Raw Cow Milk and Raw Cream Overabundance
Well I just made the mistake of typing out like a 500-word post and managed to lose it. So I will just say we have quite a lot of raw cow milk and raw cream at the moment, and we only have one cow. You would think with only one cow we would not have such a surplus! But right now there are 24 half-gallon jars of cream in the fridge. The spare refrigerator that is. We either need to buy a new fridge or find more to do with the milk.
We weaned our calf a few weeks ago and the milk has been super creamy. Absolutely delicious. I’ve made butter, ice cream, cheese, and skimmed multiple pints of awesome cream. My dogs even get a half gallon a day (I have 5 dogs) between them. They love it.
My main problem is jars. They do not sell half-gallon Mason jars anywhere around here that I know of, so they have to be ordered with ridiculously high shipping charges. I have 48 jars but only 24 here at the moment. Not sure exactly who all has all the jars. They are scattered around. I suppose I just need to order more!
But right now I need to free up 2 jars for milking tonight, so that means the chickens are going to get some milk. I will skim the cream first, it is too good to feed to the chickens!
Sunday we are having a new arrival, we are leasing a bull. He is said to be quite friendly. We’ll probably have him for about a month. I’ll post up pictures.
Well I think I will make some more ice cream tonight. We made vanilla last week so making chocolate tonight. Can’t beat homemade ice cream made with fresh cream.
freeze it and use it later… the cream that is… you may have an orphan calf that needs something to eat… you can thaw it, heat it and feed it…. also check with local farmers to see if they need some for the same reason. Don’t buy jugs! get friendly with local restaraunt owners/manangers and have them save you the gallon Miracle Whip jugs they are ideal… run through the dishwasher safely and are easy to handle.
Where do you live? I live in the US midwest and hardware stores are a good place to find the wide-mouth mason jars. Farm supply stores are also good. Lastly, even the local grocery store (Hyvee) carries wide mouth half-gallon mason jars. It’s what I use to store my raw milk too.
Thanks for the info! I actually did find that I can order them online at Ace and have them shipped free to the store. And I even have one Ace near me that keeps them in stock. So I am okay on jars for the moment. However, my cow is dry right now so that’s probably why I have plenty of jars! Can’t wait to have fresh milk again. Buying raw milk for the past few months has been a chore.
I live in the Central Florida area by the way, to answer your question.
I am here in Shoreview, north St.Paul, Minnesota. We discovered an awesome ‘container store’ of all things in Edina, Minnesota on France Ave. They have half gallon and gallon wide mouth jars with twist lids. Now there is a good place to get them. But first see if you can get them wholesale first since you need so many.
Hello, I am looking to buy raw cream.
Please contact me by phone or email.
Thank you,
Elisa
Elisa, we aren’t selling cream right now because we don’t have enough extra milk to skim. We are looking for another Guernsey and hope to buy one soon. At that time we can add more milk customers and hopefully have enough extra for cream.