# Goat's milk butter



## IdahoGal

So we are planning on getting dairy goats soon. We don't drink much plain milk and will most likely turn the milk into cream, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, butter, and some ice cream. I was wondering what the ratio is between gallons of milk and butter produced. How many pounds of butter do you get from a few gallons of goat milk?


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## arcticow

Hopefully, nobody will give you a set ratio, cause there isn't one. Depends on fat percentage, amount recovered as cream, stage of lactation, temperature while separating... Best to just keep records of YOUR milk, your methods, your yields, then you should be able to tell if something goes way off.


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## Alice In TX/MO

Not much butter. The cream doesn't rise naturally.


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## cmharris6002

You will need a cream separator to make those products from goat milk. I get about a quart of very heavy cream from a gallon of goat milk using my NOVO. Depending on how heavy the cream is, one quart cream makes about 1 pound butter.


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## GeorgiaGirl

Good morning,
this is my first post on the dairy forum. I'm interested in making goat milk butter and was reading about the different ways everyone goes about it. If I choose the "shaking the jar" method or the "paddle" method, what do I do next after it starts to clump into butter? I just checked a website for the NOVO. Looks very interesting. Maybe I'll be able to purchase one of those before long. 
At the present moment, we have 2 Saanen milkers, and 4 Nubian doelings. Also have one Saanen buck and one Nubian buck. I live on a 10 acre farm in Georgia. I currently make yogurt but would love to learn how to make butter, cheese and soap. I'm trying to read and glean all the information available here.

~Tonya~
Graceful Acres Farm


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## hillbillly

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Not much butter. The cream doesn't rise naturally.


same here, nice creamy milk but no butter-
the machine needed to get goat butter = $$$$$$$$


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## goat milkin mom

I milk 3 Alpines and get about 2 gallons of milk a day. I allow the milk to cool in large pans for at least 12 hours and then skim off the cream that rises - it's not much compared to cows milk. You can get more if you wait 24 hours. After about a week, I get enough to make butter in my grandmother's butter churn. It makes a little over a pound. It's softer and harder to work with than cows butter, but it tastes awesome. I don't do it every week because it's just too much trouble, but my kids consider it a special treat when they get it. 

I love my goats, but the memory of that wonderful cow's milk butter from my childhood on the dairy, makes me want a cow one day...:cow:


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## danielsumner

Theres a great video on you tube showing someone using a ebay type cream separator using goats milk. Its very good. Heres the link:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwHwRSzucYM[/ame]

Daniel


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## rscheiderer

From what I've heard, those cream separators are expensive and a pain in the butt to clean. If butter is what you're after, I'd go with a small cow. The cream rises naturally to the top and you just skim it off with a ladle. The price of family cows seems to be dropping right now, but they fluctuate so much that it's hard to say what one will cost. The one I'm milking now (3-teat Jersey, 5 yrs old) cost $650 last summer here in Illinois, but I had to look long and hard to find one so cheap. She gave about 4 gallons/day when I got her in May, and is down to about one gallon per day now. I've done butter, soft cheeses, sour cream, etc. and it's wonderful.
On the other hand, I've heard it said that goats are easier to milk than a cow...never having had goats, I couldn't say.


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## Alice In TX/MO

That video is fantastic.


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## danielsumner

Alice, you read about the separators all the time, it just difficult to understand how it works. I thought the video was great also. I kept wanting to slap that hand that kept coming in from the side and adjusting the flow.

Daniel


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## Heritagefarm

cmharris6002 said:


> You will need a cream separator to make those products from goat milk. I get about a quart of very heavy cream from a gallon of goat milk using my NOVO. Depending on how heavy the cream is, one quart cream makes about 1 pound butter.


A QUART of cream? We usually get around 2 cups per gallon!


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## cmharris6002

Heritagefarm said:


> A QUART of cream? We usually get around 2 cups per gallon!


Yep, easily a QUART of cream! My Nubians and come from ADGA Top Ten Breed Leaders in butter fat, protein and production  

What breed of goats do you have? Are you using a separator? I bet if you tweak the adjustments you'll get more cream.


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## Heritagefarm

OK your ADGA top ten butter goats may give that, but the average family herd won't give that.
What usually happens is AROUND 2 cups of cream for every gallon of milk, and one pound of butter to every half gallon of cream, which means one pound of butter for around 4 gallons of milk.
As for our separator, we have an old, old, De Laval No. 16 from the Golden Series. Floor model; it's a BEAST to clean!
As for tweaking it, the bowl has a cream screw that I haven't messed with yet.
EDIT: What IS they're butterfat content?


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## cmharris6002

My doe Blissberry Wild Romance was #7 in butterfat production in 2007 and averaged 5.2% I have daughters of other breed leaders that were even higher than her. I am not on DHIR test. I can't even guess my herd average but I know I am well over 3.5%

Seriously, try messing with the cream screw I bet you can increase your yield.


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## Heritagefarm

I wouldn't think even 5.2% butterfat content would give you a pound of butter from one gallon of milk...?


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## cmharris6002

> I wouldn't think even 5.2% butterfat content would give you a pound of butter from one gallon of milk...?


A pound of butter from a gallon of milk? I didn't say that.

You said you get,


> one pound of butter to every half gallon of cream


All I said was that I get a _quart_ of cream from a gallon of goat milk...


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## Heritagefarm

Oh, sorry, but in the first message you wrote a pound of butter for every quart of cream.


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## cmharris6002

Well there's the problem then LOL! I just had that in my notes. Even though I have separated my milk many times I have not made any butter yet :lookout:


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## victory

I am new to all this butter business, I used to save my milk for soaps. I am currently milking on LaMancha who gives me about 3/4 of a gallon a day, I know, we are working on getting her production up...Anyways, I put the milk after I strain it, into a jar and let it sit in the fridge for several days. After I have about four or so jars that have been sitting for a while, I skim the cream off of the top, put it in the food processer, and waaalaaa there's some beautiful butter!! I am sure I could buy an expensive cream seperator, but why? The butter I am getting, maybe a pound a week is enough to feed my family, and share a little with friends...


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## Heritagefarm

For a pound of butter every week, then you don't really need a separator.


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## InHisName

doesn't your milk and cream get strong tasting after leaving it for a few days? I find that if I leave it too long, it gets goaty.


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## Sherrynboo

I tried making butter from goat's cream and it was good for about 2 days then it started tasting like a buck in rut! It got awful in a hurry! I don't know if it was because I had to keep the cream so long to get enough for butter or what but I decided I would just buy my butter at the store. The yogurt never got that way or the milk, just the butter. 

Sherry in GA


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## Laverne

I'm with Victory. I save my milk up to make cheese. After about 5 days and about 4 gallons the older milk has a lot of cream on top to skim off. I make a lower fat chedder by skimming off the cream. Then I put a quart of cream in the kitchenaid mixer and I get about 8 oz butter per quart. My milk lasts a long time in the fridge so no problems with my raw milk cheese. My goats are lamanchas. I wash the butter well and freeze excess also. Here's a picture of the cream line in the milk.


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## Heritagefarm

Um... wouldn't something be wrong with your milk if it was from goats and not homogenized?


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## cmharris6002

> Um... wouldn't something be wrong with your milk if it was from goats and not homogenized?


Not at all!! Even though goat milk is naturally homogenized it _will_ develop a cream line after a few days. 

Beautiful cream line Laverne!! 

Christy


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## Laverne

I think the cream from goats milk raises to the top a lot better than people are led to believe. It's so white it's hard to see. It takes a little longer than cow but it does rise to the top. 
Well handled milk from healthy does without mastitis should last for days without getting off. Mine s good for at least a week. Although some breeds like Toggenburg was bred to have stronger milk for cheese making. So taking a chance there, I've read. 
I believe poor feeding, not copper bolusing (which helps prevent mastitis) not giving free choice alfalfa makes a goat with metabolic issues who can't produce top quality milk.
Lamanchas are noted for mild tasting milk and higher butterfat.


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