Hello Everybody,
Below is an email exchange between myself, Eric and Mark McAfee from Organic Pastures about naturally yellow butter, and the differences in taste and quality of milk depending on locale. It is a bit lengthy, but you might find it interesting.
Elke
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From: Mark McAfee:
Below is an email exchange between myself, Eric and Mark McAfee from Organic Pastures about naturally yellow butter, and the differences in taste and quality of milk depending on locale. It is a bit lengthy, but you might find it interesting.
Elke
===========================================
From: Mark McAfee:
Thank you for your comments. You are entirely right. The bacteria, the elevation, the temperatures, the mineral rich glacial water, the herbs, the water the everything in Interlaken is different than here in Fresno CA.
We do nothing to the milk or butter….this is what you get in good old CA. see pictures of the cows on deep green pastures just this last week. I was in Switzerland last summer I know exactly what you mean.
Look forward to meeting you.
Mark
From Ekle
Sent: Tue, February 1, 2011 2:32:23 PM
Subject: Regarding Naturally Yellow Butter
Greetings Mark McAfee,
My name is Elke Brazel, and I was the one who sent Eric Brody (from the Santa Barbara chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation) all these questions about Organic Pastures’ raw milk (see email below). Eric forwarded your response to me and encouraged me to personally reply. Yes, one can still get raw milk in Germany and the Alps, but you have to know where.
I grew up in Southern Germany, surrounded by small farms, and my husband grew up in a small dairy town in Iowa. We regularly visit my family in Germany, and I can report, that it is still possible to get raw milk from a farm. Just a five minute walk away from our family home, they fill up your pail (30 cents for a quart) when you come during milking time. It is raw and from grass fed cows. Regular farm stores sell raw milk under the term “Auszugsmilch”. You need to look for a member of the “Bioland” or “Demeter” organizations. Don’t expect to find raw milk in regular grocery stores. There is none. The same is true in the Alps (Germany, Switzerland, Italy). You have to hike up to one of the Alms (or Alpe) where the dairy cows summer. There is normally somebody (a “Senner”) who milks the cows and makes cheese right on site. From this person you can get raw milk, and sometimes the milk has still the body temperature of the animal. (It does help bringing the mail or other goodies to the Senner up there.) But again, unfortunately, you won’t find raw milk in the towns at the valley bottoms.
These raw milks are outstanding! With two or more dozen grass and herb varieties growing on the mountain sides, the milk apparently is getting some of the plants’ flavors. It does taste
different from Organic Pastures’ raw milk.
Here is what I know about naturally yellow butter – no coloring added! The yellow comes from carotenes in green fresh grasses. The more carotene, the more yellow the butter. Starting
some time in spring, when the cows are first turned out onto the fresh spring grass, the butter turns yellow. This is due to the much higher carotene content of fresh spring grass. Over the winter, the cows are fed dried hay, which has lost most of its carotene content and the resulting butter is almost white. Some varieties of grass have higher contents of carotene
than others. After grass has been cut, the carotene content decreases, and so does the amount of other vital nutrients.
Also, some breeds of cows are better in “fixing” carotene (precursor of vitamin A) into their milk than others. Carotene is fat soluble, so the fattier the milk the more likely there is a higher carotene concentration in the milk too. And if, for some reason, a cow’s body
requires more carotene for its own health, the milk will not have as much in it
either.
I am wondering why Organic Pastures’ butter is never yellow. Should the grass in spring not be fresh and full of vitamins? California is not exactly known for its “Alpine” feed pastures.
Unfortunately, it is more of a desert. What types of grasses do you grow on your pastures? I can imagine it to be quite difficult, when irrigation is required almost year round. Still, I am a bit puzzled, and I am hoping to learn more from you, when you are coming to Santa Barbara in March for the presentation about raw milk.
Greetings Mark McAfee,
My name is Elke Brazel, and I was the one who sent Eric Brody (from the Santa Barbara chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation) all these questions about Organic Pastures’ raw milk (see email below). Eric forwarded your response to me and encouraged me to personally reply. Yes, one can still get raw milk in Germany and the Alps, but you have to know where.
I grew up in Southern Germany, surrounded by small farms, and my husband grew up in a small dairy town in Iowa. We regularly visit my family in Germany, and I can report, that it is still possible to get raw milk from a farm. Just a five minute walk away from our family home, they fill up your pail (30 cents for a quart) when you come during milking time. It is raw and from grass fed cows. Regular farm stores sell raw milk under the term “Auszugsmilch”. You need to look for a member of the “Bioland” or “Demeter” organizations. Don’t expect to find raw milk in regular grocery stores. There is none. The same is true in the Alps (Germany, Switzerland, Italy). You have to hike up to one of the Alms (or Alpe) where the dairy cows summer. There is normally somebody (a “Senner”) who milks the cows and makes cheese right on site. From this person you can get raw milk, and sometimes the milk has still the body temperature of the animal. (It does help bringing the mail or other goodies to the Senner up there.) But again, unfortunately, you won’t find raw milk in the towns at the valley bottoms.
These raw milks are outstanding! With two or more dozen grass and herb varieties growing on the mountain sides, the milk apparently is getting some of the plants’ flavors. It does taste
different from Organic Pastures’ raw milk.
Here is what I know about naturally yellow butter – no coloring added! The yellow comes from carotenes in green fresh grasses. The more carotene, the more yellow the butter. Starting
some time in spring, when the cows are first turned out onto the fresh spring grass, the butter turns yellow. This is due to the much higher carotene content of fresh spring grass. Over the winter, the cows are fed dried hay, which has lost most of its carotene content and the resulting butter is almost white. Some varieties of grass have higher contents of carotene
than others. After grass has been cut, the carotene content decreases, and so does the amount of other vital nutrients.
Also, some breeds of cows are better in “fixing” carotene (precursor of vitamin A) into their milk than others. Carotene is fat soluble, so the fattier the milk the more likely there is a higher carotene concentration in the milk too. And if, for some reason, a cow’s body
requires more carotene for its own health, the milk will not have as much in it
either.
I am wondering why Organic Pastures’ butter is never yellow. Should the grass in spring not be fresh and full of vitamins? California is not exactly known for its “Alpine” feed pastures.
Unfortunately, it is more of a desert. What types of grasses do you grow on your pastures? I can imagine it to be quite difficult, when irrigation is required almost year round. Still, I am a bit puzzled, and I am hoping to learn more from you, when you are coming to Santa Barbara in March for the presentation about raw milk.
About the cheeses … I guess it is mostly about personal taste. Slowly I am learning, that my American side of the family is not so excited about the cheeses I love so much. They think these cheeses are spoiled! Luckily, we don’t all like the same things. It is cause
for greater variety!
Thank you very much for making raw milk available to us in California and beyond, and for all the work you are doing. I am sure, you are a very busy person, and I very much appreciate your taking time to communicate with us, the consumer. I am looking forward to meeting you in person.
Sincerely,
Elke
for greater variety!
Thank you very much for making raw milk available to us in California and beyond, and for all the work you are doing. I am sure, you are a very busy person, and I very much appreciate your taking time to communicate with us, the consumer. I am looking forward to meeting you in person.
Sincerely,
Elke
From Mark McAfee:
Not sure how to respond to your questions. I will do my best.
Why does their whole milk not taste as yummy as milk from pasture grazing cows in
Colorado, the German or Swiss Alps, and France? -- Is it the feed or is it the cow or something else? Your opinion does not follow the rest of the feedback we are getting from CA consumers. We feed grass pastures all year long. Not sure what you drank in EU…I was there this last summer ( France and Switzerland )and they did not have raw milk in
Switzerland. Even in the Alps.
2. Why is their butter never yellow/orange like the butter from the above mentioned cows? Our butter does not have any coloring added to it. It cows straight from our raw cream. Come visit and see the cows on pastures.
3. Why does their cultured butter not taste "fresh" like European cultured butter? We do not ferment the cream at high temps. We ferment using flora danica cultures over night at cool temps.
4. Why does Organic Pastures' cheddar cheese taste gummy? I am sorry, but this is definitely not cheese! I grew up with real cheeses made from raw milk, and I have eaten excellent American artisan cheeses made from raw milk, but Organic Pastures so called cheese': No thanks! Our raw cheeses are truly raw and aged just 60 days. They are very curd like.
I have some thoughts why this all is the way it is, but I rather hear their answer.
It is certainly not my intention to insult or offend anybody at Organic Pastures. I am very happy that they are around! And I have signed petitions to support and protect the production and sale of raw milk. But, I still do have these questions and some more.
The folks from "C'est Cheese!" are a good source of information regarding high quality raw milk cheeses. I talked to them briefly about obtaining raw butter from other sources, but it seems to be difficult. A lot of the cheese makers don't make butter. Maybe we could entice the owners to come to one of our meetings. We are very interested in making a very young cheddar. We are not interested in an aged older cheddar. The market is filled with these cheeses. When I visit to present about raw milk next month I can answer more questions.
Raw milk in CA is extremely hard to do.
All the best,
Mark
