FenTiger

Been trying to find information on how long goat milk can be kept in refrigerator. A few websites state 3-5 days but I've drank goat milk kept in refrigerator for 7 or more days and it hadn't gone off or tasted sour.
Does anyone know the answer to this?

Peter_in_Hungary

Goats milk is no different to cows milk in terms of storage requirements. The key to storing any type of milk is
1 good hygiene at the point of milking
2 rapid cooling of the milk after milking
3 continual storage temperature of about 4 deg.
Perhaps the most important is hygiene at the point of milking. If the milk is contaminated by poor hygiene at milking then rapid deterioration will occur which will only be slowed by refrigeration but not stopped.
Pasteurisation will prolong the life of milk subjected to poor hygiene or slow cooling at milking time and will stop the natural bacteria responsible for souring milk (= turning it into cottage cheese). However souring bacteria will get into the milk from air bourne contamination but are slowed by refrigeration.

So to answer the question the storage temperature is about the only thing the consumer can control but the milking hygiene and process will have a bigger effect on the milk quality which is why milk will have a varying amount of shelf life once the consumer has taken delivery with anything from 2 - 7 days or more as successful storage times.

Goats milk can be frozen without deterioration on thawing.

My wife did dairy at collage and for several years made ice cream, cheese and gave courses on home cheese making hence the knowledge about milk

scrubbedexpat142

I always thought fat content also had a bearing on longevity, perhaps I'm wrong?

FenTiger

Thanks so much. Didn't know goat milk could be frozen. If only we had space in our freezer I'd put a spare bottle in there.

We get the goat milk from a stall in the Coop car park. When I've been busy and forgotten to go there the goat lady messages me! Last week my wife reminded me I'd forgotten so messaged the goat milk lady and she was still there so raced down there before she packed up at noon.

Peter_in_Hungary

Do you know anything abut the farm and milking conditions? In what containers is the sold? Do you pasteurise the milk when you get it home? Milk is a very good food and very nutritious especially for bugs and bacteria so care has to be taken to prevent nasties happening.

FenTiger

Oops - I have no clue! I'm still alive. Never thought to ask but the goat lady has a website so will check it out.

Peter_in_Hungary

In what is the milk being sold and is it being sold from refrigerated containers.

wolfi

pasteurising the goat milk is a good idea. My wife always did this when we bought it from a "Goat hobbyist" near Héviz.
It tasted fantastic!
OK, what we get now in Esztergom at the open market (kiss kósar) is also good, but more "professional" , made in larger quantities.

FenTiger

Freezer box. It may be plugged into the car cigarette lighter socket. Always felt cold when collected.

FenTiger

I will have to look into pasteuring the goat milk.
I've not been ill from drinking it for over a year.

Peter_in_Hungary

What containers are used for the milk? Purpose bought new containers, or second hand plastic bottles or plastic bags - or something else?
(or are they your bottles done on an exchange?

FenTiger

Plastic bottles. Look new to me.

Peter_in_Hungary

If the milk seller is providing their own bottles then the regs. require them to have processing licences which are significantly more onerous than selling milk in the customers bottles, which is why most small producer milk is sold into customers bottles either filled at site by the customer from some sort of mechanical refrigerated cow or by exchanging bottles on a weekly (or some other time base) order.
The point being because the regs are so onerous I wonder if the seller has the relevant paperwork and periodic inspections and if this is missing what other regs are being ignored.
I would pasteurise the milk. Heat to 80 deg.c hold this temp for 30 secs. then cool rapidly. The cooling rapidly is important. If you heat the milk in a stainless steel saucepan then put this in the sink of cold water stirring the milk until cooled this will be OK (you will probably need to change the water during the process. Once done into the fridge.
If you want to make yogurt then stop the cooling at 30 deg. C and stir in a couple of spoons of commercial yogurt with live bacteria into 1/2 ltr of milk and keep it warmly wrapped up over night - job done.

FenTiger

Will chat to my wife about this.

Sachina

The alternative would be to buy your goat milk from Auchan or to switch to plant milk, which you can buy from any supermarket!