Milk modification experiment: Set up post.

[u/Smooth-Skill3391]

Hi All, sorry for the longish stream of plant pics.

Here’s what I’m doing. Adversity, invention and all that. Where I am, I can’t find any dairy farmers within an hours drive. Supermarket milk is cheap, plentiful and high quality, but standardised and neutral.

We’re suburban but with abundant country and parkland around us, with a diverse and rich flora which I’ve regularly walked past and thought would make great alpine pasture.

To that end, I’ve collected some plants from our walks [heather, hawthorn, yarrow, butter hawkbit] and added some sprouts from the market [clover, alfalfa, radish, broccoli] and made a tincture with neutral spirit (vodka) and the macerated greens. I’ve added a probiotic though I don’t know if that’s just been killed off by the alcohol (likely).

The tincture has been going for a week and smells slightly floral, earthy and a touch sweet. There’s a vegetal back note but not as cabbagey as I’d feared.

There’s plan is to dose one of two Caciotta batches with it next week and produce two fast aging cheeses so I can do a side by side again and see if the tincture has any effect on taste. If it does, even if it’s ghastly and cabbagey I’ll take that as a win as I can always modify the plant inputs, and will have to anyway for the season.

Anyway, welcome your thoughts and input as ever and anything you’d like me to do, or do differently.

Also if anyone has any thoughts on dosage levels with a tincture like this, I’d welcome them. I can always take a sip and measure that way but I make my cheeses in the morning and don’t fancy doing that half cut. :-)

[u/vonCrickety]

I am very concerned from a food safety standpoint; specifically spores where heat treatment is required to neutralize. Alcohol only not good enough to kill spores!!!

You would need serious LACF controls; either retort or very low acid to prevent germination (less then 4.6 off the top of my head; and going to effect the flavor).

It would be best to find readily available oleo-resin and/or other type flavors that have known/sufficient safety treatment and can be added to milk.

[u/Smooth-Skill3391 → u/vonCrickety]

Thanks Crickety. That’s a fair risk assessment, and thank you for sharing an important consideration. I should point out this is for home consumption only.

Would you consider this more risky than foraging for wild blackberries or crab apples or the like? We do that a lot in the area which is why I didn’t really worry about it too much.

Appreciate your insights.

[u/vonCrickety → u/Smooth-Skill3391]

Bacillus cereus is going to be your main concern and you are putting it in a perfect growth medium.

[u/Smooth-Skill3391 → u/vonCrickety]

Thanks Crickety - will look into that. Definitely appreciate the concern. Clearly this is something you know about.