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Goat milk is as close to a perfect food as possible in nature. Its chemical structure is amazingly similar to mother's milk. It is a complete protein containing all the essential amino acids without the heavy fat content and mucus producing materials of cow milk.
Lactose Intolerance
The lactase enzyme provides for the digestion of lactose, or milk sugar. Persons who do not possess this enzyme are lactose-intolerant. Goat milk contains less lactose than cow milk, and people can generally tolerate goat milk better than cow milk.
Digestibility
Goat milk offers superior digestibility to cow milk, for the following reasons:
Size of fat globules: The fat globules of goat milk are finer than those of cow milk. This allows for a greater surface to volume ratio for enzymatic attack, enabling the fat of goat milk to be broken down and digested more easily.
Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT): Goat milk has more MCT's than cow milk. Lipases attack the ester linkages of the shorter-chain fatty acids more readily, enabling more rapid digestion. MCT's, which are higher in goat milk than cow milk, have a unique ability to provide energy to the human metabolism, as well as an ability to lower, inhibit and dissolve cholesterol deposits.
Curd strength: Goat milk casein forms a less tough and more friable curd than the casein of cow milk. This means the digestive enzymes can break it down more rapidly. Alpha-S1 casein is the main casein in cow milk and this contributes to the firmer curd; goat milk contains low levels of alpha-S1 casein.
Flavor
Fresh goat milk has a mildly tangy flavor. This flavor is due to the presence of short-chain fatty acides: capric, caprylic and dcaproic acid. Correctly treated, goat milk usually has a very neutral flavor.
Calorie and Fat Content of Various Milks
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Type of Milk
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Calorie Content*
(kcal per ounce)
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Fat Content
(grams per ounce)
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Human milk
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22 (average)
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1.2 (average)
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infant formula
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20
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1.06
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cow milk (whole)
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19
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1.00
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cow milk (2%)
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15
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0.62
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cow milk (1%)
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12
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0.31
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cow milk (fat-free)
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10
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0.00
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goat milk
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18
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0.90
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soy milk
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18
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0.50
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soy milk (reduced fat)
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12
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0.25
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rice milk (unflavored)
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15
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0.25
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| *rounded to the nearest kcal |
Tips for handling milk
Milk itself, and all the utensils you use in its storage and processing, must be absolutely clean. Remember that this "perfect food" is ideal nourishment for bacteria too.
Never cover warm goat milk when you put it in the refrigerator, because the resulting condensation can affect the taste. Place a lid on the container only after its contents are cold. It follows that you must cover all strong-smelling fruits and vegetables—onions, cantaloupes, etc.—that are being stored at the same time, or the milk may pick up the odors and develop an "off" flavor.
Skimmed goat milk is very tasty and contains all the original nutrients, except most of the butterfat. If you eat the butter and drink the buttermilk that's left after churning, you'll be getting all the goodness your milk doe has to offer. (If you don't like buttermilk, incidentally, your chickens will.)
How to make great butter
To make fresh cream butter, begin the process as follows:
Heat the milk (55°F for goats milk, 60°F for cows milk).
Fill the churning jar one-third to one-half full of the heated cream.
Add butter color if desired. (Goat milk butter is very, very white. You may want to add some vegetable coloring just for eye appeal.)
Churn the cream till butter forms. For plain jar churning simply shake the the half full jar until the cream makes butter.
Drain off the buttermilk. This is not cultured buttermilk but it does have a nice sweet butter taste for drinking.
Rinse with ice water until the rinse water is clear. Buttermilk left in the butter will make the butter sour.
Salt to taste and press out all the liquid.
Wrap and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
You can find this and other great goat recipes, as well as processing equipment, at Hoegger Goat Supply.
Goat's Milk Fudge
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup goat's milk
3/4 cup margarine
6 ounces chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine sugar, milk and margarine in heavy quart sauce pan. Stirring constantly, bring to full rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips, until melted.
Add marshmallow cream and vanilla, beating until well blended.
Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan. Cool at room temperature.
**If desired, nuts can also be added with the marshmallow and vanilla.
**For different flavors - substitute flavored chips (butterscotch or mint) or almond bark for the chocolate chips.
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