# "goaty" butter



## lazydaisy67 (Sep 7, 2009)

Been skimming cream off the milk. Keeping it in a pint jar in the freezer. Finally got it full and proceeded to make butter. EWW!! It tastes REALLY goaty! Why is that? Is it the freezing process that changes something about the cream? I don't think I'll make it again if I can't get it to taste better. My milk doesn't taste that way at all and the yogurt I make is DIVINE, so I'm confused.


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## mylalaisa (Aug 17, 2009)

I haven't made butter, but i find that if I use milk for cheese that is older than about 4 days it gets that goaty flavor. I also find that when I cook with goat meat the fat has a goaty flavor...if I trim the fat off...no goaty flavor. So, maybe that "goaty" flavor is more prevelant in the fat of the animal, and therefore the butter...an idea anyway.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

I dunno. We have a cream separator, so earlier, when we had more milk, I was separating off the cream. If I did that for 3 or 4 milkings (and I usually did not do it twice a day but only once), I would have enough for our churn and then I would make butter. This cream was separated out on the day I milked the goat, while it was still warm, and then cooled afterwards. I would just keep it in the fridge for the few days needed to get enough to make the butter, and we never had an issue with goaty flavor. Once or twice, we also used cream that had been separated like that, then frozen. Are you just adding more cream to the already frozen stuff until you have enough?


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

I haven't had that issue. My butter is flavorless basically. I am mixing it with commercial butter to get more flavor.

I think I will try culturing some to see if I can get some tasts into it.

Are you leaving your milk uncovered waiting for the cream to rise? It will rise fast, and it will be easy to separate, but I find it tastes off. Possibly like the fridge?
But if I skim it within 2-3 days, and keep the jars covered, then I get no off tastes. I also have to cover the jar in the freezer, or it will taste... like a freezer!

But, I haven't found anything goaty. Do you have a buck with your does? Could he be affecting their hormones and causing this to happen? And I am talking about it being subtle in milk, so you don't notice, but butter is concentrated, so it would show up more there.

If all cleanliness is observed, and lids are kept on milk and cream at all times, until you make your butter, there should be almost no taste at all. If you are not getting enough of the milk out of the butter, it will not taste that much like butter, sort of more like cream cheese? But, as you get more water out, the flavor changes. I salted mine, and kept working it, then I would taste it. When I was satisfied with the taste, it was rinsed enough.

And the more milk left in your butter, the faster it will spoil.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Yes, you do have to rinse it a lot. Our butter tastes wonderful (when we make it, which hasn't been lately as we don't have as much milk right now). Definitely not flavorless...tastes like, well, butter, and good butter at that. Everyone who has tried it says it's fantastic.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Oh, and we don't culture it, even.


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