4 ms·

Potential safety issues aside, what are the purported advantages of using unpasteurized milk? Do people feel like it tastes better?

soufron 3y ago
There is no comparison.
prmoustache 3y ago
As said before there is no compariso , both in milk and cheese form. I am surprised there are people who never drank raw milk.
joseph 3y ago
I have a small amount of experience making cheese, and have only made it with pasteurized milk as it is not easy to find raw milk where I live. However, in the US at least, there is both pasteurized and ultra pasteurized milk. Pasteurized uses a lower temperature for a longer period than ultra pasteurized. The vast majority of milk in the US is ultra pasteurized. My understanding from reading articles on cheesemaking is you can't really use it to make cheese as the curd doesn't develop correctly. While I haven't made cheese with raw milk, there is no doubt it tastes better than processed milk. I know because I worked on a dairy farm when I was young, and used to drink it practically straight from the cow. I did get sick once though, so it's an actual risk.
talkingtab 3y ago
In my experience - same Gouda recipe with good quality pasteurized milk and raw milk - the raw milk cheese is an order of magnitude better. I am not completely sure why, but the whey I understand it: Milk proteins change with the pasteurization process. Pasteurization heats milks to between 149 - 161 (my best understanding). Using raw milk, the milk (usually) gets up to 100 F at most in the cheese making process. I believe that the effect of the heat accounts for the change in the flavor, but what do I know? In addition using pasteurized milk requires more rennet, more culture and the addition of calcium chloride. I'm not sure if this is a factor or not.
flir 3y ago
Best analogy is white bread vs sourdough. The extra bacteria hanging around make for a more complex, but less consistent flavour. The flavour will vary by season, by year, and by maturing environment (for example the Stichelton that's around right now isn't nearly as good as what was available before Christmas, to the point where my local cheesemonger has retired it for a bit). Raw milk cheese has terroir by the bucketload. Interestingly (to me, anyway) raw milk can be clabbered. This is the simplest way to get a sense of the complexity raw milk cheese has, by comparing clabbered milk with commercial sour cream or buttermilk (but don't try to clabber pasteurised milk, it's dangerous).

soufron 3y ago

There is no comparison.

prmoustache 3y ago

As said before there is no compariso , both in milk and cheese form. I am surprised there are people who never drank raw milk.

joseph 3y ago

I have a small amount of experience making cheese, and have only made it with pasteurized milk as it is not easy to find raw milk where I live. However, in the US at least, there is both pasteurized and ultra pasteurized milk. Pasteurized uses a lower temperature for a longer period than ultra pasteurized. The vast majority of milk in the US is ultra pasteurized. My understanding from reading articles on cheesemaking is you can't really use it to make cheese as the curd doesn't develop correctly. While I haven't made cheese with raw milk, there is no doubt it tastes better than processed milk. I know because I worked on a dairy farm when I was young, and used to drink it practically straight from the cow. I did get sick once though, so it's an actual risk.

talkingtab 3y ago

In my experience - same Gouda recipe with good quality pasteurized milk and raw milk - the raw milk cheese is an order of magnitude better. I am not completely sure why, but the whey I understand it: Milk proteins change with the pasteurization process. Pasteurization heats milks to between 149 - 161 (my best understanding). Using raw milk, the milk (usually) gets up to 100 F at most in the cheese making process. I believe that the effect of the heat accounts for the change in the flavor, but what do I know? In addition using pasteurized milk requires more rennet, more culture and the addition of calcium chloride. I'm not sure if this is a factor or not.

flir 3y ago

Best analogy is white bread vs sourdough. The extra bacteria hanging around make for a more complex, but less consistent flavour. The flavour will vary by season, by year, and by maturing environment (for example the Stichelton that's around right now isn't nearly as good as what was available before Christmas, to the point where my local cheesemonger has retired it for a bit). Raw milk cheese has terroir by the bucketload. Interestingly (to me, anyway) raw milk can be clabbered. This is the simplest way to get a sense of the complexity raw milk cheese has, by comparing clabbered milk with commercial sour cream or buttermilk (but don't try to clabber pasteurised milk, it's dangerous).