goat milk "animal" smell

[Obsidian]

I got some fresh, raw goat milk for making Christmas soap and it smells pretty strongly of a billy goat. Will this scent come though in the soap? I want to make some unscented for the owner of the goats.

 

[Arthur Dent]

It's my understanding that clean goats milk should not have any objectionable smell. Hopefully someone with goats will chime in.

 

[green soap]

I use fresh raw goat milk. No billy goat smell, but my unscented goat milk castile soaps have a milk scent. Very similar to powdered dried milk, the one that is good for camping and emergencies.

Most people do not object, and the goat owner loves all of my goat milk soaps (I trade her soap for milk&yogurt). However, I have had customers object to the way scents get 'modified' by the milk scent, and my vegan customers stay away too, of course.

I personally prefer other types of soap (beer, I am looking at you) but I am happy to make goat milk soaps for my husband, sister, and goat owner friend/trade partner. I freeze it into ice cubes, keep oils and lye/milk at room temperature, and I get a creamy white soap (I do not gel my goat milk castiles).

 

[Obsidian]

That milk smell is one reason I dislike animal milks but I don't think the goat owner will mind at all. Glad to hear my soap shouldn't smell like a billy. I'm planning on soaping cool as I can and freezing the soap, hoping that will reduce the funky ammonia milk smell some.

 

[nsmar4211]

I used to raise goats and never once had milk smell like the boys! I've had it smell (and taste...bleh) like sharp pepper after the girls got into Brazillian pepper trees. If it smells like the boys, something is wrong. Maybe the girls are eating something that is tainting the milk? I'd discuss this with the owner. My milk just smelled like warm creamy milk, slightly creamier smelling than store bought whole cows milk.

 

[Saponista]

I bought uht goat milk in a carton from the supermarket and the top part tasted nice but as you got down to the bottom (I guess the proteins sunk down there and I should have shaken it) it smelled and tasted distinctly goaty, to the extent that I couldn't drink it and had to throw it out. They also sell fresh goats milk and yoghurt at s higher price which doesn't smell at all and tastes really nice so I would worry that your milk had gone off a little or something. I doubt it will do any harm in soap though and hopefully the goaty smell will disappear after curing.

 

[Obsidian]

His milk and cheese has always smelled like boys. I think he keeps him billy too close to the herd, this isn't the first time I've had billy flavored milk from a local.
Could be me though, he ships his cheese to california where it sells very well.

 

[lovinglife]

Ick! Does he raise toggenburgs by chance? My girls give me fantastic milk, sweet and creamy with no bad smells or tastes, well except one time when they ran out of minerals, that is another cause of goaty milk. Goats have a high need for specific minerals and if they are lacking the milk is terrible. All my soaps have 100% milk in place of water and I have never had a smell from it. Unscented just smells faintly like soap.

 

[Obsidian]

I don't know, I've never seen them. He is a friend of grammas and all she can tell me is they are brownish with markings on their face. I figured they are either toggenburgs or alpines.

 

[nsmar4211]

Hrm, my boys were kept in the same pasture as the girls (in a seperate pen when it's not breeding season) and the milk never smelled. The mineral idea is another thought...mine were all on mineral blocks. I wonder also if the equipment is contaminated from someone handling it after petting the boys...I used to wear leather gloves to pet the boys during stinky season just so I didn't smell up the house.

You should really let the goat owner know the milk is smelling musky. Or you can make soap and send me a sample and I will LOL

 

[lovinglife]

They sound like they very well could be toggs, they are know for strong flavored (goaty in my book) milk. Some like it for cheese making, no thanks I will use my fresh yummy milk. I know all toggs are not like that but it is a possibility with his.

 

[Obsidian]

Do they have quite rich milk? There is quite a lot of fat on the surface, not like cow milk but more then I've seen with the nubian milk I grew up with.

I smelled the milk again yesterday, its lost most of the goaty smell but I wasn't brave enough to taste it again lol. Its all been froze for storage.

 

[lovinglife]

That I don't know, my Nubians have pretty rich milk, one of their attractions. I don't care to drink it like that either. ICK! But my girls have me spoiled.

 

[SunWolf]

As a milk goat raiser, I too think it is something other than "boy" smell. I have 3 bucks, all in rutt, who are penned right in the middle of the pasture where all my girls roam. They rub against each other through the wire so even the girls can smell pretty ripe, but the milk is always sweet and rich.

I would lean towards a mineral imbalance, or possibly eating some strong tasting weeds in pasture. The chickens get a pan of milk as a treat when one of the girls finds wild onions...eeewwww :wtf: :sick:

 

[Obsidian]

How do you guys do it? I can always tell if milk comes from a dairy with a billy around. Even as a kid the only goat milk I could drink was what came from our goats and we didn't have a billy.
Maybe I'm extra sensitive to goat funk because even store bought goat milk tastes like boy smell.

I made a test batch with 100% GM this morning. So far no weird smell but it was a tiny batch and the lye mix didn't get hot.

 

[lovinglife]

My bucks and does share the fence line, no smell or taste in my milk. All my friends drink it and not one person has anything but high praise for our milk. They can't believe how great it is. When I have extra people are begging for. One lady moved to another state, when she came back to visit she said she really missed my milk, she buys fresh raw milk there but said it isn't near as good so she hardly drinks it anymore. I think he has toggenburgs, they are brownish with white stripes on the face. Nice goats but icky milk, again I know there are exceptions, but they are known for stinky milk.

 

[Obsidian]

Talked to gramma last night, they are alpines. Thankfully the soap I made doesn't have any kind of smell but the empty jug it came in smells like billy.
I don't think its from anything they ate, I've had bad milk tainted with flavorful plants, this isn't the same. Apparently most everyone else likes his milk and cheese but I won't sample it again.

 

[Consuela]

I just started the mini offspring on goat milk, and have found the yogurt Farr to goaaty for me. She likes it and eats it but I can't. (GoAt cheese though? Yummmmm!!)

The milk I got was very good until yesterday (also due date) and I noticed it was really creamy tasting up until that point.
I know it has to stay cold though the entire time even when transporting....?

Bought a goat milk powder in the baby aisle, for if I run out of fresh. It tastes significantly different. Not goaty. Not creamy. Different. So that might get donated to the soap cause.

(Aside: anyone used the powder)?

Anyway I wonder if the milk got a teence warm? Or if it was just not as fresh as possible? Like I said. I have been tasting the milk everyday I give it and noticed yesterday to be much goatier (Webster. Add this to your vocab).

 

[lovinglife]

If the jar smelled goaty, they must be a cleanliness issue. I don't touch my bucks when in rut if I can avoid it, you can't get rid of that smell until a full wash on everything. I can't imagine Alpines having bad milk, I have one girl and her milk is wonderful, bet it is uncleanliness and lack of proper minerals. I wouldn't drink it either, that is not a good taste in my book and also no thanks on the goat cheese with that milk. I actually age my goat cheese which gives it a twang, but no goat smell or taste.

 

[Obsidian]

Whatever is the cause, I'm just glad the smell didn't come through in the soap. I made a big batch a couple days ago and the soap has a nice mild scent, no goat and no milky ammonia. I need to make one more batch and I should have enough for Christmas. Thanks for all the help and advice