# Raw verses pasteurized



## Tapsmom (Sep 20, 2011)

Hi Everyone,
How do you drink your goat's milk and why? Trying to research the pros and cons of raw verses pastuerized is difficult online. In general the research seems to be 1. cow's milk and 2.Commercial dairies. We have a small Nigerian Dwarf herd. I am new to milking and this is the procedure I have been following:
1. put the clean mason jar in the freezer to chill
2. wash my hands with warm water and soap
3. Feed Saphire on the milking stand. Wipe of my hands again with baby wipes and thoroughly wipe her udder with a clean baby wipe. 
4. While holding the jar in one hand (in case she picks up her foot and so she doesn"t step in it or knock the jar over.) I mil.k her with my other hand into the jar.
5.When I am finished I spray her teats with "Fight Bac" and release her from the stanchion.
6. Then I put the top on the jar and immediately head to the house where I put the milk in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill it quickly. 
7. Then we put it in the fridge and drink it.

I haven't strained it at all since I have found no hairs or debris in it. I also haven't tried to pasteurize it since I am still getting a very little bit. I do realize this will increase once the babies aren't nursing anymore. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on ways I could do things better and or weigh in on the pasteurized/non-pasteurized debate?
We all LOVE the goat milk. I am also lactose intolerant and love milk so this is a definite win for me!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

We drink it raw...the reason being is pasteurizing kills the good benefits of the milk...our stomachs are quite capable to handling any slight bacteria or yuk in the milk..I mean we eat mc donalds and survive lol., I think there is more risk eating store bought spinach .When you handle your milking clean you are actually improving on what your family drinks...Raw goats milk is very beneficial to your health..stops heart burn, help cancer patients , ulcers and so forth...we all drink raw goats milk from our goats..even my grand daughter has dranl raw goats milk since she was one..A co worker of my husbands finally gave raw goats milk to his new born son who could hold nothing down...they were looking into fitting him with a feeding tube..once he gave him raw goats milk everything changed...its been almost a year and his baby is thriving and healthy...the drs were totally against it of course..but now what can they say...Past.your milk kills off the bacteria, sure..but also distroys all the good in the milk..here is a clip from an article



> to sum things up, there are more than 200,000 documented cases of human illness from pasteurized cow milk over a 15 year time-frame. Similarly, the raw goat milk industry has not had any reported cases. Goat milk has been medically proven to help those with cancer, and stomach diseases. Some doctors recommend goat milk to their patients, especially those with lactose intolerance problems. It is time for goat milk to be recognized as a healthy alternative to the ultra-processed, vitamin-diluted pasteurized cow milk products readily available to most consumers today. Someone's life might depend on it.


quote from http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/83-4/maurissa_einsiedel/


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## Tapsmom (Sep 20, 2011)

Thanks Does it appear to you that I am handling the milking appropriately? I've only been doing it a week. We had my 7 year old daughter's best friend here for a sleepover. We just finished breakfast and the two younger ones excitedly requested "goat's milk" to drink with breakfast


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

the only thing I see is that you dont strain your milk....we milk in a clean disinfected bucket to milk in....strain milk in a quart size mason jar..add a lid and put in freezer for 1-2 hours to cool...we of course wash and dry our hands and the udder before milking each girl...we use a vinegar water wash and bought a bunch of car towels ..two for each goat..one for washing and one for drying..
to strain you can use a quality paper towel if you dont have a milk strainer : ) straining removes hair, dust, grime ..these things can taint your milk flavor...


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

I agree with straining. We drink ours raw but we do make lots of yogurt and so it is cooked a little bit to do that. We cant keep up with the demand for yogurt in our house. Try it with homemade freezer jam.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I agree with straining the milk too.


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## AdamsAcres (Dec 3, 2012)

I keep my quart jars in the freezer to chill and keep two water bottles frozen. When I go out to milk I go with two stainless steel buckets (the extra is in case a foot goes in the first) and the two frozen water bottles (some also use cooler freezer packs in a zip lock bag). Clean the goat yada, yada, yada... I milk into the bucket with the frozen bottle in it, immediately beginning the cooling process. This also gives me a little wiggle room that I don't have to go running right back to the house. There is ALWAYS something else that needs quick attention before I head back in. 

Back in the house I strain the milk through a permanent coffee filter set inside a funnel into the already chilled quart jar. Place in the freezer for one hour. 99.9% of the time my milk is chilled to 40 degrees in less than that hour meeting the B rating for milk handling. Easy peasy!

Just wanted to note one thing... I know some folks are all up in the air over perfect cleanliness, but if a person wants to build immunity... go play in the dirt! If you're just milking for your family, a hair or bit of dirt making it through the strainer here and there won't hurt a thing.


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## Tapsmom (Sep 20, 2011)

Up until today I wasn't getting enough to strain. But I got almost a full pint this morning and I did drink a hair lol. I tried cheesecloth in the beginning and the milk just sat on it  I had seen a suggestion to use a "permanent" coffee filter. Do any of you use that?


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## AdamsAcres (Dec 3, 2012)

Yes I do. See my post above. I think we posted at the same time. 

I forgot to add that I also drink mine raw.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

We drink raw as well -- I have noticed it has eased my allergies and strengthened my immune system. It soothes my stomach when my stomach was upset. I also used to get "pain attacks" before drinking it, now I do not.

I would never drink raw from a over-packed or unsanitary dairy, but when the goats are in your back yard and as healthy as they can be, then it just doesn't get much better.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I use raw. Always. I want the bacteria and nutients. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. For some reason it helps me. When my goats are dry and I have to drink store milk, my joints are very very painful. Once I am back to my raw, they are not as bad.

I drink raw. I am never sick. I work in a hospital, in a small closed in area with poor ventilation. My co-workers are always sick. I never am, not even so much as a cold. I fully believe that is because of the raw milk. When my kids were young and living at home, they never got sick, even when the schools were full of sickly kids. Again, raw millk and farm life.

I always strain the milk, using the commercial dairy filters. I use a food grade funnel to hold the filter, a stainless steel pail to milk in and glass jors to hold the milk. My fridge is set at 33, so the milk is cold. I use dairy soap to clean my milking pails and assorted dishes and once a week I soak the pail in boiling hot water and white vinegar to get rid of the milk scum buildup it sometimes get (called milk stone). This si the way I have been doing things for 30+ years.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I also strain it. I have so little right now, I just use regular coffee filters, but I also have the regular milking filters for when I have my standard girl in milk, as well as my other kinder. It's strange, but I went without goats milk for about 2 weeks, and I noticed a difference in my allergies, and just overall health. I really haven't been sick since I started drinking it in February, when I got my first kinder in milk


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## Tapsmom (Sep 20, 2011)

Janeen, Do you just put a regular coffee filter over the jar and pour the milk through it? I do have those on hand now I've been separating the doe at night and I've been getting a full pint in the morning. I don't know if that's good from a FF Nigerian or not but I was getting about 1/4 of a pint before I did that. I have 2 more does due this month so I am hopeful that I will have plenty of milk soon. Also, the doe is still nursing triplets that are just a month old now.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

you can use a good paper towel as well..like bounty...just dont get the ones that break off in small sizes lol...


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Tapsmom said:


> Janeen, Do you just put a regular coffee filter over the jar and pour the milk through it? I do have those on hand now I've been separating the doe at night and I've been getting a full pint in the morning. I don't know if that's good from a FF Nigerian or not but I was getting about 1/4 of a pint before I did that. I have 2 more does due this month so I am hopeful that I will have plenty of milk soon. Also, the doe is still nursing triplets that are just a month old now.


Yep, that is what I do with the coffee filters. They are cheap and it works great.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

janeen128 said:


> Yep, that is what I do with the coffee filters. They are cheap and it works great.


Oh, I just put a rubber band around the opening of the jar


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