Well, the bad news first: my first-time mama goats didn't do so hot with their first round of kids, and we didn't end up with ANY survivors. (That darling little white one that had survived for over a month got crushed by his *&$^%@ stupid mama goat.)
Of course, we were planning on butchering the kids for meat later on anyway, so I suppose if I'm feeling extra "glass-half-full", it just saved me the trouble down the road. Still a bummer, though. So after using up my year's allotment of swear words in a fairly short time period, I found the silver lining: no babies means we get ALL the milk!
Between the three girls, I'm getting about 2 1/2 quarts a day! I was looking for more ways to use the milk, since even drinking several glasses a day, that is a LOT of milk! Started reading up on it, and came across goat butter!
Goat's milk is naturally more homogenized than raw cow milk, so the cream takes it sweet time separating out. I left a few quarts in the fridge for about five days and skimmed the cream-- and ended up with a little over half a pint of cream.
I had initially planned on doing it the old fashioned way, by just shaking the cream in the jar until it turned to butter, but turns out my Little House on the Prairie visions didn't match up with the reality of my girly wrists and lack of patience. Cue the food processor! In about two minutes I had definite separation!
Goats process beta carotene better than cows, so the butter is bright white, rather than yellowish like cow butter. (My 92 year old grandma was sharing her memories of growing up in Missouri during the depression, and how they couldn't afford real butter, even though there was a dairy right next to them. They would have to get margarine, which came with a little packet of colorant that you could mix in if you wanted it to look more like 'real' butter.)
I put the glob of butter in a jar, and rinsed it under cold water while I pressed out the buttermilk until the water ran clear. It was about the consistency of cream cheese, so while it was still soft I mixed in a little sea salt.
Popped it in the fridge to firm up a bit, then snuck a little taste. DIVINE. It melts in your mouth like a cloud-- with no oily or greasy feel. I've never really had the urge to eat plain butter before this, so I don't have much to compare it to in that regard, but it was incredible!! It was a sweet, light flavor, and an absolute treat!
Will definitely be taking the time to skim my milk so I can keep making this! Next will have to try some goat ice cream.
