If you’re interested in learning about what to make from raw goat milk, you’re in the right place! As Florida-based millennial homesteaders, we’re big fans upcycling, reusing, and otherwise repurposing things. And, when it comes to raw goat milk, there are quite a few different ways you can use that resource. Whether you have Nigerian dwarf goats like us, or a larger breed of dairy goats, milk is definitely worth it’s weight in gold. Today, let’s examine all the ways you can use raw goat milk to make useful goods for any homestead.
How About Making Goat Cheese?
So far, we’ve just made two different types of goat cheese. But, one of the staples of our Florida homestead is unquestionably going to be cheese. One of the cheeses you can make simply using the raw goat milk and some vinegar. We usually use apple cider vinegar, but white would work as well. Either way, the first answer I’ll give when someone asks “what to make from raw goat milk” is always going to be cheese. Stay tuned in an upcoming blog post where we’ll share this simple farmers cheese from goat milk.
Aside from that, we’ve also been working on making chevre from goat milk. This is the more traditional goat cheese and can be made into crumbles or into a log. It seems making the crumbles is a bit easier to achieve, but once we have perfected that process, we’ll share our own traditional goat cheese recipe.
Using the Leftover Whey for More Food
While this isn’t a post about making goat cheese, the other part of cheesemaking worth mentioning is the whey. When you make any kind of cheese, you separate the fat curds in the milk from the protein (the whey). And, if you’re wondering how to use leftover whey from cheesemaking, there’s a lot of different options. But, since we’re focused on homesteading, our favorite way to use that whey is in rice. Simply substitute water for the whey and you get a much more protein-rich and overall nutrient dense rice. Not to mention, it tastes delicious!
Who Wants Goat Milk Ice Cream?
Who doesn’t like ice cream? If you’re asking what to make from raw goat milk, ice cream is one of the easiest and most delicious options. We’ll come back and update this with an awesome goat milk ice cream recipe in the near future. But for now, trust us when we say we’ve found an awesome strategy when it comes to making ice cream. The best part about this -it also requires the use of three eggs, which we get fresh daily. The result is, in my opinion, the best ice cream you’ve ever had. Sure, you need an ice cream maker, but how satisfying is it making this delicious dessert right from home?
Don’t Ignore the Goat Milk Yogurt
This one is something we’re currently working on improving. But, goat milk is also effective for making some delicious yogurt -at least that’s what we hear. So far, our efforts to make yogurt have resulted in a much thinner yogurt. Yes, it tastes like yogurt, but the consistency is pretty much like milk. We’ll have to come back here and add a goat yogurt recipe when we perfect the process.
Making Soap from Goats Milk
Like goat yogurt, we haven’t made any goat soap yet. Actually, we haven’t even tried. But, when talking about what to make from raw goat milk, we have to include the ever-popular soap. We’ve purchased goat soap from others in the past and definitely intend to make some of this in the future. Since we just have one goat in milk right now, odds are we’ll hold off until our doelings are big enough to breed. Then, once we hit a spot where we have to goats for milk, we’ll start working on goat soap.
Let’s Not Forget About Drinking Raw Milk
While not something to be made, I would be remiss not to also mention one of the final uses of raw goat milk -drink it! This post isn’t about whether raw or pasteurized is the better way to do it either. If you would prefer not to have it raw, go ahead and heat that milk up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 seconds. That will kill all the extra bacteria and leave you with home-pasteurized milk. And, it still tastes great!
What Else Can You Make From Raw Goat Milk?
As I said in the intro, there’s probably some things we didn’t cover here. One thing I’d suggest is that if you can make it from cow milk, you can likely make it from goats milk as well. And, in terms of self-sufficiency and homesteading here in Florida, I think we covered the bases here. But, if you were wondering what to make from raw goat milk, hopefully this post has been informative.
One other thing…goats are useful for much more than milk. If you sign up for email reminders, you’ll definitely be hearing about some of those other uses in an upcoming blog. Until next time, we’ll see you around the homestead!