Raw Milk in New Zealand

Sugar bows out of the headlines this week and raw milk shuffles on in for its turn in the spotlight.

As many of you Dear Readers know, we have had raw milk weekly for a number of years.

So for those of you who aren’t too sure, here is my list of helpful advice.

• You must source your milk from a farmer who is scrupulously clean and farms organically/spray free.
• The farmer needs to love what he does, treat his cows like princesses and understand the ‘why’ of raw milk.
• A farmer who is seeing the dollar signs as his main motive is to be avoided.
• If he won’t let you on the farm to see if his standards pass muster, turn around and run away.
• Get your milk into the fridge as soon as possible. The back of the fridge is colder than the door so if you’re not sure if your fridge is cold enough, keep it at the back.
• Use glass bottles with a wide neck that can be easily cleaned with a bottle brush.
• Keep your bottles, lids and jars sterilised. Wash with brush and detergent, rinse and then sterilise with boiling water. Regularly sterilise the bottle brush, too.
• Glass is better than plastic. It is difficult to sterilise plastic effectively.
• If, by the end of the week, your milk is starting to turn, use it for white sauce or baking. Cream ‘turns’ before the milk so enjoy the cream in your coffee or cereal.
• You can freeze it but it the fat and water separates on thawing.

If you’re old enough to remember the ‘top milk’ in your glass milk bottles that the milkman delivered to your letterbox seven days a week (man, I’m old!) then you’ll love the cream that rises to the top of your raw milk.



Each week I make a fresh batch of kefir and yoghurt. I have had my starters for two years and they’re still going strong. I keep back a small amount of the yoghurt and the kefir grains each week and these become the mother for the next week.

The Caspian Sea Yoghurt I make uses unheated milk and has a very mild sour taste and runnier texture than other yoghurts.

Both the milk kefir and the Caspian Sea Yoghurt give us a slightly different range of healthy bacteria (probiotics) for our gut. For your own starter contact Rebecca here.

For wonderful and practical information on raw milk and fermented foods such as these, get Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions from your local library or order your own copy here. I could write a long article on raw milk but Sally has done a much better job than me.

If you want to source raw milk you can check on the Weston A. Price Foundation website and search your area or ask someone whom you know gets raw milk to point you in the right direction.

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com
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The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
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