The Secret to FABULOUS Tasting Goat's Milk

I have to say, I am a little bit biased. I LOVE goats. I love everything about them. I love the smell, how they run around like little funny cows, the way they chew. Everything. I love it all. I think they are super funny animals. Regardless, I have been told by many people that goats are not widely beloved, one of the reasons being that their milk is "goaty".

I think this should come as no surprise considering that they are in fact, GOATS. However, to some people who are used to store bought cow's milk this can be slightly off-putting. So, for those people I will give you some tips that I recently learned to help the fresh milk taste less goat like and more cow like, that is to say, more plain.

Goat's milk is naturally more homogenized than cow's milk, making it stay thicker and creamier for longer all the way through. This is great because you won't have to shake your milk before you drink it every time, but this is bad if you want to make skim milk or take the cream off to do something else with it like make butter. I personally am a fan of goat butter as well as goat cheese and just about every other goat milk product I've ever tried. (I might be a little obsessed with goats ;P)

Goat's milk does have a more barnyard like flavor than cows milk most of the time. Some people (me) enjoy this flavor as it brings us back to childhood memories of visiting farms. But others, don't.

There are several ways that are often talked about as how to get the milk to taste less strong. They are the following:

#1 - Separate the bucks (males) from the does (females). For some reason it is supposed that the bucks have a mustier smell, which they do, and this creates either a more musty smell on/around the does, or the bucks being around makes the does secrete more hormones causing the change in milk taste. Either way, I have not found this to be entirely accurate. Although the does do tend to be cleaner if the bucks are not around regularly.

#2 - What the goats are eating. Now, this I entirely believe has an effect on the taste of the milk because that is how it works with humans. The milk flavor supposedly changes depending on what the mom eats. This makes sense as it helps to get the babies used to what they will be eating. You also want your goat to be as healthy as possible because the healthier the goat, the more nutrients will be in the milk. However, I would say that the changes are quite minute and probably don't affect what we taste in a significant way.

#3 - How fast the milk is cooled. This is the winner. This is the one that I have found dramatically changes the goatiness of the milk. I have absolutely no idea why it works but for some reason if you pop the milk in the freezer for about an hour as fast as you can after obtaining it then, stick it in the fridge until it will be used. It tastes almost like cow milk! Apart from the creaminess, my husband didn't even realize it was goat's milk at first. Rapid cooling is also important for slowing the rate of bad bacteria growth so this is a great dual purpose tool.

Also keep in mind with each stage of processing, the milk will taste more goat like so, even if you enjoy the more barnyard like flavor (which I do), you may want to rapid cool it anyway. Even goat's cheese made from rapid cooled milk will taste slightly goaty. It just happens that way since there are so many steps in making cheese. Butter has less steps and therefore tastes less goat like. I also rapid cool my milk for the bacterial component but, also so that others in my family will drink it because they prefer a more neutral flavor.

The great thing about goat's milk is you can make so many things out of it and even if all the processing adds a little more flavor, it is definitely worth it to own a goat.

Besides, who doesn't love a good log of goat cheese?! ;)

Blessings!

Kelsie