Saturday, June 6, 2009

How to Pasteurize Goat Milk

I do recommend to anyone that drinks milk, especially children, to drink pasteurized milk versus drinking milk raw (unpasteurized). Pasteurizing milk kills bad bacteria that could be harmful to the body.
Many people, who have arthritis, like to drink goat's milk raw because the raw goat's milk contains something that pasteurized milk does not have that is supposed to help the arthritic pain.
For my own family, I pasteurize our goat milk.

The pasteurization process is really simple!


For pasteurizing your own milk you will need -
a Candy Thermometer
a Clean piece of cheese cloth or a flour sack dish towel
a Clean Stainless Steel Pot
a Clean Metal Spoon for stirring the milk
a Bowl of cold water with lots of ice
and clean glass *containers for storing the milk

First, strain the milk through the piece of clean cheesecloth or a clean flour sack dishtowel into the clean stainless steel pot. Straining the milk will catch all of the hairs or other things that might have fallen into the milk during milking time.
Note - The piece of material you use for straining needs to be very clean. It shouldn't be washed in harsh detergents or fabric softeners, especially detergents that are scented. I suggest getting a few towels to keep for straining milk through only! To make sure your towel is clean enough, you can alway dip it in boiling water, that should kill anything that isn't good in your milk.


Attatch the candy thermometer to the pot. (If you don't have a candy thermometer that attches to the pot, dip the thermometer into the pot often to check the milk's temperature.)
Set the heat of stove top to medium high. Stir the milk as often as possible if not constant.

Watch the temperature on the thermometer. When the temperature on the thermometer reaches 165 degrees Farenheit, set a timer for 15 seconds. When the timer ends, put your pot of milk into a the bowl of cold, icey water and stir.
Try to get the pot of milk into the water as quickly as possible. The quick cooling of the milk gives the milk a better flavor.


When the ice in the cold water melts, take the milk from the bowl of water, pour into clean containers, and put the containers of milk into the freezer for further cooling.


It shouldn't take the milk very long to get cool in the freezer.
After the milk has cooled in the freezer, put the milk into the fridge. The milk is now without the bad bacteria and ready to drink. Give the milk a good shake and enjoy!

* Containers - Never use plastic containers to put milk in. Plastic holds bacteria. Don't use any container to store milk in that has cracks, seams, or crevices, those little places are just a place for bacteria to hide.
I have found glass containers are best for storing milk. I like canning (Ball, Kerr, Mason) jars to keep my milk in. Each milking's milk in in it's own container, I never have to worry about milk from different milkings getting put in the same container, and canning jars make giving the milk a good shake easy.


Everything used to pasteurize the milk should be as clean as possible.


Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Please check out some of my other posts and visit my blog again soon!
~Belle~

24 comments:

Tina❀ said...

Funny, my hubby and I were just talking about getting a few goats.
I love this post and look forward to going through your other ones as well.

Hanley Family said...

We're hoping to get goats in a year or two. I hadn't thought about using canning jars for the milk. Thanks!

Garry said...

You mentioned that pasteurizing the milk kills bad bacteria. Yes, but it also kills the good ones and alot of the good nutritional parts of the milk. Check out the following article. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/03/26/pasteurized-milk-part-one.aspx

betty-NZ said...

The things we learn on the internet! thanks.

BPOTW said...

Terrific post!

Thanks for linking at BPOTW!

Shawna said...

I didn't know people with arthritis drink unpasteurized milk!

Shawna's Study Abroad

Vanessa Rogers said...

Interesting. If I ever decide to get a goat, and drink it's milk, I will find this post extremely helpful.

Unknown said...

Wish I had a goat!

Grandmother Wren said...

Very interesting.
I remember my mother and grandmother straining the cow's milk before bottling it (and my mother being annoyed that I was allowed to drink it from a cup in the barn at milking time). I don't remember this pastuerizing process though...
I'll have to ask her what she did.

Anonymous said...

That's really interesting! Do you make yogurt out of it too? Dh and I are looking for a little land so we can get some livestock and be more self sustainable. Do you find that different breeds of goats give you different milk flavors? Just curious! K @ Prudent & Practical

~annie said...

Nice blog and interesting post!

I have a friend who is keeping a few goats out on the pasture with his cows. He's mostly interested in letting them breed to sell, just like he does his cows and doesn't really know much about goats.

About a month ago, one of the does lost her kid right after birth. Her milk came in anyway. To relieve her obvious discomfort my friend milked her a little. He really wants her to "dry up," but so far it's not happening. He is by no means milking her regularly - just enough every now and then, to relieve her when she's looking really "full."

The other day I asked him to give me some milk. I've read that goat milk does not "separate," but the milk from this goat did separate. Was the information I read wrong, or is there something wrong with this milk? It smells and tastes fine, but I wonder...

The goat milk was collected in a large bowl and put into the refrigerator in the bowl, so it would cool quickly. A few hours later, I strained it into a quart jar. It had obviously already separated in the bowl, as what was left at the bottom was more "watery" than what I had poured off the top into the jar. I put the jar back in the fridge and over night it separated again.

What really puzzles me is that only about an inch at the BOTTOM of the jar is "thin." All the rest on top looks to be creamy, although not as thick as the cream that comes to the top from cow's milk.

Is goat milk that creamy? Or do I have something else going on?

Sorry for the long comment, but I'm not finding any information online. Thanks for any information you can share!

apple blossom said...

Your article was posted @ THC this week. Thanks. Abi

Dawn said...

Why would you ruin the milk by pasteurizing?
This is only done for factory farming (milking) reasons (lack of sanitary conditions). There are really no reasons--health or otherwise--to pasteurize your goat milk. Unless you are filthy.
Sterilize your equipment. That is all that is necessary to ensure your milk is not contaminated by "bad bacteria"
I have been milking goats for years and my young children have been drinking the raw milk.
Really, why bother to milk your own goats if you are going to ruin the milk with the pasteurization process?
I also have a Jersey cow that I milk and we do not pasteurize that milk either.

Unknown said...

Thankyou for your info on pasturizing goats milk. My daughter and family live in Denver. My 1 1/2 year old grandson has cancer. They are staying as healthy as possible. Check out his updates on www.caringbridge.org/visit/babyscotty All good prayers are apreciated and so is your good advice thankyou,God's blessings for you, James Dorrell

Unknown said...

All the properties of the milk are really important not only for the children but the adult too. The milk contain many vitamin, potassium, calcium and iron.This kind of properties is needed for the people.

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HoofMasters said...

To address those who wonder why anyone would pasteurized their milk: It has very little to do with cleanliness but everything to do with bacteria and goat diseases that are transmissable to humans. Unless you are having your goats tested for CL (caseating lymphadenitis), brucelosis, and TB at least yearly, you should pasteurize your milk because you won't know if they are carrying these diseases or not unless you test for it. There is no vaccination to prevent CL and there is no cure. Google it and you will see that it's rampant. Once it's in your herd and your pasture it's very difficult to get rid of without testing and culling out the infected goats. I have goats that I love and care for immaculately. I was drinking the raw milk until recently when I noticed that my favorite dairy goat has CL. This is a very common disease of goats. So now I'm pasteurizing the milk because CE is shed in the milk. This goat has never shown signs of CE in the 2 years I've had her (I raised her) until now with her first kids. The stress of having the kids and the hot summer weakened her immune system and allowed the CE to show itself but nonetheless, she has it always and forever and her milk is not safe to drink raw. CE was introduced into my herd when I purchased a young buck years ago. I had no idea of CE at the time. The goat that introduced the disease did not show signs until he was 2 years old as well and I've sadly had to cull every goat that has shown signs of the disease. I love this particular goat dearly. She is a sweet, beautiful goat. I will have to make a decision on what to do with her. Right now her abscesses have ruptured and I am having to keep her seperated from the herd and her babies. It's so sad and such a huge frustration because I much prefer raw milk :(

HoofMasters said...

Aaahhh, I kept typing CE.....it's CL....sorry!

HoofMasters said...

So be very careful and do your research. Talk to veterinarians and Infectious Disease doctors for info. Raw milk is definitely more nutritious but only if the goat is free of these very common diseases. People with weakened immune systems should exercise caution.

Michelle said...

You can disagree with someone without being so rude, after all, this is America, Land of the Free, where we should not be persecuted for our choice of religion or to pasteurize OUR milk. Anywhoo, I also have a herd of dairy goats and pasteurize the milk I feed to their kids and mine. FYI, if you are drinking raw goat milk you should only do so from your own. Goat milk will grow bacteria much quicker than cows and you should know how it has been handled. Most of my friends that I show goats with do drink theirs raw, I just choose not to, because I can. I have a buck with CL and most people raising gots will have experience with CL, CAE and Johnnes. Those that have not had any experience...aren't testing.

To answer the question about the milk separating...it will to a degree but nothing like cows milk. Those of us who attempt ice cream or butter spend days skimming and freezing to get enough cream for a small batch.

If you are thinking of getting a goat, beware! They are horrible addictive! ;)

Amarjeet Prasad said...


Nice info.
avure
high pressure pasteurisation

noelani said...

I used goat's milk with three of my adopted babies, born in 1990, 93 and 95. I had no idea how to Pasteurize, at the time, and hadn't heard of anyone doing it at home. One thing I'm sure it would have been good for was being able to keep the milk fresh longer. I got a gallon a week, made formula from it, and froze all but a couple days worth. I used it to supplement my milk. Since I hadn't given birth, I didn't produce enough breast milk for all of their needs. They did extremely well on that combination. The first of those babies was six months old when I got her. She was born with a serious birth defect that included very underdeveloped lungs. She had a grayish tinge to her skin, but when I gave her the goat milk, she pinked up. Two months later, we moved to a different state. I didn't have access to goat milk for a few weeks and had to give her commercial formula. Her skin went grayish again and then pinked up again when I found a source of goat milk.

One thing I have done, with gaot milk and every other kind of supplement I've used with my six adopted kids, is add powdered probiotics to it. I have also given it to my grandchildren, all with great results!

Anonymous said...

I think every goat has a different taste in their milk. My Nigerian dwarf has the sweetest milk, but my neighbors Nigerian dwarf has a goaty taste in her milk. It also depends on what you feed them. If they eat weeds the milk tastes kinda gross and the way I hear it described is it tastes like a buck goat. I feed my goats grain and alfalfa during milking time. If you like sweet milk get a Nigerian dwarf. If you like it more like skim or 1% get a saanen or Nubian.

Princess Consuela Banana- Hammock said...

How long is the milk good for if kept in the fridge?

Unknown said...

If I'm planning to make fresh goat cheese, do I need to cool the milk first? Or can I just go immediately from 165 degrees for 15 seconds to the higher temperature required for cheese making? Thanks!