Sustainable Cultured Milk

Even though we produce our own milk, we rarely actually drink it. I've shown you the dairy products I make ("Ziggy Milk, Ziggy Butter, Ziggy Mozz"), but mostly we consume milk as yogurt. Nearly every day in fact. I know I've mentioned it frequently and have shown you my non-electric method of yogurt making, "Easy Peasy Homemade Yogurt", as well as how I make yogurt cheese. The only thing that bothers me about yogurt, is that I have to keep buying new starter. The good guy bacteria in the culture have a life span, and eventually the product changes as the culture ages. Every so often I have to buy some fresh yogurt to start again.

Another cultured milk product is kefir. I'd seen it as a fruit flavored drink in the dairy section at the grocery store. I never considered buying it, because most commercial products like this are too sweet and with too many nonessential synthetic ingredients. On top of that, commercial kefir is pasteurized, to kill anything alive in it, including the beneficial bacteria I'd be buying it for in the first place. Then I read that not only does kefir culture (called grains) not wear out, it actually perpetuates itself. If one takes proper care of it, that means never-ending cultured milk!

Because kefir grains multiply, it is easy to find them for sale, or for free from folks who just need to find a home for their ever increasing supply. Such was the case for me, and for the price of postage, I obtained my very own milk kefir from a gal on one of the goat lists I subscribe to.

Kefir grains

Making kefir is even easier than making yogurt. Just add one or two tablespoons of kefir grains to about 2 cups of milk. Cover to keep fruit flies out, and let sit on the counter for 24 - 48 hours. Sourness and thickness are controlled by the length of time it's allowed to sit. Then strain, put the newly made kefir into the fridge, get a clean jar, and start a new batch.

I was very curious as to it's taste. We eat our yogurt mostly on cereal in the morning, so this seemed a good substitute. But. It doesn't taste quite the same. Tangy from the beneficial bacteria, yes. But because it contains nutritional yeasts, it's a bit bubbly and has a different flavor.

Kefir after I've poured it into the strainer.

The only word I can think to describe it is effervescent.

I'm just starting my experiments but eventually should have lots to share about what I'm learning. Two books with directions for making it are Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. And of course there are tons of informational and how-to articles around the internet. The best I found are Dom's kefir webpages:

• About kefir grains and kefir
• how to make kefir (with lots of recipe links) 
• and kefir FAQs. 

Its uses intrigue me, in particular cheese, not only soft yogurt type cheese, but harder cheeses as well. Also bread making and lacto-fermenting; all things I already do. According to Wikipedia, it can be used in making sourdough bread and is an ingredient in some recipes for borscht.

Right now I'm working with milk kefir grains, but there are other types. Water kefir is commonly used with juices and I can already see that I need some of these grains too.

I am looking forward to experimenting with this. There seem to be a lot of possibilities for it's use, not to mention the nutritional benefits. Plus, I'm happy to be able to culture my goat milk without needing to continually replace the culture. After I've experimented a bit, I'll let you all know what I figure out.

Sustainable Cultured Milk © October 2012 by 

Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

In The Mood To Do Some Weaving

But alas, I can barely see my loom, let alone get to it.

Can you see it? Can you see my loom? It's huge (a
Glimakra 60" Standard 8-shaft countermarche),
 so it ought to be hard to miss. 

Such are the joys of major remodeling projects. What you see in the photo, is everything we moved out of the hallway and hall bathroom when we tore into that bathroom. All that plus a few boxes of kitchen knick-knacks, are currently stored in my studio. The bathroom project is scheduled for this winter.

For a better photo of my loom and studio, click here.

In The Mood To Do Some Weaving © October 2012 by 

Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Around The Homestead

All the little things since my last update.

Around the house...

Fall maintenance chores, specifically cleaning out the woodstove chimneys. We bought a chimney brush and extensions at Lowes.

Dan cleaning out the wood heatstove chimney

One of these days we'll finish putting up
& painting the alcove trim.

Probably because our stove has a catalytic combustor, the chimney really wasn't that bad.

Wood cookstove needed one more 12 inch section of chimney pipe.

The wood cookstove chimney is now 12 inches taller.

When we found our wood cookstove on craigslist, the selling price included everything: stove pipe, chimney pipe, caps, collars, etc. Because we have taller ceilings and a taller attic than the folks we bought it from, the pipe came up one foot short. To get a good draft, the chimney needs to be two feet above the peak of the roof. If it isn't, back puffing results, which is the problem we were having. This is where some of the smoke puffs back out into the room when the firebox door is opened. Happily I found the chimney section we needed locally. I'm very happy to have this problem fixed.

Kitchen Dining Nook. I mentioned that I hoped to have the dining nook completed by the time we had autumn's first fire in the cookstove. We didn't quite make it, but at least the table is done....

Having only one leg makes it very easy to clean under.

The chairs are not, because Dan had trouble with the paint sprayer. In the end, I stripped the chairs to repaint them by hand. The stripping is finished, so all I need is a nice day to do the painting. I still need to paint the baseboard too.

Back Porch. Before we got the chairs for the kitchen, one of the things we considered was a short bench. In fact, we found a whole corner booth dining set on craigslist. It turned out to be in terrible condition, having been left out in all kinds of weather. We got the whole 4-piece set for $20, but the bench proved not to be usable in the kitchen. Instead I painted it with a good outdoor paint and set it on the back porch.

My back porch

I love it! It fits perfectly next to the door and doesn't block Riley's kitty entrance. It's wonderful for putting on or taking off outside shoes, or just sitting there to enjoy a cup of coffee. I also hung a clock and thermometer on the wall above; both are very handy when working outside.

Around the barnyard....

Chicken Little...

Chicken Little at 3 months old

... has been growing some rather roosterish tail feathers. Oh well.

Lily, my newest Nubian, decided that Surprise is going to be her best friend whether Surprise likes it or not. Lily sticks to Surprise like glue, which Surprise wasn't too happy about at first. She butted Lily to deter her, but Lily did not give up.

Lily and Surprise

Her persistence is paying off.

And Ziggy?

Ziggy

Ziggy went into heat the other day. She was at the fence, flirting with...

Elvis, the Hunk

I put the nix on that. Because she's a miniature breed and he's a fast growing standard breed, I do not want to risk her having kids too big to deliver. So I put her in with Gruffy. Was she ever mad! She took about three running charges and rammed him with everything she had. He was so ecstatic he didn't care.

Gruffy my Pygmy buck.
A face only a mother could love?

Later I saw them lying together, chewing their cuds, as though they were the best of buds. But when it came time for milking, she couldn't get out of there fast enough. I'm hoping her hormones will help this romance out, but in the end, her preferences may be the difference between kids next spring, or no kids. Time will tell.

I reckon that's it for tidbits and updates. :)

Around The Homestead © October 2012 by 

Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/