Goat Milk Butter: Make it without a Separator

Image Gallery MICHAEL E. BLILEY

Everyone knows you can't get meaningful amounts of cream from goat's milk without a fancy separator . . . certainly not enough cream to yield butter. I "knew" this too, but being a butter lover from way back-and being the owner of two does that give a gallon of milk per day each-I (quite naturally) wanted to take a stab at whipping up some "goat butter". I didn't intend to give up without a fight.

The first thing I did to prepare myself for my "impossible" task was read up on buttermaking in general. Three books that I found especially helpful were: [1] Rodale's Stocking Up, [2] Irma S. Rombauer and Marion R. Becker's The Joy of Cooking, and [3] Making Homemade Cheeses and Butter by Phyllis Hobson. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Instructions for ordering these books appear at the end of this article.]

From the information contained in these guides-and through a fair amount of trial and error in the kitchen-I ultimately succeeded in developing a simple, dependable method for making butter from goat's milk, without the aid of a separator. Here's what you do:

Strain one gallon of fresh milk into a clean, shallow, large pan and allow the container to situncovered and undisturbed-in your refrigerator for 24 hours. The next day, take the pan from the fridge and-with a large spooncarefully skim off the cream that has risen to the top and store it in the refrigerator in a sterile, tightly covered jar. (The skim milk can be used in cooking, in cottage cheese, or as a tasty treat for your livestock.)

Note: So far, I've had no problem with "off flavors" in my milk or cream. As long as your utensils and refrigerator are reasonably clean, you shouldn't have any trouble either. Just don't store garlic or onions next to the milk.

Repeat the foregoing procedure on a daily basis until you've accumulated one pint of heavy cream in your jar. This should take about five days, if you skim a gallon of milk per day. (Naturally, if you use two gallons of milk and two large pans, you can cut this time in half.) When you've collected a pint of cream, you'll be ready to make butter.

First, put a two-quart mixing bowl, a pair of beaters, and two cups of water in the refrigerator to chill for half an hour. Then set up the mixing bowl and mixer someplace that will take some splattering. (I usually spread newspapers over my work area.)

OK. Take the pint of cream out of the fridge, stir it up with a plastic or rubber spatula, and drop in a dairy thermometer. When the cream has warmed to 52°F, pour it into the cold mixing bowl and whip it at high speed.