had access to raw milk, and it was always, always home pasteurised before it was drunk. The benefit of doing this is that you get a thick, delicious skin of cream which you can eat as is, still warm from the milk, and I recommend it greatly.

I'll also suggest fior di latte gelato. I can't vouch for this recipe, but the milk is definitely the star here.
posted by tavegyl at 1:10 PM on August 6, 2023 [7 favorites]

Mod note: Please refrain from posting if you aren’t going to try and help OP answer their question. There are plenty of comments about the dangers of raw milk now and OP is likely very aware and has done their research already. Moving forward, let’s keep answers focused on the question presented.
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 2:40 PM on August 6, 2023 [11 favorites]

I would definitely lean towards making mozzarella. It's easy and very satisfying to make. You can buy kits online that come with everything you need.
posted by ananci at 3:45 PM on August 6, 2023

After a few years away from it, I recently started buying raw milk again, because apparently you can't make Devon clotted cream with ultra high pasteurized cream, and this seemed like my only option.

Besides clotted cream, I am experimenting with kefir and yogurt making, which I have long experience with, to see if raw milk yields a different result.

I also drink it. I've done enough research to satisfy myself, and raw milk is legal but very tightly monitored here in Washington state USA. Anyway, that's a derail we've already been cautioned against.
posted by seasparrow at 5:03 PM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

A few years ago, we would get raw milk from an Amish family. My wife would use it exclusively to make cheese. Mozzarella, camembert, ricotta and some others.

While you can make cheese with regular pasteurized milk, most milk these days is ultra pasteurized, which is an issue when making cheese.
posted by toddforbid at 8:10 PM on August 6, 2023

For a while we had access to direct from the trusted dairy raw milk and it made excellent yoghurt and cheese. This book by David Asher was a great reference about handling raw milk safely as well as cheese making techniques. Tip: Kefir can be added to pasteurised milk to inoculate an equivalent microbial diversity for traditional cheese making techniques.

When working with fresh unpasteurised milk you are effectively in a battle against time before it spoils, keep your storage vessels clean and maintain a cool chain, also have a plan for what you will do with the milk once you get it home. We were collecting between 5-10 litres in a stainless steel tank that we sterilised each time, as we were taking it from the main tank at the farm we used a cloth to filter any dust / debris from falling into our container.

Most of the milk was set aside for the best yoghurt ever (following Asher's instructions and maintaining the culture we were developing) or cheese making and we would from memory reserve some for coffee and cereal the next days.

I've since stopped drinking cow milk so getting raw milk in this quantity is no longer efficient for our regular household needs but I do miss the yoghurt.

Also: unhomogenised milk over cornflakes is somehow better as you get flecks of cream nestled into the cereal. I miss that too.
posted by pipstar at 12:02 AM on August 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Milk tart! You can't make this with homogenized milk because it won't set, pasteurized or raw will work. https://www.africanbites.com/milk-tart/
posted by meepmeow at 3:07 PM on August 7, 2023