Raines Ranch Nubians & Boers

~*~From my kitchen to yours!~*~

Here are a few of the recipes I have collected over the the last couple years for using raw goats milk

~*~Goats Milk Soap Recipes~*~

GOAT'S MILK & HONEY SOAP RECIPE

• 4 oz. of your favorite scent (if you want it scented)

• 48 oz olive oil (I use pomace--it's CHEAP and just as good for soap)

• 48 oz coconut oil (you can find it in walmart now in small containers)

• 76 oz hydrogenized vegetable shortening (like Crisco)

• 24 oz sodium hydroxide ( you can use red devil lye...it's pure)

Make sure to add the honey, tea tree oil and milk to the oil olive oil (before adding lye). Don't overheat your oils or you may cook the milk(curdle)! You should take care to keep it at around 95-110 degrees ( a little higher won't hurt, but that's about as warm as you want it to be anyway)
I mix the remaining water with the lye and let it cool to the correct temp before adding it to everything else.
If you leave out the scent, tea tree oil and honey.... it will not effect the soap except to make it a little less creamy (more solid- but definately not as nice to shower with).
The tea tree is something I put in because it is a natural antiseptic, germicide, antibacterial and fungicide. It's awesome for people with various skin problems, and never hurts anyone who doesn't have skin problems.
The honey is a natural healer... I sometimes use it directly on minor wounds to help heal quickly.
The goat's milk is a "super fatter" which gives the soap a milder, more creamy consistency and helps to moisturize the skin.
By Marsha Becker

Basic Oatmeal & Honey Goats Milk Soap

• 6 cups goats milk

• 4 cups lard (2 pounds)

• 2/3 cups standard can Red Devil brand lye

• 2 cops dry oatmeal (run through the blender)

• 1/2 cup honey

Carefully mix the milk and lye in a stainless container. Allow to cool to 85 degrees. Stir in the refined oatmeal and honey. Mix well. Ward lard to 85 degrees and slowly add to milk mixture. Mix for 15 minutes, let stand 5 minutes. Mix again for 5 minutes. Watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly. When thick like honey pour into prepared milds. Let set 24-48 hours until set. Cut into bars and air cure for 3 to 4 weeks.

More coming soon!!

~*~Say Cheese!~*~

~*~Stirred curd cheddar~*~

warm 2 gallons of whole milk to 90f. add 2 oz. of buttermilk and stir thoroughly into the milk. cover and leave the milk at 90f for 45 min.

if cheese coloring is desired, add it now.


dissolve 1/4 of a rennet tablet or 3/4 t of liquid rennet in 1/4 cup water. stir the diluted rennet into the milk with a gentle up and down motion of the ladle for 1 min. top stir the milk gently for several min. to keep the cream from rising.

let the milk set at 90f. for 45 min. or until the curd is firm and gives a clean break.

cut the curds into 1/4 inch cubes as uniform in size as possible. let them set undisturbed for 15 min.

stir the curds very gently. you do not want the curds to break apart from overstirring and you do not want the curds to matt together from lack of stirring.

over the next 30 min. warm the curds to a temp. of 100f.. do not raise the temp. of the curds faster than 2 degrees every 5 min. gently stir the curd.

hold the temp. of the curds at 100f. for an additional 30 min. stir occasionally to keep the curds from matting together.

drain the whey from the curds. save the whey; it can be used in cooking or to make other cheeses (like ricotta). drain by letting the curds settle for 5 min. to the bottom of the pot and then pouring off most of the whey. pour the curds intoa large colander and further drain them for several min. do not drain too long or the curds will mat.

pour curds back into a pot and stir them briskly with your fingers. separate any particles that have matted together.

add 2 T of coarse salt. mix in thoroughly. do not squeeze the curds. simply mix the salt into them. mix in thoroughly.

allow the curds to remain at 100f for 1 hr. stirring the curds every 5 min. to avoid matting. the curds can be kept at 100f by resting the cheese pot in a sink or bowl of water at 100f.

line a 2 lb. cheese mold with a piece of coarse cheesecloth. place the curds into it. add followers to the mold and press the cheese for 10 min. at 15 lb. pressure

turn the cheese mold over and press at 30 lb. pressure for 10 min. flip the mold over and press at 40 lb. pressure for 2 hours. turn the mold over and press at 50 lb. pressure for 24 hr.

remove the cheese from the press and gently peel off the cheesecloth. place the cheese on a clean dry cheese board or cheese mat. turn the cheese several times a day for several days until the surface of the cheese is dry to the touch. this takes from 2 to 5 days. depends on the humidity.

once the cheese is dry it can be waxed.

the cheese should be stored at 45 to 55 degrees for 2 to 6 months. turn daily forone week. after that once or twice a week.

Soft cheese recipe

(I found this recipe on the Homesteading Goats board)


A real simple soft cheese that we really like is made with sour creams as the culture.

• 1 gal. goat milk, room temp

• 1 cup sour cream (store bought is fine)

• 1 drop rennet

Mix the milk and sour cream together and let is sit for about an hour. Mix in the rennet, stirring, gently, for about 10 minutes. Cover and let sit 12 to 24 hours. Drain into a cheese cloth lined collander and hang to drain about 6 to 8 hours.


Now you can do anything with it. I've done cheesecake (YUM), lasagna, herbed cheese spreads (garlic & onion and dill and onion are our favorites), coffeecake, stuffed shells, put it on potatoes, in salad, etc. Our neighbor gave us a huge quanity of basil so I made pesto. I took some of the plain cheese and put a layer of basil in between two layer of cheese. Groan, it was sooo good. I offered it to some friends and the whole thing (it was a good 1/2 pound) disappeared in about 20 minutes