milk Archives - Homesteader DepotHomesteader Depot

Super Easy Homemade Buttermilk

Buttermilk isn’t something that you only need to buy at the store. Instead, you can make it yourself. The results will be much tastier and better for you. The buttermilk that you find in the dairy section (if your grocery store even carries it) is cultured. This type takes at least 24 hours to make, and you need to start with cultured buttermilk, making it a bit redundant, or active buttermilk culture. This process is fairly labor intensive. However, if you have a recipe that requires buttermilk and you don’t have any on hand, these quick methods will work nicely. […]

4 Things to Know About Goats Before You Get Them

Goats are fantastic homestead animals, and we write about that all the time on this site. They can produce excellent milk, help you clear brush, grass, and shrubs, and can even been great companions. But you might have some misconceptions about goats you’re not aware of, so we thought we’d share four things you might not realize about goats. Before you purchase any, you should definitely be aware of these things, so you are not surprised when it’s not exactly like you thought! 1. Cream doesn’t separate While the cream in cow’s milk naturally separates, providing you with more than […]

More Ways to Profit Off Your Land

A few weeks ago, we wrote an article on ways to profit off your land as a homesteader, and we promised there’d be more, so here it is! This week’s post on how to profit off your land is all about livestock, dairy, and meat. Being able to raise, consume, and sell your own animal byproducts is one of the biggest appeals of homesteading, and, with the right set-up, experience, and a bit of time, you can conceivably pull quite a profit. We already covered eggs, which is a really good start and has relatively low overhead. It’s a great […]

How to Safely Handle Raw Milk

Probably the primary appeal of having a family cow is the delicious, nutritious and plentiful milk you can get from her. Raw milk, meaning fresh, unpasteurized milk, has many more beneficial enzymes and bacteria than store-bought milk. But it is important to handle it safely to maintain optimum freshness and sanitation. This is particularly important if you plan on selling your raw milk. If you want to sell your milk, make sure to check your local laws. In some states, it is highly illegal to sell raw milk. In other places, there may be certain restrictions. But even if you […]

How to Make Your Own Butter

You don’t have to have your own cow to make butter at home, although of course it helps. There’s nothing like fresh, homemade butter from your own dairy cow to make you feel like the ultimate self-reliant homesteader. But even urban homesteaders can easily whip (literally) up their own batch of delicious homemade butter with raw milk from a farmer or even cream from the store. The ingredients and process are simple: cream + agitation + time = butter. The process of making butter basically involves agitating the cream long enough to separate the fat from what will become buttermilk […]