Raw milk in Miami -Homestead area

[Mike Moskos]

You can easily pasteurize milk at home; just slowly bring it up to 143F and hold it there for 30 minutes or 161F for 15 seconds. (Depending on the holding times, those are the temps the FDA requires). By doing it slowly, the delicate milk proteins are less likely to get damaged. In an industrial process, the milk is flash heated while running through a tube and then rapidly cooled.

People buy raw milk largely due to better animal treatment, pasture feeding, the lack of chemicals in their feed, and the lack of homogenization. There are some dairies in Florida who sell 100% grass fed milk that is "gently pasteurized" (slowly heated). Raw milk sold for "animal consumption only" here in Florida typically runs 2-3x the price of grocery store milk, reflecting the higher costs to produce a higher quality food.

Personally, while I've purchased hundreds of gallons of raw milk, I turn all of it into yogurt or kefir. I think fermented dairy is far better for health.

[tallrick]

That is what I do too. I rarely actually drink milk anymore but enjoy making yogurts and cheeses to eat with meals. Cows are meant to eat grass, but curiously when it's milking time a prepared feed containing grains is used to make it easier to milk the cow. Kefir is something I have never seen in writing till today.