# How much cream do you get off goat milk with a separator?



## Barnes19

Ok understood that question depends on the individual ... but I'm wondering whether its worth getting a separator.

I see the butterfat percentages are pretty similar to cows milk ... but several people, and even one book, have told me they wouldn't bother separating goats milk unless you have a lot of goats because of the small amount of cream achieved.

Whats the reality here? I really need butter ...


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## billmac

I don't have a separator, but it is my understanding that you should be able to get all, or nearly all the cream with a mechanical separator.


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## NyGoatMom

I just found this...never tried it myself but it seems easy enough...I would add salt


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## kccjer

From my 2 nubian mix does last year....we got about 3/4 gallon milk daily. I would filter and put in the fridge over night (we milk once daily at night). The next day I would simply skim off whatever had risen to the top. One site said to put it in a wide, shallow container...that was a royal pain and didn't work worth a darn for me. I put mine in a wide mouth 2Qt canning jar. I was getting about 1/4 cup of cream off each jar. I would put the cream into another jar and save it up til I got a full jar. I use it as fresh until it sours and then use it for cinnamon roll topping. I believe I still have a pint of it in the back of the fridge...keep thinking I should get it out and do something with it. LOL If you let the cream sour, you can make sour cream butter!!! I fell in love with that while in Germany. I personally think the goat butter is really strong tasting so not too fond of it.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

I've done the skimming method before. The problem with that - aside from how long it takes - is if you want to make cultured butter rather than fresh cream butter, as I do, the cream absorbs flavors from the fridge and when you set it to culture those are amplified and the butter is not very tasty  You really need to use fresh cream to make good butter. Following this to see what people say - I've read that most separators are not very effective on goat's milk because of the size of the fat particles, but once person recently told me that running it through while warm works much better than cold.


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## kccjer

If you store the cream in a glass bottle with an airtight lid....it can't absorb flavors from the fridge. I've noticed that the cheddar cheese I make has a much stronger flavor...I think it's more a case of the "goatie" taste getting stronger over time? Don't notice that flavor at all in the fresh stuff.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

Mine was stored in mason jars and still tasted funky. I don't mind goaty flavor, this was definitely not that. I don't get the flavor in the milk or fresh cream butter, it's only when I cultured it and whatever bacteria create that flavor were allowed to grow.


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## Barnes19

I have heard that you have to have a separator that is set right for goats milk. Not sure how to tell. I wouldn't really be interested in getting one if I was going to get much less than 1/2 cup cream out of a liter.

But without actually trying it how do you know ... Skimming time isn't a problem, we're set up for that, when we had cows we used to settle it and siphon the milk out from underneath instead of skimming ... quick and easy.

But the problem is I understand the majority of the cream in goat milk doesn't rise ... at least I hope thats right because I only get 1/4 inch on a bottle rise! (and it tastes more creamy than that)

When we had cows we churned lots of butter and stored it in the freezer for use all year. We'd start off with half a chest freezer full. 80lb I think was a years supply ...

Whats this about culturing and flavor? Whats wrong with just ... you know ... "Churning the Butter"? Lol.

Is there anything wrong with ordinary butter from a goat?

_(Edited typo)_


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

Culturing allows a specific type of lactic bacteria to grow, which is what gives butter its flavor. Sweet cream butter which is not cultured tastes very bland IMHO.


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## Barnes19

So ... is goat butter, ie the normal non-cultured type, notably blander or otherwise different from cow butter ... or is it just a personal taste thing and you'd want to culture cow cream too?

We never cultured our cow cream and the butter was perfectly good to us ... it was different to bought butter, couldn't describe how, but I don't think they culture normal everyday shop butter?

Freshness isn't a problem ... we used to freeze the cream until we had enough to make butter (usually about 9 liters). It churned quicker after being frozen too.

What does the culturing make it taste like? I'm imagining a bit tart or yoghurty?


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## peggy

I LOVE fresh goat butter. I would say with my separator that I get about 1/2 pint of thick cream for each gallon of milk. I have alpines, I had Nubians years ago and got a substainal amount more cream than from my present alpines. So each breed is different and I agree that it is a lot of work to get the cream even with a separator but it is sooooo good.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

What kind of separator do you have?


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## Barnes19

Thanks Peggy ... I wonder when you say thick cream ... thicker than 'standard' cream? ... you've got it on a setting to produce more concentrated cream?

Most of mine are nubian/saanen crosses, or one young up and coming with an alpine dad. I'm thinking (from the taste) I'm looking at about 4% butterfat in most.

I've heard 2 different methods of getting better separator results, running it through warm, and running it through multiple times ... do you do anything special to yours?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

Yes, normal store butter is cultured. It doesn't taste tart - the specific bacteria give it that "butter" flavor instead of just tasting like oily cream. Home cultured butter won't be quite the same as store bought since you have a variety of bacteria from the raw milk, whereas store bought is pasteurized and then inoculated with the exact strain they want. But the flavor is similar.


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## Barnes19

I wonder what would happen if you froze it before separating ... when we froze cow cream it thawed with the cream separating again another third of it came off as milk.

Of course goat is naturally homogenized ... but still it might have an effect.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

When I've tried freezing my milk the curd separates from the whey as it thaws, not cream from milk. A friend recently told me I can recombine it in a blender but haven't tried that yet.


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## Barnes19

Hey you just caught my attention ... normal butter is cultured!? Wow thats the difference?

I must research this ... our butter was always ... well butter definately but different ... we thought we just hadn't got the whey out as much as they do ... because it was much softer too.


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## Barnes19

Curd and whey ... mmmm yuck ... could be a drawback! I had the impression that didn't happen to goat milk ... like store homogenized milk ...


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## NyGoatMom

I didn't realize that about butter,either! How different is this going to taste when not cultured?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

Like I said, I found it to be very bland. Even my cultured butter was much softer than store bought, not sure if that's from the whey or because their process is different.


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## Off Our Rocker Ranch

We're still in our first year of having goats (Nubian), but we've made the plunge and purchased a separator and in the morning we are to drive about an hour to pick up a 21/2 gal electric churn. 
We chill all milk immediately, then warm to 100* before separating. Get a pint to a pint and a half of VERY heavy cream per gallon of milk. 
The cream separator can be set to turn out just normal cream to very heavy cream. The heavier (thicker) the cream, the better the butter. When using very heavy cream, we get very little buttermilk left over (at least using the shaking method). We love sweet cream butter. Grew up on a farm with cows, and that's all we knew. Didn't know there was such a thing as cultured butter. With cow cream, we'd sometimes sit it out at room temp for 24-36 hrs before churning to give it a diff flavor, and it was good. From experience, can't do that with my goat cream, as that's where I first found out what "Goatie" flavor was.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

That *is* culturing - the natural bacteria in the milk are allowed to grow by sitting at room temperature instead of being refrigerated. Goat butter will probably taste a bit different but shouldn't have a bad flavor if done correctly - although I actually prefer a more "goaty" flavor to my milk so I probably wouldn't mind if the butter tasted that way 

Same question for you - what kind of separator do you use? I'm dying to get one but I've seen so many reviews saying the cheaper electric ones don't work on goat's milk.


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## Off Our Rocker Ranch

I heavily into "repurposing" ie a Craig's list addiction! . I cant remember what the last thing i purchased new I posted a WTB (want to buy) on CL for a separator and a lady that used to have goats called from about 2 hours from me. She offered to meet us 1/2 way. It is a Nova (http://www.novocreamseparators.com/) and works awesome. They are pretty costly new, but I called and the company assured me there wouldn't be a problem with parts if I ever needed anything. The only thing I don't like is that the holding bowl and spouts are made of plastic, and I would have preferred stainless, but it was a good buy for less than 1/2 price of a new one and the plastic seems very durable and is easy to clean. The centrifuge that separates the cream from the milk is all stainless. It's all very easy to take apart and clean, just quite a few pieces. It says it is dishwasher safe, but the dishwasher is only used for a drying rack at our house!!! . 
I've been advertising for an electric churn for 6-8 months, and out of the blue, made connections for a Gem Dandy brand for less than 1/3 retail. Love them bargains!


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

That looks just like the ones on eBay! I'm sure they're knockoffs but definitely the same style so I bet they would work! Oh, I'm excited now.


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## Off Our Rocker Ranch

As far as I can tell, they are all made in the same part of the world. The Novo is Russian, the eBay ones being made in Ukraine. Not sure which would be considered knockoff! I've only heard two bad things about the ones on eBay, 1. Hard or impossible to get parts for, and 2. Most have European electric systems which require a converter. 
I was excited about the Novo because they are built to run w/o a converter, and that the man I talked to at Novo was so very helpful. I explained that I was buying off CL and he wasn't fazed at all. Said would be happy to help anytime and that they had been making and selling the same model for (don't quote me on this, but I think he told me for 7 years). Proven track record to me.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

They have ones on there that specifically say they work with US outlets - or I could just get a manual one, but I might regret that  As for finding parts - oh well. Cheap is cheap.


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## Barnes19

Hey thats a good quantity of cream Off Our Rocker Ranch ... I'd be pleased with that!

I have heard good things about the Novo. Unfortunately a bit out of our price range, but never mind will find a good one somewhere. I'm fully intending on getting one now!

For those wanting a churn:

We used one of those little hand washing machine things ... emergency things, I'm sure you must have them over there. Small white plastic drums on a stand, with a handle. You put the washing in and water or dry cleaning pads and turn it. They cost a bit new, but there's always some floating around op shops or auctions that are unused clean but unwanted.

Works on cream better than laundry! You can turn it by hand, but in boredom ours has been adapted with a large drive wheel, sturdy wooden stand, and runs off a small electric motor.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch

Is there a benefit to churning vs. using a blender? I've just done the mason jar method before but for larger amounts I definitely want something easier lol.


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## Barnes19

The blender is a pain. It tends to chop the butter up into slushy little pieces and you have to strain out a mess.

A churn (drum type) will give you golf ball butter ...


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## kc8lsk

for a butter churn I use a rocket food processor with the whip blades I am waiting impatiently for my cream seperator it's in the process of being shipped I ordered it monday off ebay decided to go for the hand crank one as that's what my butter churn is we shall see how it works after I get kids so I have milk.:stars:


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## upsidedown

I recently ran through 2 gallons of milk and got a short quart. This doe still have the twins on her so I hope to get more once they are weaned.


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## Off Our Rocker Ranch

I've been told that just after freshening and again later in the lactation are the two lowest points of butterfat. Peak is about 90 days after freshening. Can anyone confirm?
My original post said I rarely buy anything new. Well I sprung for a new milking machine this spring and a new strainer. So instead of using a perm coffee filter to strain, I'm using reg milk filters. First time using we panicked, as there was little feathery flakes on the filter. Next morning all tested for mastitis with cmt and all clean. Milked individually and strained individually, and determined that two of the three were causing the feathery flakes. So next morning we hand milked each side separately of the two offending does, and got same out of both sides. Stumped, I tasted the flakes on the filter, and it's just sweet tasting, smooth and creamy. Anyone else get this? 


8)


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## Devin

I have only separated once, but we got well over a quart of VERY VERY THICK cream (need to reset it to a bit lighter) out of 3 gal of milk. It was so thick I had to spoon it out of the mason jar I had it in. I would agree that in our case we got about a pint a gal.

I made butter with it, in the countertop mixer with the thicker beater (not the whipping wisk) and it work fantastic in only a few minutes. 

We are feeding 2 bottle babies right now so we haven't had any milk to separate, but I am looking forward to doing it again and making butter, sour cream and cream cheese!

It was mild butter, but I would not say it was soft at all, just as hard as the butter I get from the store.


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## slavicbeauty

Barnes19 said:


> Ok understood that question depends on the individual ... but I'm wondering whether its worth getting a separator.
> 
> I see the butterfat percentages are pretty similar to cows milk ... but several people, and even one book, have told me they wouldn't bother separating goats milk unless you have a lot of goats because of the small amount of cream achieved.
> 
> Whats the reality here? I really need butter ...


Please read these blog posts about using the cream separator. It explains about adjusting the unit to get most of cream. grassfood.me/2013/05/23/separating-liquid-gold-part-1-assembling-the-cream-separator/ grassfood.me/2013/06/11/separating-liquid-gold-part-2-operating-the-cream-separator/

The cream separator works great for goat's milk


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