# Raw or Pasteurized



## YourSoJelly (Aug 20, 2013)

How do you like your milk? Do you prefer it raw or do you like it pasteurized? Why do you prefer it that way and what way stays fresh longer? Thanks! 


Oh! I was wondering if anyone know who 'Michigansnowpony' is? I wasn't sure if she was a member on here or what but I am in LOVE with her YouTube videos!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I prefer raw. I have a small herd that is disease tested and kept in sanitary conditions. The raw milk is very soothing to my tummy (and my allergies) and is helping my aging mother get through a physically difficult transition. I'm a big fan! But there are two sides to the coin, and both have pros and cons. The good thing about raw is it has all those wonderful nutrients still in there. When you pasteurize you kill many of those nutrients, but you still do have beneficial proteins, so if it eases your mind it may be a good way to go, depending on your situation.


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## ariella42 (May 22, 2014)

I prefer mine raw too. I like the taste better, and I prefer not to go through the trouble of pasteurizing, particularly since we don't get that much milk at a time at the moment. Pasteurized milk will clearly keep longer since it starts out with a lower bacteria load (of both good and potentially harmful bacteria), but I figure that if I don't use or freeze the milk within a week, I'm probably better off putting it on the compost pile anyway.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

We use raw simply because I don't want to take the time to pasteurize. That's my only reason.


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## mayia97420 (Apr 22, 2014)

we use ours raw- my hubby insists it tastes better that way


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I also use mine raw, but I also get a small amount each day (anywhere from 2-3c currently to 2qts or more at peak). Perfect amount for me... but would be a pain to pasteurize. I also like raw because of the beneficial bacteria, etc - I just feel it's more natural that way. And I love the taste, though I've never tried it pasteurized, so can't really compare it.

My raw milk lasts at least 10 days. I've used it up to 12 days so far and it was fine. But generally, once we're using 10-day old milk, it means I REALLY need to be making some cheese or ice cream or something to "catch up". It's only really an issue during peak lactation for me - and I'm hoping to stagger breeding so that I never have a huge excess nor a complete milk drought.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

ariella42 said:


> I prefer mine raw too. I like the taste better, and I prefer not to go through the trouble of pasteurizing, particularly since we don't get that much milk at a time at the moment. Pasteurized milk will clearly keep longer since it starts out with a lower bacteria load (of both good and potentially harmful bacteria), but I figure that if I don't use or freeze the milk within a week, I'm probably better off putting it on the compost pile anyway.


Actually, I think raw milk keeps longer.


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## ariella42 (May 22, 2014)

The purpose of pasteurization is to reduce spoilage and increase shelf life, so, if it's being done correctly and all other factors are the same, it should always last longer than raw milk. However, it might start tasting "goaty" sooner than raw since it was heated - I've never done a side-by-side comparison


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Always happy to give a plug for the raw milk camp. The only time my milk gets cooked is when I make pudding or gravy. My yogurt, butter, buttermilk, cheese and ice cream are all raw. Pasteurized milk is dead milk. Something I found out quite by accident; if you take the milk warm from the goat, put it in a mason jar with the lid on tight and refrigerate; it will seal and stay fresh several extra days.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I refuse to drink pasteurized. Raw all the way. Raised my 2 legged kids on it, one of them right from birth.

I do not like the taste of pasteurized milk. I like it natural.

The raw seems to help my arthritis and asthma. When I am not drinking raw goat milk, like when they are dry, my asthma and Rheumatoid arthritis are horrible. Once I start back with my raw goat milk, the pain and breathing problems are much less.

Another perk is that I am never sick. I work in a hospital, surrounded by sick people, both patients and staff. Everyone around me gets sick, I don't. I can't remember when my last cold was and I have never, since getting the goats 30+ years ago, had the flu.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Definitely prefer raw. I pasteurized for a while since my dad wanted me to, but after I did extensive research, he said it was all right for me to drink it raw. I only have one milking goat now, and she's a Nigerian that's been fresh almost a year and a half, so she's giving less than a cup. I milk her into a mug, pick the 2 or 3 hairs out, and drink it right away. It is HEAVENLY. It tastes oh, about 20% better than perfectly pasteurized, good milk _from the same goat_ (and oh by the way, perfect pasteurization is difficult without a machine and rarely happens for me, lol)...I say it tastes like chocolate milk. It's sweet and warm, just like my little goat. I tell her:

Your coat is black,
Your eyes are blue,
Your milk is sweet,
And so are you!

Tip: If the milk has an extremely unpleasant "un-sweet" taste, in my experience it is because the animal is copper deficient. The flavor is corrected within a few days of copper bolusing. Some people think this is just a "goaty" taste, but IME it's not - it's copper deficiency. It's hard to describe but unmistakable once you taste it.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

I like the taste of raw milk better so I drink it raw usually.


If I am making cheese or yogurt doing it raw greatly increases the chances your cheese will get contaminated or blow up with gas so I usually make the cheese or yogurt with pasteurized milk unless it's very cold when I'm making it.


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

Raw, just the way it was intended. Why "process" something when raw is far superior. As with all our food, the less processed the better, back to nature.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

RAW all the way. Won't even consider pasteurized for anything but cheese or baby goats.
I love the way it tastes. 
I love that it contains natural bacteria that helps keep me healthy. I am never, ever sick.
When I don't have raw goat milk in the winter dry period, my Rheumatoid arthritis acts up horribly


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I've actually never tasted pasteurized goat milk. I love the taste of raw milk and no one in our family has ever had any issues with it. So we vote "raw".


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Obviously, milk should be clean...but I have a theory. JUST A THEORY, BUT...Could it be that if we were truly healthy, we wouldn't get sick even if the milk _were_ a little contaminated?
According to Donna Pessin (Unique Healing), a person whose gut bacteria are in perfect balance will not get bacterial infections. Their body will also be able to efficiently detoxify, thus eliminating all diseases and disorders. She herself is living evidence of this.
Nearly everyone in our modern society has gut dysbiosis. The reasons for this are many I am sure, but IMHO one of the biggest is that our society has a bad case of germophobia, and kills everything before eating it (milk included). We eat hardly any fermented foods at all. There was a whole generation of babies raised on dead formula instead of live breast milk - affecting not only that generation, but their progeny, as bacteria are directly inherited from Mom. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OURSELVES????? Ironically, we're so scared of germs we've made ourselves a hundred times more susceptible to the bad ones. And the CDC goes on and on telling people to cook and poison everything to death, as if that's the only solution!!! I'm beginning to think the medical/safety community is incredibly, impossibly, grossly misled.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

This still comes down to personal choice and what you feel comfortable with. There are plenty of people on here who pasteurize their milk. There is nothing wrong with either. Read up on both sides and do what is best for you and your family.


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## armortrails (Jan 8, 2014)

I believe that too. In fact, there is evidence that farm families seem to have some kind of built in immunity to the germs and bacteria that their animals carry. 
On the other hand, the few people that have gotten really sick from raw milk over the 10 years, most of them have been first time users. 
This does not surprise me. Their system must be so sterile that they couldn't handle any kind of bad bacteria at all. 
It's the same thing you'll hear about on the news every once in awhile. There is some poor kid got deathly ill after visiting a petting zoo, even though hundreds of kids visited before them will no ill effects.


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## SwissCharms (Apr 9, 2013)

Whether or not to consume raw milk is obviously a contraversial topic. People who work with animals on a daily basis are far more likely to already have antibodies against many bacteria/pathogens found in raw milk than those who don't; you are exposed to the same pathogens your goat is when you spend time with them. Those who have auto-immune disorders (plus young and old) are also more susceptible to disease...likely the culprit in at least some of the petting zoo scenarios you are referring to Armortrails. In Europe, raw milk is tested for pathogens (at least) 1x per week as part of regulation of sale. Plenty of people who consume raw milk don't get sick, others do though. There is a reason pasteurization was invented and is widely used (think TB). I'm more comfortable with pasteurizing right now as some diseases don't have clinical signs before it would show up in the milk. I also wouldn't discount drinking it raw in the future (probably if I can get it tested regularly). 

That being said, people should do their own research and decide what they are most comfortable with. I wish there were more peer-reviewed papers and reputable websites to use. 

I'm kind of a science, biology nerd, (and I like parentheses ) so my opinion is going to be different than others.


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

Echoing many other people here...I get small amounts of milk, and that doesn't hang around the fridge for any length of time. It's (a) too small of a quantity to bother pasteurizing and (b) so much tastier with nuanced flavours, rather than the dumbed-down pasteurized taste. And somehow my innards always feel _happy_ for a long time, after having a nice drink of fresh, still-warm milk! Can't describe it any other way.


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## justamerefarm (Sep 2, 2014)

We also only get about two litres a day and we always drink it raw, that was the whole idea of having goats and milking. It's going on to just over four years now and we have never had a problem. The goats are disease free (had them tested), healthy and well cared for. Also clean environment and using it up within three to four days. If you are prone to stomache upsets or infections then it it might not be for you.


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