A few weeks ago, we took a week-long break from dairy, meat, and caffeine. This was on top of an on-going sugar detox (total length of no sugar was 3 weeks.)
Because we buy milk from a local dairy farm each week, and want to be consistent in our support of local small businesses, we still bought our usual gallon of raw, whole milk straight from the farm. While I knew the milk would last if we stored it in our second refrigerator for a week, I also knew this would be the perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe……
Clabber Milk Cheese
First, I started by sterilizing several quart sized mason jars and lids.
Then, I distributed a half-gallon of milk among the three jars, not filling them completely. I wasn’t sure how much expansion or gases may be produced in the jars during the fermentation time.
The jars sat on the kitchen counter, away from any other ferments, for several days. I opened them twice daily, reclosed and gave the jars a gentle shake. Again, I wasn’t sure how this process would compare to a traditional ferment.
After 1 or 2 days, the milk became thicker, similar to yogurt.
After 3 or 4 days, the clabber began to separate from the whey.
By day 5 or 6, the clabber became more grainy, almost like an extra small-curd cottage cheese. At this point, I put the jars in the fridge until I was ready to strain and use.
**The days are an approximate, as each jar had its own “schedule.”
Two days before I was ready to use the clabber cheese, I poured the contents of each jar into a mesh strainer that was sitting over a measuring dish. I covered the cheese with plastic wrap and allowed it to continue to strain for two days.
The final product is a feta-like, ultra tangy cheese that was not really something we would want to eat by itself. Hey, you don’t know til you try, right? I ended up mixing the clabber cheese with an egg and used it as a topping for a baked spaghetti casserole.
A few final thoughts on Clabber Cheese…
-Clabbering milk was a process that began in the “olden days” prior to refrigeration. It was a way to use the naturally occurring, beneficial bacteria in the raw, fresh-from-the-cow milk to act as a preservative.
-If you want to try this at home, you MUST use raw milk from a clean cow! As in, you must know the farm where you get the milk is free from harmful bacteria and that no hormones, antibiotics, etc… is used on the cows.
-As with all ferments, the longer it sets, the stronger the taste. You may want to only clabber your milk for a few days if you don’t prefer tangy, sharp cheese. (Honestly, I didn’t care for the cheese by itself, but combined with the spaghetti casserole, it was delish!!)
-I probably won’t be doing this again anytime soon. It was a lengthy process that really wasn’t a favorite. I’m sure we could learn to get used to it, but at this point, we will probably just continue to use milk for drinking or in other recipes.
I’d love to hear from you…
Have you ever clabbered milk or taste-tested a friend’s? I’m curious what you thought about it!! Let me know 💕
