> My raw milk always sours before a week is up. I only use about 8 oz a
day in my whey shake. <
Wayne and I are tough guys. If my raw milk sours I just drink it too. Sour
raw milk becomes buttermilk and is actually 100% utilized by the body
whereas fresh raw milk is about 85% utilized. Of course when it gets too far
gone even I don't like it.
However, naturally fermented milk (that's what it is) is generally not as
tasty as milk that has been purposely inoculated with a tasty culture. The
farmer I buy raw from makes his own very tasty buttermilk, but if you just
let his milk sour it won't taste that good. Even if you make a buttermilk
culture purposefully and naturally, as I have done, it's not as tasty as a
bought culture.
Not knowing where you are or who/how you get your milk, here's some
advice...
If the farmer only milks once a day the milk will not stay fresh as long. If
the milk doesn't go through a flash cooler it won't stay fresh as long. If
this is an unregulated farm then there's a better chance that the cow has
some infection and the milk won't last as long. Even if it is regulated, the
upper limit for somatic cell count is very liberal and the milk won't last
as long as if the SCC is at the lowest feasible limit (about
200,000-250,000) The raw milk I get is regulated, has an SCC of less than
250,000, is flash cooled, and cows are milked 2-3 times daily. If kept BELOW
40F, it has been known to be fresh tasting for 60 days. The farmer
guarantees 30 days IF the milk is kept BELOW 40F.
Keeping it below 40F is not as simple as it sounds. You cannot guess at it,
you must have a thermometer, and it must be kept in a fridge that is not
opened often. 40.1 F does not cut it.
But guess what- you can FREEZE the milk, or a portion, as soon you get home
with it, and it will keep for months. I would suggest at your low usage to
freeze it in pints or quarts. After thawing, run it in a blender to get the
lumps out of the cream. Hand/stick blenders are better for this. We do it
all the time. The KitchenAid hand blender is excellent for this because the
business end can be put in a dishwasher. Any one-piece stick blender needs
to be soaked in bleachwater or H2O2 after having it in milk.
Daddybob
