Good cheese is always made with raw milk....the aging and subsequent development of acids provides a climate that bacteria find unfriendly.
Raw milk can contain lysteria...and tuberculosis. People selling raw milk have to undergo all sorts of regulations and precautions. I drank raw milk until i was maybe 24 or so....when the dairy said we are no longer going to supply raw milk. To me it tasted better...I am sure now I would find it strange.
But a cheese aged 90 days offers no danger in using raw milk. If you are going to make a short aged cheese, you need to be sure your milk comes from a safe source.
Linda C

I also like the flavor of raw milk, it's usually richer and higher in fat. Commercially available milk usually has a certain percentage of fat, whether it's 2% or "whole milk" which is 3.7% fat. That's because cream is removed to sell for cream, to make butter, etc. Sometimes the cream is not removed from raw milk.

If I knew the source, I wouldn't hesitate to drink raw milk, I grew up drinking it and my girls love it. However, if I were not intimately aware of the cleanliness of the source and trusted it, I wouldn't probably drink the milk raw.

Annie

$5 a gallon for raw...that is a great price..I was paying 3.70 for half gallons..through my organic buying group...and it's just over $4 a half gallon at a health food store 35 miles away.

I love raw milk...how ever the boys only liked it the first few days I got the new delivery...once a week...and after that they complained about it getting "chunky"...it's just the butter fat...

So I stopped getting it..but spring is the best time to get it..the grass is so rich and green that the milk is the best!

I don't know the Pros or Cons but it sure do taste good!!!
Lou

If this is a dairy, the cows are tested yearly for the bovine version of TB. An old, out of date concern. Raw milk is sold in vending machines in schools in Europe. Enjoy it and consider yourself lucky.

You might find the information at the link below helpful.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Campaign for REAL milk

The "bovine version of TB" is not "an old, out of date concern" in the US. We have a small, but serious problem with M. bovis among people who use queso fresco smuggled in from Mexico and other Latin American countries. It kills young children.

It is transmitted from infected cows through unpasteurized milk or by airborne transmission from cow to human.

M. bovis is one of three bacteria in the M. tuberculosis complex (the TB bacteria in humans) - the other two are M. tuberculosis and M. africanus. M. bovis is resistant to one of the first line drugs currently being used to treat tuberculosis.

Make sure the raw milk you buy is from a farm that regularly tests it's cows for M. bovis, since it is easily passed from cow to cow, and then on to humans.

I don't care for raw milk but I love raw milk cheese. I get a 5 & a 7 year old raw milk cheddar from Quebec. Absolutely the most wonderful cheddar I have ever tasted.

Slightly OT but it is my understanding that it is against the law to import raw milk to the States . Is that true?

Chase, I don't know the full law..but some states don't even allow the sale of it for human comsumption. They sell it under "animal" food...or you can "own" a share of a cow and collect your milk..

So I'd imagine that importing raw milk from another country is out.

I always have farm fresh raw milk cheese in the fridge.

Bovine TB is not an "old and out of date" problem here either, we have had several local cattle herds recently infected with tuberculosis from contact with deer herds (those stupid rats on hooves that everyone thinks are so darned cute).

What happens when one cow from your herd tests positive? The entire herd is destroyed. The farmer is out of business. But, if they are tested today and infected tomorrow you can have a year's worth of infected animals, spreading from one to another before another testing period comes around. The deer pick it up from one another or from cattle that have been infected, and they spread it to the next herd, because they range about and are not confined like cattle. And anywhere large groups of deer gather, like feeding piles, there is a much greater risk of disease. Last year when chronic wasting disease (the deer version of mad cow) was found in the Lower Peninsula, a ban was instituted barring the feeding or baiting of deer because of the spread of disease.

So, in my neck of the woods, I wouldn't drink the milk unless I knew where it came from.

And that's why farms cannot sell raw milk in Michigan, but they can sell you a "share" of a cow and you can get the milk from that cow which you "own" a piece of.

Annie

Raw milk has a greater health risk as several folks have pointed out. The way to guard against these risk is scrupulous dairy farming and vigilant testing, both of which add to the cost of the milk. Also, since it doesn't keep as well, it isn't suitable for long distance shipping. That's why it is expensive and not widely available. So the way to get raw milk safely is just as is outlined here, buy it from reputable farmers that you are confident use excellent dairying practices, and also, use caution in your consumption of raw milk, and know your risks. The taste difference is significant, as is the quality of good raw milk.

And that's one reason why a good domestic Brie is better than one imported From France. Because the US says that any cheese made from raw milk has to be aged a given number of days before being imported and to ba able to stand shipping and the extra time for distribution and sales, a French brie is often over the hill. so the French brie we get here is usually made from pasteurized milk....but the Americans can use raw milk and get that wonderful flavor.
BTW...Maytag Blue is made from raw milk.
Linda C

I'm sneaking in here at work because my internet at home isn't working this morning. Thanks for the responses. It is illegal to sell raw milk here in Texas for human consumption, so it's sold as pet milk. I will need to research this farmer more closely. Right now, all I know is it's someone the man I buy eggs from knows, and is willing to bring me the milk and cheese when he brings me the eggs. I called it a dairy because I didn't know what else to call it. I definitely need to find out more, cause I don't know if this farmer has just a few cows, is a full fledged dairy, or what. My egg man says the milk guy is certified organic, so he's jumped through lots of hoops to get certified.

I'll post more when I learn more about it.

Thanks

Sally

Annie, do you know if goats can also catch TB from deer?
A friend of mine uses only raw goat's milk. I find it strange that she dismisses the risks, because she buys organic everything, even things where spray would never touch the edible part, like nuts. It's not commercial goat's milk.

Yes, goats do get and spread TB, as can other grazing animals. There are State and Federal guidelines for testing for tuberculosis and brucellosis. If her goats meet the local guidelines, the milk should be all right.

I agree, goats can contract tuberculosis. However, if your friend has just a few goats (and they are smaller and easier to handle than cattle sometimes), she can have them tested quickly.

Also, she could check with her local ag agent or the Department of Natural Resources, both could probably tell her whether tuberculosis had been found in her area or in an adjoining county, here we have "TB zones".

If she's not in or near a TB zone I'd say she's perfectly safe.

Annie

Thanks, Momj47 and Annie.
It's not my friend who has the goats. She gets the milk from a Mennonite friend of hers, free because they are not allowed to sell it. I will try to get her to inquire about the testing. I know we had TB in dairy cows in this county a couple of years ago; a raw milk dairy was shut down. And we sure have deer.
In spite of having some qualms about drinking raw milk, I still think it's idiotic not to import French raw milk cheeses.

They can import long aged cheeses...but not cheese that is less than I think 90 days old...but it may be 60 days....and brie would need to come into the country when the cheese was younger than that in order to get it to market before it was smelly and runny.
Other raw milk cheeses are imported.

Okay, so I couldn't remember what it was that scared the FDC about raw milk. I was trying to rush when I posted earlier. TB is certainly not something to play around with. They get it from deer? What about people that hunt and process deer - are they susceptible to TB from the deer? I am so ignorant about that, I had no idea that deer transmitted anything but ticks, and all the problems that go along with that.

Sally

Unfortunately, Sally, people can get TB from deer or cattle, apparently bovine TB is the most contagious type and is capable of infecting nearly any animal. There is no vaccine and it can take years to develop.

In Michigan bovine TB has been found in white-tailed deer, elk, black bear, bobcat, coyote, opossum, raccoon, and red fox.

So, at least here, it certainly is not an old or outdated concern, it's real and it's timely.

Annie

I, too, remember how wonderful raw milk was. Delicious as a beverage, and if one needed cream for cooking....you could just pour off that lush cream layer floating at the top of the bottle, or shake the bottle and mix the cream into the rest of the liquid.

And where did REAl (not cultured) Buttermilk go ?? That was also a delcious, refreshing cold drink on a hot summer's day. The modern cultured stuff has an awful, unappetizing, undrinkable taste.

My all time, old time favorite was genuine buttermilk with a pecan sandy, or two. The contrast was delicious!

I find it amusing how many of you LOVE raw milk. My DH operates our dairy farm and we haven't used any of our raw milk for consumption since our first child was born, almost 26 years ago, because the doctor strongly recommended against it. Ironic as it may seem, I live on a farm but can't stand drinking plain milk, but love other dairy products such as cheese, yogurt, chocolate milk, and we won't say how dangerous it is to leave me alone with a tub of ice cream! My mom always used raw milk and when I first got married we used raw milk in cereal, in recipes, etc. I haven't had raw milk for decades even though an endless supply is just a bit more than 100 ft away from my front door. We also now use skim or 1% milk and the milk in the tank is. . . oh so much richer than that.

But, I don't care which type you prefer, raw or homogenized and pasteurized, just DRINK MILK!!! âº