Anything dairy-related

Leon

Leon the Milkman has a B.Sc majoring in Food Science And Chemistry. Having had stints in most food industries, his love for dairy won and he has been working in the dairy industry in the Western Cape Province of South Africa since 1997. He is a Research Tech. and presents regular Cheese and Yoghurt Making Courses.

Doris makes cheese.

Doris says,

“I want to make cheese because I am curious. Curious if I am able to MAKE what most other people BUY, to find out the process that is behind the neatly wrapped yellow squares in the supermarkets and to be independent from the market.
 I started by asking my network of family and friends, the knowledge that they gave me I substitued with books and info on the internet. I put these little bits and pieces of information together and began the process of making my first cheese. Leon the milkman helped me with the finishing touches.
 

I was so excited when I tasted my first cheese, and so were my friends: “Did you really make this? I did not know that one can make cheese on their own!”
But the excitement goes much further: it encourages me to try a lot of things that I considered impossible before.”
 Doris Spielbuechler, Austria, currently Fine Arts student in Stellenbosch, South Africa
(Within my practise as a fine arts student I work with food issues regarding cultural aspects, global distribution, access and the power of the market)

Thanks, Doris for the post

Remember to drink your milk – it’s good for you!

Kind regards

Leon the Milkman

Freezing points of 2% milk in celsius

Hi Milk fans

It makes no difference what the fat percentage of milk is when it is to be tested for freezing point.  The result is dependant on the dissolved substances in the milk – the lactose and minerals.  So milk with any fat percentage can be tested without preparation.

Drink you milk!

Leon the Milkman

p.s. We will be back with the cow series shortly!

Weltevreden Farm Cheese – Winburg, South Africa

 [audio:weltevreden – Master.mp3]

Hi, Cheese Fans

This interview is in Afrikaans, but most of it is transcribed here for our English fans.

I spoke to André Kruger of Weltevreden Farm Cheese.  In 1994 he started farming on a full-time basis with his father, but wanted to make some extra money and therefore did a cheese course at Irene.   In 1995 Lynette Slabbert asked him to help at her cheese factory.  In 1996 André also helped Rudolph Burger in Brandfort to start a factory.

He later built his own cheese factory on the farm and in 1998 started producing cheese. In these times he also helped upstarts at the time – Bospré Dairies and Gonda’s Boerekaas.

Production steadily increased.  To this day they farm organicly, using no hormones on the cows and only using natural salt as preservative in their cheese.   It seems that André’s cheese has seen more of the country than he has, but his main areas for sales are in Gauteng and the Free State. 

Products produced are Gouda, Cheddar, Feta and butter.  Some flavoured varieties are made and additives included are natural pepper, garlic, mixed herbs, cumin and biltong(dried meat delicacy).

Some of the places where their cheeses are enjoyed are Clarens, Clocolan, Betlehem, Parys, Theunissen, Pretoria and Ficksburg.

Thanks for the interview André – you are a brave man!

Weltevreden Farm Cheese

Box 63

Winburg

9420

Tel:05772 – 2904

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

P.S. Remember to drink your milk!

Music for Cows

Hi, Cow Fans

Have a listen to the “Milk Cow Blues”…

[audio:MilkCowBlues.mp3]

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

P.S. Remember to drink your milk!

Guernsey Body Characteristics

Hi, Cow Fans

Guernsey cows should weigh, when mature, between 1050 and 1250 pounds, and bulls from 1700 to 2000 pounds. Considerable variation in size now exists, however, due partly to the recent admission into the USA, and their registration as Guernseys, of the cattle which for centuries have been raised on the third largest of the Channel Islands, namely, Alderney.  For some reason the mature cattle of Alderney Island are not as large even as the Jersey and fall very far short of matching the ideal Geurnsey. There are many who believe that it was a serious blunder to admit into America these small cattle, especially to admit them in the name of a much larger breed. Many breeders and practical dairy farmers, who have chosen Guernseys over Jerseys, have done so because of the reputed greater size of the former.

The Guernseys naturally carries a little more flesh than the Jersey and is not so sensitve to the cold. To reduce the scale of the animals now is to throw them into the Jersey class in this respect where they will probably be easily equalled as efficient dairy animals by Jerseys of their own size. The color of the Guernsey is orange-yellow and white, in large patches. The shade of the yellow varies from light to a near red. Neither extreme is desirable.

The temperament of the Guernsey is particularly agreeable. She is intelligent, but not so nervous, not so affectionate nor so resentful as the Jersey. Neither is she so indifferent as the “cold blooded” Holstein. Her sunny disposition and easy handling habits have won her many friends. There is an tendency, however, for individuals and families of this breed to lay on fat to readily.

Calves at birth should weigh from sixty to eighty pounds and are inclined to be somewhat delicate. They are not as easily reared as the young of either the Holstein or the Ayrshire breed. Heifers mature rapidly and unless care is taken are liable to begin milking to early for best growth.

Drink your milk.

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

Guernsey cows

Hi, Cow Fans

The Guernsey breed of cattle is one of comparative recent recognition, not that animals of the present Guernsey characteristics have not been in existence for a considerable time, but rather that since their qualities and adaptations were so similar to those of the Jersey, the two breeds were, during a considerable part of the last century, considered as one breed and were spoken of a “Alderney” cattle, from the group of Alderney or Channel Islands to which the islands of Jersey and Guernsey belong.

It is sure that some interbreeding took place very early on, but since 1763 the residents of Jersey forbade the introduction of new breeding stock and Guernsey did the same in 1819.  So since then the breeds have been kept pure.  

Considerable differences now exists between the Guernsey and the Jersey.  Professor Low, writing in 1841, seems to consider the cattle from the two islands as essentially one breed, yet goes on to describe those on Guernsey Island as larger and more highly marked with orange yellow skin, and as yielding a somewhat more yellow milk and butter.  More recent investigations strongly support the theory that at some period several hudred years ago animals which were the true descendants of the “spotted cattle” or Simmenthaler, of Switzerland, had been introduced as breeding stock on the Island of Guernsey.  Not only is this supported by the larger size, quieter disposition, and more yellow secretions of the Guernsey, but also from the fact that there are at present animals possessing characteristics similar to the Guernsey and Simmenthaler on either side of the Rhine River. 

Although the Guernseys were taken at an early date to England they were used largely by the nobility, the same as were the Jerseys.

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

Holstein-Friesian 3

Hi, Cow Fans

The land upon which this breed of stock has been pastured for many generations is largely of a low, marshy order; in fact, much of the land is that reclaimed from the ocean by the thrifty Hollanders, who diked across the arm of the sea and literally pumped the water back into the ocean by means of windmills.  The land thus reclaimed is immensely fertile, but, being lower than sea level, continues moist and comparatively cold.  Grass grows luxuriantly.  Upon these moist pastures the cows are pastured in summer.  They are not permitted to roam about, but are tethered out.  This system of feeding and handling is ideal for the production of bodily size and a quiet disposition.  

The colour of the Holstein-Friesian is always black and white.  Very rarely a red and white animal is dropped from pure parents, but is not eligible for registry.  The size is large.  A mature cow should weigh 1300 pounds, and not infrequently individuals attain 1500 and occasionally 1700 pounds.  A mature bull of this breed should weigh between 1800 and 2400 pounds.  The disposition of the Holsteins, as a breed, is very mild, in fact, they are so quiet that they are one of the easiest breeds to handle.  They are greedy feeders and naturally they are not particular in regard to the condition of their feed as are some other breeds.  The calves weigh 90 pounds or more at birth and are easy to raise. 

The Holsteins as a breed may be said to produce the largest quantity of the leanest milk of any breed.  It is thus an excellent producer of drinking milk and not so much preferred for cheese making where higher milk solids are beneficial.  Although the olstein produces more kilograms of fat and protein per lactation, because of the volume it produces, it is still better suited for drinking milk or milk for the manufacture of condensed milk.  This is further impacted by the fact that the Holstein milk has a comparatively higher amount of albumen to casein. 

The smaller fat globules and the low butterfat content as well as the very white butterfat obtained when skimmed of Holstein milk makes it less than ideal for butter manufacturing.  All the above factors makes it probably the cow milk that is most ideal for baby feeding.

Drink you milk!

Leon the Milkman

 

Holstein-Friesian 2

Hi, Cow Fans

Though the parent stock has been kept pure, many off-shoots and modificationshave taken place in surrounding countries; thus, modified Holland cattle are to be found in various parts of Belgium, Germany and France.  This blood contributed to the development of the early Teeswater cattle, now known as Durham or Shorthorns, as well as having also furnished foundation for much improvement effected of late years in Russia.  This breed is believed also to have been used to some extent in establishing the Ayrshire breed.

Till tomorrow,

Leon the Milkman

p.s. Drink you milk!

Holstein-Friesian

Hi, Cow Fans

For the next few days we will be discussing the Holstein Cow.

This breed is one of the oldest, of either beef or dairy animals in America.  It had its beginnings in the Netherlands, mainly in the North-East province, Friesland, and is unquestionably the same which made the Hollanders famous throughout the civilized world more than a thousand years ago.  Even back during the flourishing days of the old Roman Empire, large, black and white oxen, and cheese were continually being sent from the regions now known as the Netherlands.  A race of cattle with many of the present characteristics of the Holstein-Friesians doubtless were being maintained practically pure fully 20000 years ago and Holland has remained famous as a dairy centre during the centuries since. 

Till tomorrow,

Leon the Milkman

About Me

Welcome to my Blog!
I'm Leon the Milkman,  dairy specialist and  professional cheese experimenter.

Contact Me

Email me at leon@leonthemilkman.com

or call during office hours 

(GMT +2) on +27(0)84 952 4685

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© 2010 by Leon the Milkman.

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