Raw Milk --- BUTTER/ CHEESE

COW.........................................................................................................

Step 1
Milk at the same time daily.

Step 2
Sit on the same side of the cow each day. This will help your cow feel more comfortable - cows like routine.

Step 3
Place cow in a stanchion if this makes you feel more at ease. If your cow is an old hand at being milked, this probably won't be necessary. Ask the farmer you purchased her from what her routine was with the farmer.

Step 4
Place stool at a right angle to the cow and sit with your head resting on her flank.

Step 5
Wash udder with warm water and clean cloth.

Step 6
Place pail under teats.

Step 7
Take a teat into the palm of your hand.

Step 8
Squeeze teat at top with thumb and forefinger. Continue squeezing each finger around teat, forcing milk in a stream until all fingers are around teat.

Step 9
Release teat.

Step 10
Repeat until only a small amount of milk comes out and the udder is soft to the touch.

Once you start milking your cow, she will have to be milked twice a day every day until you let her dry up.

GOAT........................................................................................................

Step 1
Place the goat in a milking stand.

Step 2
Clean the udder.

Step 3
Place a bucket under the teats.

Step 4
Take a teat into the palm of your hand.

Step 5
Squeeze the teat at the top with your thumb and forefinger; continue squeezing each finger around the teat, forcing the milk in a stream until all your fingers are around the teat.

Step 6
Repeat step 5 until only a small amount of milk comes out and the udder is soft to the touch.


Goat's milk can be a good substitute for people who are allergic to cow's milk. Goat's milk can also be used to make butter, cheese and yogurt


BUTTER.....................................................................................................

Step 1
If you're using raw milk, separate cream from milk by letting the milk sit for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator until the cream comes to the top of the milk. Use a large spoon or dipper to take the cream from the top of the milk.

Step 2
Let cream sit at room temperature until it is 60 degrees F.

Step 3
Pour cream into a quart jar and cover with a lid. [OPTIONAL METHOD----Pour the cream into your bowl. Whip it (using an electric/hand mixer, if you can) until it gets stiff. Slow down the mixer as you go along. It will go through different stages]


Step 4
Shake jar until globules of butter appear and most of the liquid has turned to a soft solid.

Step 5
Drain buttermilk from butter.

Step 6
Add cool water to jar and shake gently.

Step 7
Place cheesecloth over top of jar and drain.

Step 8
Rinse butter until liquid poured off is clear. If buttermilk is left in butter, it will give it a sour taste and cause the butter to spoil more quickly.

Step 9
Dump butter onto a cool surface, such as a marble or wood cutting board.

Step 10
Squeeze liquid from butter using wooden paddles or spoons to smash butter and pour off liquid.

Step 11
Add 1/4 tsp. to 1/2 tsp. of salt as you are mixing butter.

Step
12Shape butter or place in bowls with a lid and store in refrigerator. Store excess in freezer.


CHEESE....................................................................................................



There are basically five steps to make cheese of any kind - heating, curdling, draining, pressing and refrigerating. Since there are so many varieties of cheese the question that automatically comes to mind is which one of them are we going to make. Well the answer is quiet simple. Be it any kind of the cheese the basic process is same for all of them with just few minor differences


Make Soft Cheese
Step 1
Pour the milk in a stainless steel or enamel pot. Warm it on the stove until the temperature reads 80 F.

Step 2
Stir in the buttermilk and the diluted rennet solution. [ The kind of starter used also changes the kind of cheese you get. Mesophilic starter, basically bacteria that lives at room temperature, is used for fresh and hard cheeses such as Cheddar, Colby and Feta. Thermophilic starter, another bacteria variety that lives at higher temperature is good for cheeses such as Camembert, Gouda and Blue. Paneer (Indian cheese) is the vegetarian variety of cheese where only lemon or vinegar is used instead of animal rennet]


MAKE RENNET.............................................................
It's commonly known that cheese is made from animal rennet, which comes from the stomach linings of calves. But what most people don't know is that cheese can be made from plant rennet, and that the purple thistle flower is one of those plants that can cause heated milk to coagulate and form cheese. Cheeses produced this way are classified as vegetarian cheeses. If you've been battling the weedy purple thistle in your yard for years, you can now put the pesky little plant to work for you.

Step 1
Pick the thistle flower head when it has turned brown. Harvest it before the plant can start producing thistle down. If thistle down is evident, it means it's too late--the flower head is too mature and therefore unusable. Be sure to collect enough dried flower heads to last for the year.

Step 2
Dry the thistle flower heads well before storing them in a clean dry jar with a lid.

Step 3
Put a couple dried thistle heads in a mortar and start grinding them into a fine powder. Make sure they are well crushed.

Step 4
Repeat Step 2 until there are 5 tsp. of powder. Put it in a bowl and pour warm water over the ground thistle flower powder. Let it soak for a good five to 10 minutes.

Step 5
Watch for the liquid to turn a dark, concentrated brown color.

Step 6
Pour the liquid through a strainer to separate the plant material from the liquid. This is thistle flower rennet

CALVES...........................................................................
Historically cheese has been made using animal rennet. The old European process for obtaining rennet actually involves harvesting the linings of calves' stomachs. The mucosa is removed from the stomach chamber of a young calf. The stomachs used are retrieved from veal producers. The dried stomach of the calf is sliced into small pieces and put in salt water along with vinegar or wine and allowed to steep for several days. Then the solution is filtered. What remains is rennet and that can be used to coagulate milk into curds and whey. The curds are the basis for cheese.

Rennet can be purchased from commercial cheesemaking houses, but if you want to make rennet at home, here's how.

You will have to find a way to gain access to a freshly killed calf's stomach. Cut the stomach open so that you can clean it. Clean it inside and out by washing thoroughly with running water and salt. Sea salt works well for lightly scrubbing. Remove any food particles that may be stuck to the walls of the stomach. The rennet is contained in the lining so do not think you must remove the slimey substance that is the lining.


After the stomach is clean, tack it onto a wooden frame and dry it in direct sunlight. Drying requires a minimum of twenty-four hours. This drying will also kill any bacteria that may be present. When the stomach is thoroughly dried, cut it into small squares and pack it down in salt and store it in a clean covered container. A glass jar works well. In your jar you have rennet.

When you are ready to use the rennet to coagulate milk, or make cheese, choose a square and soak it overnight in cold water. Then rinse it off well and put it in the milk and wait for the curds. It is a good idea to tie the rennet up in a string so that it is easily retrieved after the curds have formed.



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Step 3
Stir well and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.



Step 4
Allow to set at room temperature for eight to 12 hours. Note that the texture of the milk will change and it will start resembling thick, soft cheese.

Step 5
Line another pot with cloth.



Step 6
Pour the cheese mixture in and let the cheese drain for about six to eight hours. Most of the liquid should drip and the cheese should be fairly thick.

Step 7
Mix in spices, salt and herbs of your choice, after the cheese has drained.

Make Hard Cheese .........................................................................

Step 1
Pour the milk in a stainless steel or enamel pot. Warm it on the stove until the temperature reads 88 F.

Step 2
Stir in the buttermilk.

Step 3
Set the milk aside for one hour to cultivate. Ensure that the mixture stays at 88 F. You may put the pot containing milk in a sink filled with hot water.

Step 4
Mix in the rennet with the cool water. Stir it into the milk.

Step 5
Keep this solution aside for about 45 minutes, while maintaining the temperature at 88 F. This process coagulates the milk.

Step 6
Test whether the curd is ready for cutting by dipping your finger in the curds. If the curds break evenly on your finger, it is ready.

Step 7
Cut the curds into half-inch cubes and let them sit for 20 minutes.

Step 8
Increase the temperature to 99 F. Remember to increase heat very slowly over a 30-minute period.

Step 9
Stir often to prevent the curds from getting entangled. Cook the curds at this temperature until you notice that the curds feel spongy and have lost a custard-like consistency. This will usually take 30 to 45 minutes.

Step 10
Let the curds settle to the bottom of the pot and carefully drain some of the whey.

Step 11
Pour remaining curds and whey into a colander. Allow to drain for 10 minutes.

Step 12
Put the curds back into the pot and mix in four teaspoons of salt.

Step 13
Ensure that you mix properly by breaking up any curds that have stuck together. Also remember to keep the curds warm by placing the pot in a sink full of hot water for about an hour.

Step 14
Line a cheese press with cheesecloth and pour curds into the press.

Step 15
Press at 15 pounds pressure for 20 minutes. Remove the cheese from the press. Turn over and redress onto another clean cheesecloth and press at 30 pounds pressure for two hours. Remove cheese from press, redress in a clean cheesecloth and press at 30 to 40 pounds for 12 hours or overnight.

Step 16
Remove the cheese from the press and allow to air dry several days until the cheese is dry to the touch.

Step 17
Turn the cheese several times a day while it is drying.

Step 18
Coat with cheese wax when the cheese is dry to the touch.

Step 19
Age the cheese at 55 degrees F for two to six months. For stronger cheese, age it for six to12 months or longer.