Getting the cream out of goats milk without a cream separator

I love cream and use it regularly in my cooking.  Getting  cream from the goats milk isn't as easy as it is from cow's milk.    You can us a cream separator but they are expensive; upwards of $400.   Much more than I want to spend although I have considered it at times.   Reading further about them though made it seem as if the clean up is probably more trouble than it's worth.

This is what I do.   If you are a purist about your milk you may not want to do this but for me it works.   As I said in an earlier post, I pasteurize my milk for yogurt.  Drinking milk is used raw.   So when I want goats cream I try to combine chores yogurt making and cream separating and pasteurize that milk.   I then let it sit for about 4 or 5 days.   The jar in the picture had been sitting in the fridge for 5 days.  You can see clearly the place where the cream and the milk has separated.  

I then skim it off the top with a spoon that's been bent to fit inside the mouth of my jar.  Of course you can save the milk and skim it 5 days later without pasteurizing it first but most people think by then the milk has acquired a "bucky" flavor not suitable for things like whipped cream.   It will still work in savory recipes though.

Elizabeth

New steps for the front porch

Finally got a picture today of the new landing steps I finished earlier this week.  Nice to strike one thing off the to-do list.

Elizabeth

My Gratitude List

I'm grateful for all the people in my life.

I'm grateful to have a warm home with a full freezer and cupboards.

I'm grateful I'm able to live the life I have chosen in a country that supports my freedoms and rights.

I'm grateful for the occasional adversity because it makes me stronger and also allows me to see how blessed my life really is and has been.

I'm grateful I no longer feel the need for the trappings that were so alluring when I was younger.

I'm grateful that as I've gotten older I've learned to listen to and trust myself and my decisions.

I am grateful I've had a better life than my parents had and my children can have a better life than I've had.

I'm grateful for this holiday that gives me the opportunity to slow down  from my busy life of homesteading long enough to reflect on how much I truly have to be thankful for each and every day of the year.

I wish all of you the very happiest of Thanksgiving's and thank you for each and all of your visits here.  They keep me coming back.

Elizabeth

Poll results for 11/25/10

I am:

Homesteading in the country 5   (55%)
Homesteading in an urban area 1   (11%)
Not homesteading yet but planning on it 3   (33%)
Not planning on homesteading but like to read about others doing it 0   (0%)

Votes:  9

Elizabeth

Electric Fencing

  This was from day one of electric fence shopping.  I had started at Southern States as I needed hay and theirs is the best for small quantities.  The sales man, after listening to me tell him what I was trying to accomplish thought a solar unit would fit the bill with 3 8' ground rods and lots of various insulators.  He thought the poly twine rather than wire would be a good choice.  I bought it all.

Next I went to Tractor Supply because I needed to get sweet feed for the goats and pig food and I usually get it there. A sales guy came over as I was looking over their electric fence supplies and as we talked he suggested I get the thin poly tape because it would be more visible.  I, being totally befuddled by all of it at that point, agreed and bought 2 rolls of tape.   I then bought 20 black poly step in posts to use as line posts between t posts.  And I bought a tester,  more insulators, splicing and coupling pieces, parts to make a gate and a spool of wire.

I read the literature that came with th fence charger that night and then got online and talked to more knowledgeable pig people than myself about the charger I had chosen.  I was concerned there would be too much juice for the pigs and not enough for the goats and since I wanted to be able to use the same charger for both I wanted to make sure I had made a good choice.  Mostly the consensus was that solar wasn't reliable enough for what I wanted.  I would lose a lot of charge with tape and poly twine and it may not be strong enough. Evidently solar loses juice fast and would really be better for a simple short fence

The next day I had to go to Richmond so I stopped at Tractor Supply again bought a plug in 6 joule 100 mile model.... for my little 3 acres...Yikes!  

It really sounds like a lot and maybe it is but the more I learn about electric fences the more I think I will like this charger and that it's the right model for what I want.  I learned you can make many small area's of fencing plus do an entire perimeter and also run just one wire or two low wires like at nose level for the pigs or high like at nose level for a goat in hard fenced pens and do it all with one charger if you get the right one and plan it out.   And it's pretty portable compared to woven wire with it's many deeply driven wooden posts. 

I also stopped at Southern States again while in Richmond to get some white step in posts.  I had  looked through the Premier 1 fencing catalog and decided to get some for area's close to the house because I liked the aesthetics's of the white posts with the white tape and white poly twine.   Premier catalog is great with all the pictures in it for helping with design and to see how all the various parts should come together.

This is the charger I'm keeping.  I am going to build it a little box to hang it in made from exterior grade plywood.  I'll then hang the box in the greenhouse which will be right in the area where the fence will start. 

So, since I wanted the charger in the greenhouse I decided I needed  to get the bracing up and the ends on it first.  It was dusk by this time so the pictures aren't great but I got 2  - 2 x 4's screwed together and placed above the door in the front and the back running the whole length of it to brace the top to handle a good snow load in the winter.  It made it very tight and solid.   There is very little shake in it. 

Tomorrow I'll get the rest of the framing on it and then I can cover the ends, make doors and hang my charger.

Elizabeth