One of the best reasons to have raw milk in the house besides being able to reap the benefits of it for our health.
Raw milk is an incredibly healthy food. Unlike acidic pasteurized milk, it’s alkaline – full of nutrients and enzymes that are great for your immune system. We consider Raw Milk liquid gold – not only does it help support and strengthen our children’s immune systems, it’s an amazing source of nutrients.
Raw Milk is something that you can consume from it’s natural state – it hasn’t been altered.
Clean, raw unprocessed milk is highly nutritious food – it’s great for boosting immune system, and is a valuable source of nutrients including proteins, probiotics, enzymes, phosphorus and more.
CLA, short for conjugated linoleic acid and abundant in milk from grass-fed cows, is a heavily studied, polyunsaturated Omega-6 fatty acid with promising health benefits (33).
Among CLA’s many potential benefits: it raises metabolic rate, helps remove abdominal fat, boosts muscle growth, reduces resistance to insulin, strengthens the immune system and lowers food allergy reactions. As luck would have it, grass-fed raw milk has from 3-5 times the amount found in the milk from feed lot cows (35)(36) (Source)
Since the milk is not pasteurized, enzymes are kept in tact – they are very beneficial to your body in that they help absorb nutrients. Likewise, beneficial bacteria is also present – that bacteria (which is not in pasteurized milk) helps your body ward off infections and keeps you healthy.
This past year, my goal was to learn how to make my own cheese.
I’ve conquered making homemade yogurt, as well as sour cream, in addition to soft cheese. But I wanted to learn how to make soft cheese – ricotta cheese, and I wanted to do it with raw milk.
Sure, I can buy ricotta in store – but it’s expensive, and full of fillers. The ricotta in store is nowhere near as healthy as the type you can make yourself, and worlds better when you can make it with raw milk. It’s incredibly easy and delicious and has only two ingredients.
*Note: I have not tried making ricotta with anything other than raw milk. For health reasons, I would not advise in using anything less than full fat, whole milk. Full fat milk is incredibly healthy in comparison to low fat or no fat varieties.
Not all states allow the sale of raw milk, so check your state to determine if raw milk is legal in your area. You can find raw milk news and locations by visiting RealMilk.com.
Ricotta is a wonderful, savory cheese with a mild flavor. It can be used in many recipes - from desserts to pasta & more. You can add fresh basil and parsley, a little garlic, or herb of your choice to ricotta, or, enjoy it spread on toasted sourdough bread with a little butter.
Ingredients
- 1 quart raw, full fat milk
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- Candy thermometer
Instructions
- In your clean Instant Pot, pour in 1/2 gal milk.
- Put the lid on your pot and close the valve.
- Hit the adjust button until it says BOIL – leave it to beep and then wait for the milk to boil on it’s own – it takes about 1 hour.
- Once it's complete and beeps done, remove the Instant Pot insert and place it on the counter.
- Immediately add the lemon juice an stir slightly.
- Cover with a layer of plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for approximately 3 hours.
- Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth and drain the whey.
- Gently scrape the ricotta out of the cheesecloth and keep in a jar that's tightly covered.
If you aren’t using an Instant Pot, you can simply boil your milk on the stove until it reaches the temperature of 195 degrees. Remove from the heat, and continue as you would by adding the lemon juice and allowing it to sit on the counter top covered with saran wrap for 3 hours.
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