Got (Local) Milk? Kilgus Farmstead and Roberts Seafood Do!

On my way home from work yesterday, I stopped by Roberts Seafood Market and bought local milk (from Kilgus Farmstead in Fairbury, IL). This milk is pasteurized, but non-homogenized. That means that, before you open it, you are supposed to shake it well to distribute the cream.

There are 2 problems with shaking a bottle of non-homogenized milk. First, it doesn't shake very well. When the bottle is completely full, it pretty much doesn't shake at all! Second, if it does happen to shake well enough to actually mix the contents, you won't be able to strain out all of that nice cream from the top! You've heard the expression "the cream rises to the top"? Well, here's where that phrase comes from!

We generally crack open a new bottle of milk and pour it through a strainer to capture as much of the cream as we can. We then use that cream (along with some of the milk) to make homemade ice cream! Despite my comment in the previous post about Ben & Jerry's, my favorite ice cream has always been homemade!

If you would like to try Kilgus Farmstead milk, they deliver to Roberts Seafood every Friday, so plan accordingly to get the milk when it's freshest.

You can read more about Kilgus Farmstead milk in several newspaper articles:

• Central Illinois' only farmstead milk bottling creamery debuts (Bloomington Pantagraph)
• Idea is to milk the local dairy market (Pontiac Daily Leader)
• Illinois dairy bottles own milk (Farm Week Now)
• Fairbury dairy farm calls on three generations of experience (Peoria Journal Star)

In addition, you can see video of the Kilgus Farmstead bottling operation. (Alas, there doesn't seem to be a way to embed the video here, so you'll need to follow the link.)

P.S. Separating out the cream from the milk has always been a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition for us. Sometimes we get plenty of cream, but other times not. Is there a better way to separate the cream from the milk? Maybe! You can buy a jar with a spigot on the bottom, allowing you to easily access the milk until nothing is left but cream. What a great idea! We'll have to look into this!

Comments

[occula]

When I was a kid I remember my mom letting the milk 'settle' in a larger container and skimming the cream off the top - what implement she used, I can't remember! She also strained it through a clean, thin dish towel, but I think this was more to clean up any barnyard chaff than for any cream-related purpose. Let us know what you come up with!

[Wally Hartshorn]

I've seen a suggestion to use a turkey baster to suck up the cream. We've been using a fine-mesh strainer, which catches most of it. However, the idea of using a beverage jug with a spigot sounds appealing.

The main complaint seems to be that they all leak. However, one person left a review on the one above in which they said that a couple of rubber washers can fix the problem. $50 is a lot of money to spend on something that might not work, though!