r/cheesemaking • u/RiseZestyclose2332 • 3d ago

Advice Clabber

I was able to find raw milk and I would like to start a clabber . Any advice or suggestions? Tia!

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u/Plantdoc 3d ago

Lots of people do it, it is one of the oldest cheesemaking methods dating many centuries before the “pre-science” era and it does work. There are tons of videos. But ask yourself why commercial milk in the modern world is pasteurized. When making cheese or other cultured dairy products, with raw milk, clabber, modern dehydrated cultures, or whatever, sanitation cannot be just “good enough”. With raw milk, there is only one way to know if it contains any Brucella, Clostridium spp. or other spore forming human pathogens, and that is expensive microbiological testing or, as in the old days, you ate it and something bad happened. Best case, your cheese tastes bad, worst case, it could make you very sick. While this may be rare, it is always possible. Ph. D. Microbiologist here. I have made cheese with raw milk. But if and when I am able to get it, I lightly pasteurize it by warming to 145 F (63 C) and holding for 30 min, then cooling to 6 C if storing, or to your recipe temperature if going on to directly make cheese (recommended). 145 C does remove the dangerous pathogens with minimal effecy on milk quality. This is far better than the 72 C and higher temps they use for grocery store milk.

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u/YoavPerry 3d ago

I’m a professional cheesemaker, and while the response above may sound a little strong, I think the warning is absolutely worth taking seriously.

It’s true that spontaneous raw-milk cultures have been used for centuries, but that history is sometimes romanticized. Traditionally, milk often went essentially from the animal into the cheesemaking immediately. Today it can travel through pipelines, pumps, hoses, bulk tanks, refrigeration, transport and storage, creating many more opportunities for environmental contamination. A good example is listeria monocytogenes. It is not present in milk from the cow, but rather an environmental pathogen, picked up from soil, water, equipment and other surfaces that previously came in contact with it.

Historically, when things went wrong, people got sick or died. There were no government authorities, inspections and recall procedures.

I’m not sure what you intend to use the clabber for, but if it is as a starter for cheese, I would strongly discourage it unless you know what you’re doing and you absolutely trust this milk or can test and you trust your process. You are essentially incubating an unknown population of microorganisms and then using it to inoculate another batch of milk. Acidification doesn’t sanitize it. Pathogens such as Listeria can remain viable well after the milk has clabbered.

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u/looking-sharp-todays 2d ago

Can you please give me a general guideline for pasturising milk at home? Do you have recommended timinigs and temperatures, beside the one already mentioned, for safe handling of raw milk? Never used before but I want to give it a try, but safely