Do you use goat milk instead of cow milk? Would you like to make your own dairy products instead of buying them?
I make my own buttermilk using the milk from our own dairy goats!
And it’s really easy to make!
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Make Your Own Cultured Goat Milk Buttermilk!
Buttermilk is used for so many different things. It is used for all types of cooking and baking, making certain types of cheeses, soaking grains, and some people choose to drink it straight. (I personally don’t drink it by itself, but I know that my grandpa used to:)
In my own kitchen I use buttermilk to soak grains as well as to create delicious baked goods!
I also use this buttermilk recipe to make my own Chèvre Goat Cheese (recipe coming soon, I promise!). This cheese is amazing and a real hit among my friends and family. And it just wouldn’t be the same without this Cultured Goat Milk Buttermilk!
So, you might be asking why you should make your own buttermilk instead of buying it?
1. Raw or organic goat milk buttermilk is probably going to be hard to find. You definitely aren’t going to find it in a regular grocery store, but you might be able to find it in a specialty store. I personally have never seen it anywhere though.
2. It allows you to be more self-sufficient. Being self-sufficient is something that I strive for. I like to provide things for my family and I like knowing that if something is not available I have the ability to make it myself!
3. Things that you can make or grow yourself are normally healthier. I personally like knowing that the milk I use came from my own healthy goats, and that I know exactly what they are fed! I also know that my buttermilk truly is full of live cultures that have never been heated or destroyed.
4. And last but not least, homemade just tastes better! It tastes just like grandma used to do it! 😉
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What ingredients do I need to make Cultured Goat Milk Buttermilk?
You really don’t need much! You only need two ingredients!
1. A quart of room temperature milk
2. 1-2 tablespoons of a previous batch of buttermilk, buttermilk culture, or 1-2 tablespoons of organic store bought live cultured buttermilk.
How do I make Cultured Goat Milk Buttermilk?
First, let’s talk about our culture.
I actually was able to get a small jar of goat milk buttermilk from my good friend Maureen to start making my buttermilk.
But, she started her buttermilk by buying a good quality buttermilk from the store.
Now, you’re probably only going to be able to find cow milk buttermilk at the store. That’s ok! You’re only going to use a couple of tablespoons to make your buttermilk. After a few batches there shouldn’t be any cow milk left in the buttermilk
If you really don’t want to use the cow milk at all, or if you have an allergy to cow milk. You can purchase a buttermilk starter culture to use to start your buttermilk.
But, no matter how you choose to start your buttermilk, after the first batch you will use your own buttermilk to make all future batches.
What supplies do I need?
You will need:
1. A glass quart jar with a lid (I prefer these plastic lids)
2. A Tablespoon
3. A spoon to stir your buttermilk
4. A label maker to label your buttermilk
Directions:
1. First, add 1-2 tablespoons of a previous batch of buttermilk (or store bought buttermilk) to your glass quart jar. It does not matter that the buttermilk is cold. 1-2 tablespoons is not enough to affect the temperature of the whole jar.
If you are using a starter culture for your first batch of buttermilk, then follow the directions on the package.
2. Next you are going to add a quart of fresh milk to the jar. Now this milk can NOT be cold. I personally make my buttermilk first thing after milking. Immediately after straining my freshly milked goat milk I add it to my jar. This way I know that my milk is nice and warm and the perfect temperature for encouraging the growth of the culture.
If you are not using milk from your own goats however, you will need to heat your refrigerated milk to room temperature on the stove. (If you are considering milking your own goats then be sure to read about the Goat Milking Supplies that you will need and 9 Tips for the Best Tasting Goat Milk)
3. After adding your two ingredients you need to stir it well.
4. Next cover your buttermilk with a lid. I prefer using these plastic lids as the metal lids and bands get kind of gross and rusted from the acidicness of the buttermilk.
Also, be sure to label your jar so that you remember that it contains buttermilk and the date it was made. Your kids probably won’t appreciate it if you mistake the buttermilk for regular milk;) I use this label maker and love it!
5. Sit your buttermilk in a cabinet for 24 hours. After 24 hours transfer your buttermilk to the fridge. Shake well before using.
And that’s it’s!
You have just made your own Cultured Goat Milk Buttermilk!
How easy was that?!
The only thing you need to remember now, is to save at least two tablespoons of your buttermilk so that you can make a new batch!
I try to make a new batch of buttermilk at least once a month, however you can make it as frequently as you want.
I have made a batch using buttermilk that sat in the fridge for longer than a month. But the longer your buttermilk sits the less buttermilk you will need to make your next batch. If my buttermilk is pretty fresh I usually use 2 tablespoons. But if it has been sitting in the fridge for a while and is pretty strong, then I use only 1 tablespoon.
Do you make your own dairy products? Have you ever made your own buttermilk? Let me know in the comments below!
I have a strange question for you. I recently got a couple piglets and since they were so young, my sister has been giving me goat milk to add to their food. Recently she gave me a bunch in clear water bottles and after a few days of no refrigeration I noticed that it had separated out into mostly whey and white cheese. For some reason I didn’t think goat milk would do that without rennet. I have made “clabbered” cheese with raw cow’s milk before. Is this just clabbered goat cheese? I didn’t taste it since she calls this bucket milk (not strained, cooled, etc). Do people make clabbered goat cheese and should I try it with a clean jar with clean milk?
Hi Cheryl! It will separate if it sits out. I’ve had that happen to me before with bottles of milk that were left out that we feed to the baby goats. It probably did start to ferment and separate like cheese or other cultured dairy, but I personally would not consume it without it being properly made with some kind of culture. I know that people used to make buttermilk and such by letting wild cultures in the air and surrounding area culture the milk, but that can be risky because you don’t know that it isn’t an unsafe bacteria that is culturing it. Whereas when you buy a culture to use you know what the strain is and that it is safe to consume. The good bacteria in the culture help to kill off any bad bacteria. I hope this helps you:) thanks for the question!
I do have a goat cheese recipe that I plan to share in the near future if you are looking for one:)
Can I use clapboard goat milk for animals? I did consume on 11/25/19, 1 cup since it tasted fine today. 3 days ago I heated 3 quarts raw goat milk to 180° put cover on pan and let it sit 3 days. The Milk clabbered but tasted fine.
Can goat buttermilk be made the way my mother use to make cow buttermilk? She would put the sweet milk(cow) into the churn and let it clabber. then churn it and skim the butter off and the rest was delicious tasting buttermilk. Can you get butter from goat’s milk by using this method?
That’s a great question Carolyn! Goat milk does not have as much fat as cow milk and the fat globules are smaller in goat milk than in cow. Which means that the fat doesn’t separate as well as it does in cow milk.
However I think goat breed does make a difference. I have LaMancha and Oberhasli dairy goats and seem to get quite a bit of fat. If the milk is left to sit in the fridge for a few days to a week I find that I get about an inch of cream gathered on top.
So, I guess you probably could use that method to get butter, although you definitely wouldn’t get as much butter as you would from cow milk. It will also depend on your particular goat and how much fat she produces.
Making butter is something that I’ve been wanting to try with my goat milk, but I just haven’t done it yet:)
Let me know if you try it how it turns out!
The way I understand it is that I can buy regular cow buttermilk and to that I’m adding the goats milk to make the buttermilk?
If you do not have access to goat milk buttermilk then yes, you can use cow buttermilk. The amount that you are going to use is so small that after a few batches there won’t be any cow milk left in the buttermilk.
The only buttermilk available at our local grocery is ultra pasteurized cultured buttermilk (cow) is that fine for starting goat buttermilk?
As long as the buttermilk contains a live culture it should be fine. You are only using a small amount in your buttermilk so after a few batches it won’t be present anymore anyways. The main thing is that the buttermilk you add needs to be live. It has to contain a living culture.
Can I use Kefir from the store as a starter for the goat buttermilk? I drink plain Lifeway Kefir?
I am also in south Florida and would love to meet you and talk about goat farming. I have a 10 acre farm that has always been a horse farm. I eat goat cheese logs, plain, every day in my scrambled eggs. I would like to create my own knowing exactly where my milk has come from. What type of diet do you feed your goats and how many do I need to keep?
Hi Cheryl! I wouldn’t recommend using Kefir to start your buttermilk as it contains different types of bacteria.
I feed my goats a mixture of feed, hay and forage for optimal health. Milkers will definitely need more feed in order to produce enough milk. As far as the amount of goats that you will need it really depends on how large your family is and how much milk you need. A good milker will give you anywhere from half to one gallon of milk per day, with most giving closer to half a gallon. And the more goats you have the easier it is to stagger their breeding so that you can have milk year around as well. I hope this helps to answer your question!
Do you feed it any corn that you raise or just let it eat grass and another weeds and stuff what other food do you feed your goats so you have a good fresh milk with no chemicals
Great instructions, thanks!
I forgot and left a quart of goat milk in the fridge for a very long time because I had forgotten that it was in the back. I don’t remember if it had been opened previously but when I saw it in there, and remembered that I had failed to drink it, I thought that I would taste it to see what it taste like. It had turned into the best buttermilk that I have ever had in my life,and believe me,I have had a lot of it. I don’t know how it happened but it was GREAT!
I have three goats and one is a first freshener so not much milk from her but after last season I decided to get a cream separator ( milkyday is awesome) and I have been making butter every couple of days. Can I use the milk from the butter? Or do I just ferment that? I really want tofreeze some for baking in the winter.
For the buttermilk I would use whole milk in this recipe.
Can I make goats buttermilk by adding lemon juice