Milk Quality

[Guest guest]

Certainly no one on this list would expect all

milks to be the same. We wouldn't expect Jersey

milk and Holstein milk to be the samme, nor would

we expect the milk from cows that have been eating

sprouting grass to be the same as from soybeans.

It shouldn't surprise any of us, either, that grass

growing in fertile, mineral-rich soil would ultimately

produce milk of higher quality than from sterile,

depleted soils. It should be apparent that the quality

of even raw milk could go from terrible to excellent,

determined by many factors.

So, I'd like to know if anyone on this list has

any ideas on how to judge milk quality. I understand

that milk quality is often graded by those in the

dairy business by butterfat and perhaps protein

percentage. But that doesn't address other nutrients

like vitamin D or trace elements.

For those that aren't aware of the 'brix' measure, it

is the percentage of solids dissolved in a solution.

It was originally determined by hygrometers, but

someone discovered about a century ago that refractometers

(which measure the refractive index of a substance) can

also measure brix levels, only much more conveniently.

I've read that Prof. Albrecht felt that

milk ought to measure 21-25 brix, IIRC, but everything

I've heard of or been able to measure myself is less

than 11 brix. This includes some incredible Jersey

milk so thick that a swish or two with a spoon through

it leaves a thick coat of butterfat deposited. Has

anyone on this list found (and better yet tasted) a

milk with a higher brix than 11?

It seems possible, given what I've found so far, that

good quality, nutrient-dense milk may be very rare. :-(

--alan