Pasteurized milk has been heated up to high temperatures, to kill any potential for dangerous bacteria. Unfortunately, this kills all bacteria, including the beneficial bacteria & important enzymes our bodies need! This makes it more difficult for the body to digest, and can cause inflammation and other issues. Raw milk is an unprocessed, whole, living food.

The honest answer is it depends on your digestive system and gut health. Some people experience no difficulty transitioning from pasteurized milk to raw. If your gut has some healing to do, raw milk may be a small (but good!) shock to your digestive system. We encourage brand new raw milk drinkers to start with 1/4 cup, wait awhile, see how your body tolerates it, and adjust as needed. 

We expect right around a week for our milk, but it can be longer, especially when it's kept in the back of your fridge. Just as stable COLD temperatures will extend the shelf life of your milk, as soon as temperatures dip up and down above 40 degrees, that shelf life decreases. You'll notice that raw milk will last longer if distributed into smaller containers, rather than opening a big container frequently, since air exposure is another thing that causes milk to turn more quickly. We recommend splitting your big gallon into smaller sealed glass containers for your fridge at home, as raw milk tends to keep longer in glass than in plastic.

The short answer is yes, if you want to! Raw milk that has turned is not rancid, just naturally soured.  After this point, it is still fully usable for things like baking, soups, cakes, cheese, etc., rather than drinking. If you don't mind the taste, go for it. Some people prefer butter made with cultured cream! It's also worth noting that sometimes milk around the rim of a jar can smell "off", but the actual milk inside tastes completely normal. If you are unsure if your milk has turned, we always recommend a quick taste test! 

If you prefer not to consume it after it's turned, you can feed it to your animals or pour it at the base of trees and bushes. Our apple trees love it!

Everything that you'd use pasteurized milk for! Our family favorites are butter, yogurt, cheese, ice cream & caramel! I love using the buttermilk in biscuits, syrup, and pancakes.

*One thing to note is that you'll want to avoid overheating raw milk - if it heats up too quickly, or comes to a rapid boil, it can curdle, which is not usually what you want. If you're going to heat up your raw milk, heat it low and slow, and don't hold it at a boil.

Just ask! Sometimes we are able to accommodate requests for extra milk, after we have fulfilled current subscriptions. We also offer grab-and-go half gallons in our farmstand, as available.

Yes. The consistency can be slightly different once thawed. Sometimes the cream globules have a hard time combining back in with the milk, but the taste should be just as good as when it was initially frozen.

Yes! My favorite (and the simplest I've found) is this one:

venisonfordinner.com/elaines-simple-no-cook-no-eggs-raw-milk-ice-cream-recipe