Wayne
Senior Member
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- 4,489
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- Ashland, Oregon
Any safety issues with the raw milk? It makes me a little nervous.
Hi Ocean,
I've not had any safety issues myself, but I trust the people I get the milk from. Sanitary practices are important, so it's good to know who you're getting your milk from.
A safety precaution is to mix in 1-2 drops of 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide per quart. When I do this, the milk generally keeps a good 2-3 weeks without a problem. I've heard they sell unrefrigerated milk in Europe by putting it in an encased carton that has hydrogen peroxide suffused into it (or something like that).
So this is in regards to raw milk. Regarding raw milk kefir: soaking the milk in the kefir grains for 24 hours starts about 30 or so probiotic bacteria, and from what I can tell, tends to crowd out "unfriendly" bacteria. Once the kefir is fermented, it keeps for several weeks; I've kept it for as long as 6-8 weeks.
I did an experiment once by starting a batch with some relatively old milk. The kefir tasted a bit off after 24 hours, but upon leaving it in the refrigerator for several more days (while continuing to slowly ferment), the "off" taste completely disappeared. So, I have to say that the benefits I received from eating this are significant. And safety concerns are very minimal for me.
I might just add that I drank raw goat milk for quite some time before starting to make kefir. Though I still occasionally have a bit of milk on my cereal or with cookies or something, I find that the kefir is much easier to digest.
Wayne