Any raw milk drinkers out there? Which would you prefer...

beccamh
beccamh Posts: 85 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been buying a local 100% grass fed/finished, low temp pasturized, non homogenized whole milk from a local coop. In my area raw milk is very hard to come by and you typically have to pick up on the farm. Amazingly, I recently found a way to get raw milk through a friend... but it's grain finished.

The pricing is similar-- so my question is which would you prefer? Raw but grain finished, or pasturized but 100% grassfed?


«13

Replies

  • maybebaby34
    maybebaby34 Posts: 234 Member
    I would love raw milk! But it gets so tricky. Since it is low temp & grass fed I would go with co-op. Unless I could know for sure that it was non-GMO. Still...co-op. :)
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    Sadly not enough. My husband's grandparents very occasionally have some from a nearby farm.

    We once stayed in a holiday place on a farm and had raw organic milk for breakfast and in our room for tea. It was great.

    It's not about often enough here to be picky about grain or grass sadly!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I'd do a taste comparison.

    Grain fed isn't a killer, and large scale feedlots don't sell raw milk, so it may be the superior product as it isn't pasteurized. Then again, flavor may be significantly different. It's 6 of one, Two pies and change of another.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    agree with db. I'd taste and see. Mine is grass fed from cow nip to the jar. Love it.

    2014-06-1615_44_35-tjkitchensonInstagram.jpg
  • maybebaby34
    maybebaby34 Posts: 234 Member
    Well boys, I think I just fell in love! Who knew?! I have heard nothing tastes better than raw. I live in Wyoming and can't get raw to save my life. Have to buy a cow share first. Hope to seal the deal tomorrow.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    Storebought 2% for me. Particularly if I know it's grainfed from disease resistant (GMO) corn known to be low in aflatoxin.
  • maybebaby34
    maybebaby34 Posts: 234 Member
    edited October 2014
    ...
  • maybebaby34
    maybebaby34 Posts: 234 Member
    edited October 2014
    ...

  • habit365
    habit365 Posts: 174
    Given those choices, I'd go with the 100% grassfed low temp pasteurized. From what I gathered when I looked into it a while back, grain finishing disrupts the bacterial balance and makes the milk more likely to harbor pathogens so I wouldn't go raw with any amount of grain feeding.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    _John_ wrote: »
    Storebought 2% for me. Particularly if I know it's grainfed from disease resistant (GMO) corn known to be low in aflatoxin.

    I go for whole milk (Red cap ftw!)
  • bokaba
    bokaba Posts: 171 Member
    Bovine tuberculosis? You might also get raided by FDA OCI agents.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    I would never consume raw milk.

    http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    habit365 wrote: »
    Given those choices, I'd go with the 100% grassfed low temp pasteurized. From what I gathered when I looked into it a while back, grain finishing disrupts the bacterial balance and makes the milk more likely to harbor pathogens so I wouldn't go raw with any amount of grain feeding.

    Naw.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    It's not worth the risk for me. There's a reason we adopted pasteurization.
    Low heat (for a longer time) is my preferred technique.
  • habit365
    habit365 Posts: 174
    dbmata wrote: »
    habit365 wrote: »
    Given those choices, I'd go with the 100% grassfed low temp pasteurized. From what I gathered when I looked into it a while back, grain finishing disrupts the bacterial balance and makes the milk more likely to harbor pathogens so I wouldn't go raw with any amount of grain feeding.

    Naw.

    Eh, who knows. In reality, the crossing state lines, (unfounded) FDA harassment of the farmer, etc. made it go way beyond my comfort zone. I wasn't THAT invested in getting raw milk, so I just stopped drinking cow milk for a while. Eventually a local grocery store started carrying non-homogenized milk that was grassfed and low temp pasteurized and that was good enough for me. I still don't drink a ton of milk but it's nice to have the option.

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    It is nice to have the option, I don't drink a ton of milk, but I like making cheese from time to time and the raw stuff is a must in my book.

    The harassment is accurate, but here in WA we have it figured out I guess. The milk gets tested, you can find it at Safeway.

    The real difference between grain and grass fed milk is flavor, grain isn't disrupting cow gut flora, they're far more resilient then that. What does disrupt their flora, and many other things is the conditions that you find at regular dairies or feedlots that you don't have present at one doing raw milk.
  • ksy1969
    ksy1969 Posts: 700 Member
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    I would never consume raw milk.

    http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html

    Really?? I used to drink lots of raw milk. I was raised in the country and we often had access to it and it was usually free from the bulk tank :D Then for a few years I worked on a dairy farm and that was how we got our milk as well. Free from the bulk tank. As long as it was cold, I didn't care.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    In for the appeals to nature!
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    edited October 2014
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    I would never consume raw milk.

    http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html

    You're as likely to get sick from raw milk as you are from store-bought sprouts or lettuce: http://http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/types/fruits/sprouts.html

    The CDC's job is to keep you scared and cover their own a$$es, and the "science" behind their warnings is non-existent, which is why they don't point to any.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    word.

Categories