Alright I have managed to milk my goat. The milk is in a bucket.
Now what do I do to the milk before its safe to drink or is it safe right now?
As long as you weren’t milking a male goat, it’s safe to drink.
Yeah, it’s ready to go.
I hate to be snarky*, but what do you think people did with goat’s milk for the past several thousand years?
- No, not really. Just sounds marginally more polite that way.
Thought one might have to heat it to a certain degree to kill things that could be lurking in it.
In days of olde, people got sick or even died from things that they could have avoided if only they knew better. Trichinosis or just germs in general, for example.
Many many moons ago, when I was young, I kept a few dairy goats as a 4-H project, milked them daily. It’s fairly safe to drink raw milk…as long as the animal is healthy and if you practice reasonable sanitation while milking. Specifically, wash and scald or otherwise disinfect milk buckets, storage vessels, etc. It’s a good idea to bathe the goat’s udder before each milking. It not only increases the sanitation, it also stimulates the animal to let down the milk more easily. Use a sponge or rag, warm water with a mild soap solution, or better yet a dairy cleanser/disinfectant made for the purpose.
FWIW, I never liked to drink goat milk all that well…it tastes just enough “different” from the regular product to put me off a bit. But goat milk is absolutely GREAT for cooking. Gravy, sauces, pastries all turn out unbelieveably smooth and flavorful.
SS
Raw milk that’s really fresh is a great treat - compares to the store product in much the same was as garden-fresh veggies compare to those on display in an average supermarket.
It’s also a good medium in which to culture bacteria, so you need the above-mentioned precautions: a healthy animal and cleanliness when milking. But it’s not rocket science.
No cite, but ISTR that one major reason for pasteurizing cows’ milk is that cows can carry diseases such as tuberculosis. Goats don’t, thus their unpasteurized milk is safer. In both cases, obviously, one wants to be sure it isn’t contaminated.
Call up your local “[county]/[agricultural university] Extension Service” to get the Straight Dope. In the meantime, if you’re concerned, boil it covered for 10 minutes and then put it in the fridge and treat it like regular milk (ie, drink within a week). Sadly, the fat will cook into gloppy bits this way, so you might want to skim it first, as much as possible.