I have been milking a Jersey cow for four years and we really love the milk, but I have just switched to goats. The milk does have a bit of a different flavor to it and I was wondering in Nubian's milk tastes more like Jersey's milk, since Nubian's are the "Jersey's" of the goat world. I am currently milking a full Saanen and a Saanen/Alpine mix. Their milk is really quite good....just a bit different. I did make yogurt and cottage cheese out of it and both came out wonderfully. And, what happens when you make butter from their cream? I know it will be white, but will the flavor be stronger. What about cheese....stronger flavor or not? I do have a separator, so it is easy to get the cream when I need it.

I have a Nubian/Saanen buck and a Nubian/Saanen doe, as well as the goats mentioned above. I plan to breed the buck with all of them. I understand that the Nubian/Saanen's are really nice mixes since you get the volume of milk from the Saanen side, and the sweeter tasting milk from the Nubian side.

So, what has been your experience with the flavor of the goat's milk by itself, and also using it in cheese and butter?

-- Tammy (btawilliams@juno.com), July 01, 2000

Answers

I am not an expert, but have had a little experience. My goats are Nubian/Saanen mix. By a different flavor I don't know if you mean sweeter, more bitter, richer or "goaty". When I first started milking, the milk had a "goaty" flavor, but the local 4h leader had goat's milk that tasted so good, it didn't have that "goat" taint to it. You couldn't tell it from cow's milk. She confined her goats and fed them hay. Mine were out on pasture. I asked her and some others and what I found out was that to get good tasting goat's milk, take the goat off of pasture at least 3 hours before milking her. I started doing that and the flavor changed overnight to wonderful. Friends and family who once said they hated goat's milk, couldn't tell the difference between it and cow's milk.

Another tip is to cool the milk immediately. I put mine in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes before putting in the refrigerator. The 4H leader ran cold water over hers.

About butter - I made mine with sweet cream and it had a fine buttery taste to it and kept well in the refrigerator. But if I left it out at room temperature it would start to get a goaty flavor and finally go rancid.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), July 01, 2000.

Normally goat's milk tastes just like cow's milk but with a little more sweetness. If your's doesn't, you need to look into why that's happening. Check the worm load your animals are carrying through a vet's fecal exam, and worm them with the appropriate wormer. Make sure the minerals you are feeding have the necessary amounts of copper and zinc for your area. When the feed companies found that some sheep have problems with copper, they took it out of their sheep/goat mineral, completely ignoring the fact that dairy goats will suffer from copper deficiency. You may need to use a cattle mineral to get the right amounts. Also, make sure your goats are supplemented with enough selenium--injectable is best. That in the feed is sometimes not as available as it needs be.

How much copper, zinc, selenium? That varies on where you live. Vets don't know, feedstores don't know. The best thing is to talk to the goat folks in your area to find out what's working. Talk to several, and listen to the one who has well grown, productive goats with soft shiny coats, and good tasting milk.

As far as cheese and butter, goat's milk makes some of the best on earth. I make a cultured butter with the Dairy Connection's 831 Sour Cream/Buttermilk culture that tastes better than the best store bought, very mild, and sits out on the counter for days without turning.

I also make excellent Cheddar, Jack, Mozzarella, Gouda & other cheeses with goat's milk. If the milk is healthy, the cheese is good.

Oh, Nubian/Saanen goats do have an advantage in that first generation of hybrid vigor and a larger volume of creamy milk, but that advantage is lost in the next (F3)generation. That's why we don't crossbreed dairy animals, by and large. It only works that first generation, and then the next generations revert back to their various ancestors' traits.

-- Julia (farmer@westco.net), July 02, 2000.

Tammy, we have Nubians so we hear this alot. With the added butterfat of the Nubians, you have more "taste" to the milk. Kind of like the difference between whole and skim grocery store milk. Milk should have no taste and obviously your does are healthy! You would hope with the Saanen/Nubian cross you could get the best of both worlds with the Sannen poundage and the Nubian butterfat, but other than hybrid vigor in this first cross, you are dealing with gentics and could just as easily end up with a Nubain poundage/ Saanen butterfat in the genes. To improve the butterfat in your herd, you would want to breed to a full Nubian, or at the very least a buck who's dam and sisters had the butterfat and poundage you are looking for. Great tasting milk condensed down makes great cheese and butter. If the milk taste horried then the condensed down, cheese or butter taste even worse! With all of the E-mails I get from folks with bad tasting milk both in cows and goats, you ought to count your blessings, try to improve with breedings, and if you want more flavor to your cheese, try Feta, cut it into small cubes and soak it in olive oil and herbs. Yummy! Also the fresh cherve with herbs! Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 02, 2000.

My goat friends tell me WHAT you feed the goats will make a big difference in the taste of the milk.

~Rogo, South Central Texas

-- Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 02, 2000.

I just milked some goats for friends while they were away, I would milk them pour it in a container and put it in my ice chest to take home, these goats are in a big back yard and feed hay.the milk is wonder full, no goaty taste at all.I think you have to get it cooled down Imediatly[ fridge wont cool down quick enough]also I was late milking one day as I had to also feed a friend horses one morning, by the time i milked the toggenburg [ milked the saanen first]her milk had a goaty oder so I think it might have to do with how long its in the udder to.After I pasturized it I would cool it back down with ice again.I bought store bought goats milk for my 4h kids to try and it was gross[ think it sat in grocery to long]wish I could have let them try this stuff it is wonderfull.Thank you JD as I think It was your book which said to cool down with ice.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 02, 2000.

Tammy, some goat people will not like this but some goats like some cows give bad tasting milk. That's why I tell folks who are buying a milk goat to milk the goat and see how easy she milks and taste the milk yes warm fresh right out of the udder If Heidi could do it so can anyone(ha). and there is also all kinds of things that can affect the flavor from not cooling it quickly, to parasites, to feed to hay, to weeds in the pasture. I take it as a challange and start investigating. Oh and I love my Nubians cause they give the best tasting milk(that will start some comments for sure) Oh please you buck is half your herd a crossbred buck will give you some interesting kids but not what you will expect him to do. Genetics are pretty tricky anyhow and you are playing Russian Roulette with your buck. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), July 02, 2000.

The milk's taste really depends on what the animal eats .... I guess goats butter would be fine but how many days do you have to wait until you have enough cream to make a slab of butter? When I was in sWITZERLAND THEY MADE A GREAT fresh goats cheese .... Feta is easy and great as well.

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), July 04, 2000.

I have been raising Kinder goats since 1986, and have found no other breed that gives better milk, and milk that gives a better cheese yield. As for butter, my girls average 6% butterfat, so there's plenty for that as well. I'm presently milking 8 does, and they range in size from about 85# to 115#. Four of them (including the 85# one) are giving over 8# of milk daily. Two are doing 7 1/2-8#, and the two first fresheners are giving 6#. Not bad for little girls that eat 1/2 what the big girls put away! By the way, I have ten years worth of official DHIA records to back the claims. I started with Nubians, Nubian/Alpine crosses, and LaManchas, and have gone to only Kinders. If you haven't met a Kinder, I invite you to take a look at the Kinder web site: http://members.aol.com/KGBAssn

-- Pat Showalter (kinderzed@aol.com), July 07, 2000.