Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 9 months ago by Rachel White.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

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July 28, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Linabean
Participant
Hi, I know there are many women here who make dairy products from raw milk so I thought I would ask this here. I have tried to make clabbered milk from raw cow’s milk. Can anyone tell me how to tell if it’s done? Also if it is supposed to smell slightly ‘sour’? Does anyone know how long it can be kept after being clabbered? And do you have any recipes that I can use it with? As you can see, I am feeling at a bit of a loss here. I have this huge jar of …um …something! And I am not exactly sure if it is the thing that I was trying to make or if it is just bad milk! The instructions I read said if the milk still looks mostly white and is thick, then it is done. But how thick should it be? And what is “mostly white” suppossed to mean?! Questions, questions!
Can anyone help me with this?
And one more raw milk question as well. I have been making my own butter from raw milk cream and it is going well, I think. But does the milk need to only be very fresh or can I use milk that is a few days old to get good butter?
Thanks to anyone who can help with this!
-Miranda
July 28, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Yeah Miranda!!
First, are you wanting to just sour it for cooking and/or soaking or are you wanting to make curds and whey and then strain for cheese?
If it’s just for souring, 8 hours/overnight is good enough. If for separating for curds and whey,; 1-4 days and the curds will be on top and the whey underneath.
The soured can be drunk, used for soaking grains and for any place in a recipe calling for buttermilk or yogurt (unless you need something thicker). I also use it to add to scrambled eggs. The separated one turns into a cream cheese for eating or, if you don’t let it drip too long, a base for dips; if it drips a long time, you can make cheese balls..
I make butter from my soured cream. I let the cream sour on the counter overnight and then I whip it up. You can make butter from either fresh cream (i.e. fresh cream butter and buttermilk) or from soured (i.e. cultured butter and more nutritous buttermilk). I build up a supply of cream in my fridge over a good week (sometimes two weeks) to make a big batch of butter-enough to have extra in the fridge.
Rachel
p.s. do you have Nourishing Traditions? I would highly recommend it.
July 28, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Linabean
Participant
Thank you so much, Rachel! The instructions that I read for clabbered milk said to leave it on the counter in a sealed jar for 2-3 days until there are “chunks”, then shake it and see if it is thick. I usually make butter from fresh cream but I have been given 3, gallon jars of milk with the cream still on top for me to “experiment” with. They are from the evening of the 20th. Can I still use them for yogurt (which I know how to do! Yay!) and making cheese? And then, you would say that I could just skim the cream from the top of the third and make butter with it as usual. I normally get some nice buttermilk when I make butter (I agitate until it breaks and then drain, knead and rinse until I get the right consistency), will I still get usable buttermilk if I were to make butter the same way from this cream?
I am sorry I have so many questions, but everyone I know around here is either not into this sort of thing or learning right alongside me and don’t know any of these answers!
I have borrowed NT but after keeping it for much to long, had to give it back. : (. We are on a VERY strict budget right now, but are wanting to get a copy for ourselves as soon as possible.
Thank you again for all your help,
Miranda
July 28, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Rachel White
Participant
That’s a wonderful blessing of 3-gallons of whole real milk.
Oh, so the clabbering in that recipe is just before it separates.
Yes. skim the three gallons (I find a turkey baster to be the easiest method) for butter. Set up overnight if you want cultured butter/buttermilk w/the healthy lactic-acid, if it hasn’t started souring already. With your health struggles, it would be most beneficial. Three gallons of cream will give you enough butter to set aside extra for the freezer.
Yes, you’d get usable buttermilk. I freeze mine in 1 cup portions for cooking (after my children have gotten theirs for drinking!).
Yes, you can still use for yogurt and cheese (and yogurt cheese, yum). If I had the extra gallon for soft cheese making (I’m not talking mozz., but the kind that comes from curds and whey), I’d probably suck the cream out of the last gallon towards the butter, then separate the milk into 2-4 c. portions, stored in a mason jar and freeze. Those portions would suffice for cream cheese servings that wouldn’t go bad (unless you have a really large family), since soft cheeses like that don’t last very long.
Do you have any kefir starter powder or grains? You could make kefir if you did.
Check out GNOWFGLINS for ideas under recipes:http://gnowfglins.com/recipes/
HTH,
Rachel

July 28, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Linabean
Participant
Thanks so much, Rachel. I will see what all I can come up with to do with these jars of milk, now. So, I think I did the clabbering wrong. After I shook it and it looked thicker but still white (still not sure what “mostly white” is supposed to mean. What other color would be in there other than white ?) I put it in the fridge. Now, after a couple hours, it looks like it is in layers. The top half of the jar looks like it must be curds and is white from what I can see. Then right under that is a sort of beige color. Kinda like the color of cream but with a slightly murky look like whey. Then there is just white on the bottom under this beige color. Is this just milk that has not curdled or something? I’m not sure what I have made, but I don’t think it is clabbered milk, somehow. But, I have never seen clabbered milk, so I don’t know what it is supposed to look like!
Also, I have started making water kefir. It’s supposed to have a lot of health benefits as well. It is working pretty well. I have not tried milk kefir, though.
Ever thought of making a trip up to Canada? hehe! Seriously though, I am such a visual learner it would help a lot if someone could just be with me in my kitchen for a couple weeks to help with this steep learning curve!
Thanks for answering so many questions. It really makes it easier.
-Miranda
July 28, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Yeah, I’d say it probably went over into separating, but if shaking it causes it to disperse again, use it. The littl eon the bottom is just settled, no biggie.
Clabbered milk hasn’t separated into curds and whey, but it’s white; just a thicker milk. The whey is kinda yellowish in a separated product.
There are free videos online for many of these things. Also, some great blogs, too with recipes. Would you like for me to post them? I’m an information monger.
That is awesome about the water kefir. I wanted to delve into making water kefir sodas this summer, but I haven’t been able to get that started yet. Once you have a large enough batch of water kefir grains I think you can separate some of it and switch them to milk kefir grains; double check on that. What sites to you have about kefir making?
I’d love to visit Canada (though not when it’s cold! I’m a Southerner). You’re going to do great, just a step at a time (or two or three).
Anytime you can improve your immune sysyem (most of it being in your gut), you will reduce inflammation in the body.
Are you taking any fish/cod liver oil? What about coconut oil, too? Both are vital for reducing inflammation. I’m sure you know the multiple benefits of coconut oil already.
I know this refers to another post, but I didn’t get a chance to chime in; there’s a product called Zyflamend that is very good for inflammation. It’s from New Chapter.
Please ask away with questions and I’ll do my best. Plus, there’s several other ladies who have done more cheesemaking than myself.
Rachel
July 29, 2011 at 12:03 am
Linabean
Participant
I would like to see the videos, without a doubt. What would I do without YouTube? I also have been forwarded some good sites on the water kefir that helped me a lot. I will try to figure out how to post them here. I am not so good with the techi stuff! I use a lot od coconut oil for many things, including cooking. Do you think it is still good for inflamation when cooked? I try to take cod liver oil, I really do, promise! But I HATE it! It makes me feel sick to my stomach. I think it’s mostly the texture, really. I will start trying harder, though. SHEESH! I wish this stuff wasn’t so darn healthy for me! I wish it were chocolate!
Thanks again for all the help. I will be making mozza for the first time either tonight or tomorrow morning. I may have more questions!
-Miranda
July 29, 2011 at 12:35 am
LindseyD
Participant
Hi Miranda!
First, congratulations on your attempts at clabbering milk. It took me a couple of tries before I “got it”. The Healthy Home Economist is where I first saw how to clabber milk, then separate it into whey and cream cheese. You can see that video here, along with MANY other helpful videos on lots of traditional preparation and cooking. The last two times I’ve done it have been successful. I added a few strawberries and some coconut sugar to my cream cheese, and it was so good!
Isn’t Rachel the best?? She’s so knowledgeable in NT; she inspires me to keep trying. Hey Rachel, if you’re reading, I would still love some more recipes when you’ve got time!
Blessings to both of you,
Lindsey
July 29, 2011 at 2:54 am
missceegee
Participant
I want you healthy, experimenting people to adopt my family and do the work for me. The mere thought overwhelms at the moment!
Christie
July 29, 2011 at 3:54 am
Linabean
Participant
Thanks for the encouragment and links, Lindsey! I will be bookmarking her site!
I am not sure what to do with what I have because it doesn’t have just a little bit of white settled, it is almost half of the whole gallon jar! I think I may have half clabbered milk. Or I just made some sort of weird sour thing that I know my family will not eat.
I have made cream cheese with yogurt before but I didn’t know you could do it with just milk. Allthough the one I made looked way more firm than the one she showed. I think I will try it, though, because I cannot do the planned for mozza recipe. : (. The recipe I want to do says it needs very fresh milk and this is older milk. I will be trying the yogurt with it, though. I wonder if it will taste a lot more sour than the stuff I made with the fresher raw milk?
Christie, it can sometimes be overwhelming. I think you need to get to point that you want it badly enough before you start or it won’t seem worth it to you and you will stop. Health concerns (and we have had a few!) are a good motivator to get out there and do some research, that info in itself is enough to never want to look at certain grocery store items ever again!
Blessings,
Miranda
July 30, 2011 at 12:21 am
Rachel White
Participant
Miranda,
According to my Coconut Oil book, it’s healthy properties are not affected by heat (unless you go beyond the smoke point, of course).
Also, the amount recommended to receive the benefits are between 2-4 tblsp. a day; preferably 3.5 according to research. A suggestion that was made on a cooking class by a Weston Price leader for repairing the lining of the gut was 1/2 c. of bone broth a day with coconut oil added in, gradually working your way up to a tablsp.
I get more in by adding a spoonful to my children’s hot cocoa (the coconut cream concentrate is scrumptious), their soup bowls, warm teas, and salad dressings. As well as when they are sick and they’re just drinking chicken broth, I add a spoonful to that. Also, use it when making hummus, avocado dips, etc. My hubby doesn’t like the strong flavor of the Gold Label, fermented coconut oil (the one with the highest levels of lauric acid) and prefers the Expeller Pressed for his stuff, but the children and I use the Gold Label.
I’m sorry you can’t make mozzerella with 9-day old milk.
Lindsey, thanks for the kind words; I have so much to learn and do still! I definitely have not forgotten about the recipes. I was going to post recipes for making the butter, mayo, and cornbread and a link to Jordan Rubin’s recipe site.
Christie, I second what Miranda siad; it’s such a lifetstyle change that it’s usually a result of great personal conviction and/or financial and health concerns. One thing leads to another and another…
Rachel