# (1) Is there really a difference in the milk taste?



## PhotoLady (Apr 16, 2009)

(1) Is there really a difference in the milk taste? Is more fat (Nigerian or Nubian) "goaty"? Or does the fat content contribute to the flavor? Is the fat easily digested like the milk? (I have a tough time keeping weight on, thus the interest in a high fat content milk).


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## Chaty (Oct 25, 2007)

I personally love goats milk and cows milk dont agree with me. I have trouble keeping weight on also and have a intolarence to cows milk but goats milk doesnt do to me what cows milk does. Love the milk and I have Nubians, Alpines, Nigerians and La Manchas. It basically all tastes the same to me...Love it just dont let them get into onions...you will know it if they do...


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## Dacaree (Jan 31, 2009)

As far as taste goes, I really think it is personal preference. I have some people that swear they can taste the difference between my nubian and la mancha. At the same time I have some people that say that can't taste any difference. I know the diet of the goat has a lot to do with it. Me personally I like the nubian better. It has a sweeter taste.


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

We did a blind taste test within the family. Everybody loved the Alpine's milk the best. Other options were Nubian and LaMancha.

Our mini who is 1/4 Nubian has very creamy milk, and we use it when we need a higher fat content. Like in hot chocolate.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Most people that I know say that the higher fat milks are sweeter tasting. From what I understand, goatiness depends a LOT on how the milk is handled, and there are many variations is flavor between goats of the same breed. A friend of mine used to have Alpines and more than one person has commented that with her particular goats, the flavor was stronger and less pleasant than her current Nubians. I am milking Kinders right now (even more fat than the Nubians) and the milk is wonderful. Very sweet and rich.


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## Pam V (Jan 3, 2009)

I challenged people to taste test my two goats to see if there was a consistancy in the preference. Everyone picked the same one. Normal comments were, "this one taste really good. This one just tastes like milk."
I agree that different breeds vary and different goats within the breed. Management of the goats and how it is handled is crucial to good milk or not good milk. I don't have alot of experience but haven't had mik that I don't like unless the barn needs attention - eeaaaww! and it was my own 
Pam


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## Judys (Feb 19, 2009)

we don't get any goaty taste from our nubians just sweet milk


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## PhotoLady (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks for all the comments! I can see I'm in for a very fun education!


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Our Nubian milk is sweet, no goat flavor, first time I had it it tasted like half and half to me. Yummy.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

You need to cool your milk to 40 degrees with in 30 min you will never have goaty taste pulse excellent cleaning prior to milking with the handling of your milk etc. 
the higher the butter fat the sweeter the milk ND /has the highest and then Nubian. 
a LaMancha will put more milk in the pail but not quite as high a butter fat. Tho I have one Nubian now milking over 10lb a day. With my Mini LaMancha I get the best of both worlds high butter fat and then give lots of milk for the size of the goat. Most all of mine will give you 7 lb consistantly with less feed.


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## ourark (Jul 9, 2009)

How do you cool it off that fast. I am now (trying, I am having a few issues with it.) milking with a surge milker. And than I have 1/2 gallon glass jars I pour it into to. Is there a cost effective easy way to do this. I only have 4 milking goats?


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I have a friend that has a cooling stick made out of food grade plastic. It is filled with water and frozen, then goes in the milk can at milking time. I can't find the website, but I know plenty of people use frozen water bottes too. I like the milk cooling stick because it has a handle and the lid where the water goes in is not submersed, so it seems less likely to introduce bacteria.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

I agree on the GM keeping weight on or I would blow away today :lol. Without the GM I get bone frail and my hypoglycemia kicks in more. At least with my two glasses a day I maintain above 115 lbs, in the winter 135lbs. Miss one day though and down goes the weight. We pool our milk so I couldn't tell you if Nubian compared to Alpine is any better than the other but according to ADGA milk tests there is a higher fat content in Nubians. 

I suppose if I quit my coffee I would actually gain more, NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
Tammy


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## MiaBella Farm (Jul 22, 2008)

We submerge our milk bucket in ice cold brine water that is kept in my freezer at zero degrees, so as we are milking, the milk is instantly cooled. Putting a frozen water bottle in my milk would not be acceptable by my milk inspector. They argue that you can not get them sanitized well enough.

I have also heard of people submerging their milk bottles (once filled with milk) in the brine water before freezing it to bring the temperature down quickly. I have not tried it.


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## mill-valley (Feb 22, 2008)

Putting your glass jars in an ice bath or in running water would also work. That's what I used to do, and it cools fairly fast...at least good enough for my purposes.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

My jars (of filtered milk) go into a bucket of ice water that is always in the fridge, so it cools off fairly quickly. I add fresh ice as needed. Agree on the issue of not being able to sterilize the outside of a water bottle...all those ridges that they usually have would make that a real problem. I don't like the idea of putting anything into the milk.


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## Painted Pony (Apr 12, 2009)

I cool my milk by filtering it in to a pail that went in to my sink until it cooled to 40 degrees. Then it went in to a container in the fridge or freezer. I got tired of not having my sink so I switched to a regular cooler filled with ice & water. It works well, will hold 3 gallons of milk, cool it quickly, and as the water melts I just scoop it in to the dog water bowl & add more ice. I have an ice maker so it keeps the cooler filled with ice. I wish I had the freezer space to dedicate to a brine bucket in the milk room. I think that would be easier in many ways.


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## favablue (Apr 11, 2009)

Most depends on how the milk is handled and what time of year it is. We can barely tell a difference from our goats milk and the cows milk in the store. Just a little richer. But, our goat milk taste a lot different than our cow's milk. 
Between Nubian, LaMancha and Nigerian, we have only been able to tell a difference with the Nigerians. Their milk is super rich, but you only get a little.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

We don't use the ice bath and we have milk that last for up to 2 weeks. We simply filter the milk into gallon jugs and put them quickly in the refrigerator. We do use an individual wipe for each goat and then wipe the belly to prevent loose hair and matter from falling into the pail. 

I was just in Poland and was teaching the Pastor's family there who were milking goats how to clean the udder and wipe the belly and get the milk cooled down quickly. They had been leaving it out on the counter for up to 6 hours sometimes before refridgerating it. After learning how to handle it properly they gave me a glass of milk and all were surprised at how good goat milk could taste.


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## MiaBella Farm (Jul 22, 2008)

6 HOURS???? OMG!

Ok, I am Polish...but there has got to be a good Polish joke to come from THAT ONE! LOL!!!


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

We started with alpines and then switched to nubian and saanan - I like the nubian milk best, I can definitely taste a difference. And it never goes "goaty" whereas the alpine milk did occasionally start to taste too strong for me... As for cooling it, I tried the ice bottle in the pail but hygeine concerns forced me to give that up so I got a cake pan slightly larger than the pail, froze a couple inches in the bottom of that and sat the pail on top of that while I milked. Worked great. Actually this year I haven't cooled it off at all (I quit during the winter and never started up!) and there's been no problem with the flavor at all. That's with changing the breeds too so that could be related?


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

On very very hot days I use ice bottles in my surge but on normal days just get it out strained and into the freezer for 30 min and then in to the frig 
as far as taste I can tell the difference in the LaMancha verses either the Nubian or the Mini LaMancha but since I mix them all together you can't tell that the LaMancha is lower in butterfat. I love the MM alone because even making icecream you don't have to add extra cream


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## paulaswrld (Mar 2, 2008)

I do it just like Sondra and I have never had a problem with my milk, unless I have a problem with a goat. I have discovered that if my milk sours quickly or if it is hard to strain I have some sort of udder issue beginning....Subclinical mastits, etc... I have had this happen twice in the last 4 years and both times we stained slow and then milk soured.

I milk, bring it in, strain into 1/2 gallon glass jars and pop them in the freezer...clean up the milking area...putter around with other barn chores and between 30 minutes and an hour I move the milk from the freezer (a stand alone freezer) into the fridge.

P


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Oct 25, 2007)

I contend that it is cleanliness and animal health. Our alpine milk is creamy and sweet even though it is putatively lower in fat. Remember between some of the breeds the difference in butter fat will be slight and even more so between individuals within the breed and also dependent upon the stage of lactation. After all there is less than half a percent difference between lamancha and nubian butterfat.

We have also experimented with chilling times and found little difference.

Mastitis of copper deficiency will make yucky milk faster than anything.


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2008)

When I was young we had a cow dairy for awhile. I can't tell the difference between the cow milk straight from the bulk tank and my nubian milk.  Alot of people around here say 'ewwww...goat's milk!! it's so SWEEEEET--ick'. Most are people who had to buy it for a child that was intolerant of regular formula. Maybe store boughten goat milk is sweeter. ??? Finally got one gal to try it and she was wowed-not too sweet at all. And it's really good with Kahlua in it!  Actual Kahlua and Cream instead of Kahlua and milk. yum


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## wyobwilliams (Feb 18, 2010)

Has anyone compared to Sannens? My wife and I just got our goats last fall. We only had one milking. She was pregnant and on grass/alfalfa hay. I did not grow up around goats milk but her milk was pretty goaty so I had a hard time with it. We strained it and put it right in the fridge as soon as the goat was done milking. The fridge is pretty cold. I like the goats but have a hard time with the flavor. We will freshen in a couple of weeks. The goats are on almost pure alfalfa now. I am going to be curious as to how the milk will taste. I have wondered about different breeds tasting different.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

I totally agree with LeeAnne. We have milked all breeds and all crosses in horrendous heat with no flavor differences.
It's the health of the animal and getting minerals down them in good quantity has helped with that tremendously.


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Brett I have read that there are some individual goats that just produce strong tasting milk no matter what. Our Saanen milk tasted great.
Also there are people who think Gm tastes strange no matter what. My friend's little boy used to complain about goat milk so one day she got some GM, put it into a clean milk bottle that she'd got cow milk in from the store. That evening she baked his favorite apple dumplings and poured some milk over them. He had NO idea it was goat milk - but he immediatly tasted it and wouldn't eat the dumplings!!
Hopefully you'll find that one of your does produces good-tasting milk for your taste-buds


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

wyobwilliams said:


> Has anyone compared to Sannens? My wife and I just got our goats last fall. We only had one milking. She was pregnant and on grass/alfalfa hay. I did not grow up around goats milk but her milk was pretty goaty so I had a hard time with it. We strained it and put it right in the fridge as soon as the goat was done milking. The fridge is pretty cold. I like the goats but have a hard time with the flavor. We will freshen in a couple of weeks. The goats are on almost pure alfalfa now. I am going to be curious as to how the milk will taste. I have wondered about different breeds tasting different.


Three simple dietary things that you can do to improve the flavor of the milk:
1. Provide baking soda free-choice to your does. They will nibble on it and it keeps their rumen Ph neutral. Also good for their rumens, so a + with very little outlay.
2. Good minerals, loose and free choice. You can also buy a cobalt block for them to lick on in addition to the loose minerals. Dr. Parrish, small ruminant specialist at WSU told me that they will help you have sweeter milk.
3. If your does are on browse, bring them in at least 1 hour before milking. That is supposed to help eliminate any off-taste as a result of various plants.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

A cobalt block is only advisable in very limited situations. Areas of the US with severe cobalt soil deficiency use them but if your goat has a normal intake of bvitamins and a healthy rumen there is no need for supplemental cobalt. Cobalt deficiency is again a result of high powered feeds which require a larger amt of B12 to convert proprionate to glucose produced in abnormal amts in diets high in concentrates. These diets also create things that mimic b12 and so reduce production. Another cause of cobalt deficiency can be chronic parasite damage to the intestine and so an injection is the only route to correction. Altering the ideal compliment of microbes in the rumen is to blame for many of the more exotic diagnoses handed out.
B 12 deficiency is more likely a lack of proper bacteria in the rumen than a lack of cobalt in the diet. 
Good reading would be an article on the B vitamins by Karin Christensen.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians (Dec 5, 2007)

I tasted goat milk from another herd, long time ago. Their milk was so nasty. It made me gag. I don't like milk anyway, be it cows or goat but this stuff was gross. I tried Delilah's milk just for comparison and while I don't like milk, I could drink hers if I HAD to. It didn't have the nasty off taste that this other milk had.


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Mar 2, 2009)

I have only drank Nubian milk and I love it. The first time we tried we were prepared for it to taste funky or weird and much to our surprise, it was delicious. My kids all love it too. My husband doesn't really care for it. He is not overly fond of any milk and to him, goat milk just tastes funny.


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## Judys (Feb 19, 2009)

Love the nubian milk we have gotten, never tasted any other.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

We like nubian, LM, MM, and now trhey love the milk from our mutt.

We are pretty particular about chilling... and use an ice bath. We have an ice chest and it is mostly ice and some water to the bottom of the jar lids on qt jars. If I am going to freeze any we take it STRAIGHT from the ice bath to use chest freezer. If it goes in the fridge first it is more likely to separate.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

My goat barn is actually a garage so it is very close to the house. I milk each doe and then immediately run intot he house, strain the milk into a glass canning jar and put it in the freezer. I rinse the SS pail and run back out to milk the next doe. I do that for each doe. When the last doe is milked, I time the jar(s) in the freezer, giving them about 1/2 hour from the last milking. By that time the milk is very cool but not frozen and ready to be put in the fridge.


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

A goat group in Missouri where I spoke a few years ago, had a milk taste test during the lunch hour, small paper cups with a sample of milk from all breeds, including canned, powdered, cows. I, apparently have a very sensitive taster as I had the highest score, and could pick out each breed and type.

Higher fat makes better taste in the absense of gross mishandling. There is some talk in recent years about mineral deficiency impacting milk taste, too, specifically cobalt and Toggs. Give me Nubian, Nigerian or Kinder milk any day.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Yeah, that Kinder milk is amazing. We will be doing some taste comparisons here when our Nubians freshen. And I'm thinking that Mini-Nubian milk would be about the same as Kinder.

What I don't quite understand in one of the above posts, is that someone would complain that the milk was sweet??? I consider that a good thing! (Not that I want it to taste like someone dumped a bunch of sugar in it.)


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## Sunny Daze (Jan 14, 2008)

I love my nubian and nigerian milk. They are both very creamy and sweet. It does vary some between the individual goats. Now I farm sat for someone with Toggs and did not like that milk at all. Very goaty tasting to me. I was milking them so same procedure used to milk mine...


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