Other than the type of animal that the milk comes from there are many ways milk is processed or not porcessed in the case of raw milk.
Homegenized – Homogenized means the milk has gone through a mechanical process where the tiny little fat droplets are made even smaller so it stays uniformly dispersed in the milk. Cow milk is not naturally homogenized. Therefore raw milk since it does not go through this commercial process will not be homogenized, this is a good thing because then your can get cream! The milk will have a “cream line.” You may not see the cream line right away but after a day or two you will see the cream separate to the top of the milk. The cream can be scooped out and made into a variety of products or poured as is into your coffee or favorite beverage. Once you have cream you can make products like butter and ice cream. Goat and sheep milk are naturally honogenized so although that another healthy milk source you would not have the cream easily available to you to make these kind of goodies.
Pasteurization – This is the process of heating something up in an attempt to kill harmful bacteria, unfortunately it also kills off the beneficial bacteria and beneficial enzymes. Once milk is pasteurized it is not raw and you lose the benefits of raw milk. Raw milk is safe when clean and sanitary practices are in place. To learn more on raw milk see our Why Raw Milk page. There are three basic types of pasteurization: vat pasteurization at 63°C for 30 minutes, high-temperature short-time (HTST) at 72°C for 15 seconds, and ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing above 130°C for 1 second or less. The higher the temperatures the more damaging it is to the milk. For more on why this is done check out our page on Why Raw Milk. Raw milk does go through this damaging process and so retains many of these enzymes. These are not only good for you health and digestion but are also critical in cheese making. There are work arounds with making cheese from pasteurized milk, some recipes you can get away with the low vat pasteurization but will still need to use additives like rennet and calcium chloride. So if you have raw milk on hand you can have a home made raw cheese minus the extra additives. Note: some recipes may still call for the rennet.
Fat content: Skim, 2%, or Whole. Milk will naturally come with delicious cream that is high in fat. The butterfat content in milk depends on the breed of the cow and genetics. Nutrition will also play a role. Milk in it’s least processed form will be whole milk. Raw milk is whole milk. Commercial Whole Milk on average has butterfat content in the 3.25-2.5% range. Holstein cows which are your typical black and white cows that you see and think of when you think of a dairy cow can have up to 4%. Jersey cows can have up to 5% butterfat. Brown swiss are also considered to have high butter fat content of >4% and also high in protein at 3.5-3.8%. Brown swiss milk is renowned for their cheese making
A2/A2 milk: The type milk protein may be an important factor in digestion and overall health. The type of protein will be determined by the cow’s genetics. Since the cow gets a gene from each parent she can either be A1/A1, A1/A2, or A2/A2. For more on A2/A2 milk click here.