“I love Trickling Springs Creamery’s non-homogenized milk; why is the cream so hard?!” I have received this question several times through Facebook, Twitter and on our website contact form; so several weeks ago I asked on our Facebook page “How do you mix the cream back into the milk”. The answer I got back was interesting: “Mix it in?? We fight over it.” and another saying they scoop it out and use it in smoothies, etc.

Last week I talked about the difference between Trickling Springs’ CreamLine milk and homogenized milk (see post here). When milk is pasteurized (heated to kill the bacteria) the fat molecules go through a change that causes them to harden if not homogenized. When you purchase a fresh bottle of our CreamLine milk, normally it is very easy to mix the cream back in but after two or three days the fat molecules begin to harden on the top. As many of you who enjoy our milk regularly know, this makes this great tasting whole milk difficult to drink. What can you do about it…? How can you mix the cream back into the milk?

To mix the cream back into the milk, the first step is to break the cream top so you can shake the milk; take a kitchen knife and break the cream cap that is on the top of the milk. You may want to pour some of the milk out to make some room at the top of the bottle to shake it. Get a good grip on the bottle; shake it very well. If the non-homogenized cream still does not want to mix back in try some of our suggestions below or you can skip to the next section on ways to use the cream without shaking it back in.

If the cream is too hard that shaking it won’t mix the cream back into the milk, you can try one of the following ideas:

1. The best suggestion we had was by Lynn on our Facebook page who suggested using an Immersion Blender to mix the cream back into the milk.
2. Another similar method is to pour the milk into a mixing bowl and use a hand held wire whisk or electric blender on a low speed to break the cream back into the milk.
3. You can also pour the milk through a wire strainer. Using the back of a spoon press the cream through the strainer back into the milk; stir or shake the milk, it should mix back in as the cream was broken down while going through the strainer.

Try these and if you have any other solutions we would love to hear them, post them below in the comment section.

So you decided not to mix the cream back into the milk… what can you do with it now? First filter the milk through a wire strainer mentioned above or pour the milk into a bowl that you can let sit covered in your refrigerator for approximately an hour. After an hour most of the cream will have separated back to the top and you can skim it off with a spoon.

Here are some ideas to start your creativity:
1. Put this delicious, nutrient rich cream in your coffee, the hot coffee will dissolve the cream making for a terrific creamer.
2. Make some Hot Chocolate Milk with milk and the lumps of cream. Again heating the milk and cream will dissolve the cream back into the milk. Using a recipe like this from A Year From Scratch, Hot Chocolate version 1.
3. Make a dessert with it, in the coming months I look forward to featuring some recipes that you can make with this cream and other of our products.
4. Put the cream in a small mixing bowl; start on a medium speed, increase the speed until the fat molecules break; you know this happened when you see a watery mixture (buttermilk) in the bottom of your bowl and your butter is tiny little clumps. Drain off the buttermilk; spread the butter on a piece of bread. Enjoy!
5. Eat this terrific, smooth cream from grass-fed cows plain. You may find you like it, as the delicacy it is.

Share your ideas! We’d love to hear them and if we feature your recipe or idea in a future post we’ll send you a gift pack including pour spouts and a glass bottle carrier.

First let me explain homogenization. Homogenization is the process of breaking down the fat molecules found in milk to keep them suspended. Before homogenization these fat molecules are found mixed throughout the milk, after an hour of sitting they start rising to the surface forming cream at the top. After milk is pasteurized (heated to kill the bacteria) the milk is typically run through a machine called a homogenizer, here the milk is forced with high pressure through fine screens which break the fat molecules down and keeps the cream suspended in the milk. This process was introduced in the late 1800’s to standardize milk flavors and make milk easier to drink, many people like the convenience of not having to shake the milk to mix the cream back into the milk before drinking. Homogenization is not done for a health reason; it is completely safe to drink milk that has not been homogenized. Some people enjoy the smoother, even texture of homogenization.

When you want to drink our CreamLine (non-homogenized) milk, shake the milk vigorously to mix the cream back into a liquid form, it may taste a bit thicker but overall it will be much like our homogenized milk that you may be used to drinking. Why do we offer CreamLine Milk? One of Trickling Springs Creamery’s goals is to bring you the freshest milk available just the way your family wants it. Many people enjoy the option of having the milk processed as little as possible, homogenization is an optional process that is not required by law and allows you to enjoy milk that has gone through one less process. Some believe that the non-homogenized tastes better and others believe leaving the molecules whole makes it easier for the body to digest the milk fat.

Whichever way you want it we are offering the homogenized and CreamLine options with the same great fresh milk, so it’s your choice. If you haven’t tried our Whole or 2% CreamLine milk you need to find out what you’ve been missing, talk to your local retailer about carrying it. Try some today!

Watch my posting next week for tips to mixing in the cream once the cream hardens!

Thanks for your interest and support of local dairies,
-Joe

“How is your butter made?”

I was recently asked this on our Facebook page by a fan, so follow along with the story if you’re interested.

At Trickling Springs Creamery we buy our milk from local family farms. One of our requirements for our farmers is that the cows must be grass fed and fed on pasture during the grass growing season. The milk that cows produce from eating fresh grass during the summer, and stored grass during the winter is very rich in vitamins and beta carotene! Butter made from this milk has a rich yellow hue (pic 1) and of course rich in nutritional goodness!

After our milk is pasteurized we send it through a cream separator which uses centrifugal force (spinning) to separate the cream from the skim milk. Some of this cream is then sold as heavy cream, some of it is used in our super premium ice cream and a lot of it goes into our farm fresh butter. To make the butter we take this cream and pour it into a drum (pic 2) that has paddles on the walls to break the spinning of the cream. What happens next is magic, the fat molecules in the cream start to break away (pic 3) from the water in the milk. This is the point that butter is made, we then rinse the butter to wash off any milk residue. If we are making salted butter we now add Celtic Sea Salt and spin the drum a few more times to completely mix the salt into the butter. The butter is then taken out of the churn and pressed into 20 pound blocks for restaurant and bakery use, 1 pound and ½ pound tubs and 1 pound wax wrapped blocks for retail sale.

It is that simple, we still use the old fashioned methods to separate, churn and pack the butter; of course the machines are slightly larger since we’re not just producing it for our family or local neighborhood anymore. But we still believe that simple is the best, which is why we will continue to offer butter made with the simplest ingredient: Cream. And we will use the highest quality salt in our salted butter: Celtic Sea Salt.

To learn more about the specific details of what makes our butter unique, beyond our manufacturing process, check out our butter page here: Farm Fresh Butter

Thanks for your interest into how Trickling Springs Creamery butter is made.
-Joe

Our God! He made everything beautiful and nutritious! It is inspiring that the more we study the science of food the more we find that everything we need is included. For example, many who have trouble digesting lactose products find that when they switch to a fresher, less processed (i.e. low-temp pasteurized) milk they have less problems. The enzymes that help the stomach digest the milk are already there but are often destroyed during the ultra-high pasteurization methods used by conventional dairies! We first want to thank our God, who, when He created the world said “It is good!”

Our Farmers! These families work hard to assure the quality of the original raw milk that we purchase from them. Feeding quality grass to their cows, using alternative holistic medicines for their sick cows, looking at ways to make their farms more ecologically friendly and keeping the tradition of sustainable farming alive are things they do to ensure you will continue to get a product you can trust. We hold them up as the start of the process that brings you these products.

Our Production Team! We have a group of team members dedicated to processing this milk and bringing it to you fresh and on time. Early start times, late finishes and short breaks all play a role at times in assuring that the product is fresh and safe for your family to enjoy. Small companies do not have the luxury of segmented jobs; many team members have multiple jobs requiring them to be flexible and efficient in all their responsibilities. We give a loud shout out to those who are taking a personal responsibility in the quality of the end product that you enjoy!

Our Drivers! These are part of a special group of people that are willing to leave at the wee hours of the morning, often between 12am and 2am, to deliver Trickling Springs’ milk and dairy products fresh to the stores. Delivering glass milk bottles and managing bottle returns do not make it easier, but rather they add to a job that would normally be a drop and run delivery. We owe a huge thanks to these drivers who are willing to go the extra mile to making sure the milk gets there safely!

Our Retail Outlets! Without these great organizations and individuals we wouldn’t have a way to present the milk to you. We want to thank them for their dedication to quality local products, especially local dairy products. Milk is often considered a commodity until consumers realize how conventional milk is often handled, or rather mishandled; these stores are willing to educate their customers on how we handle our milk and why you should try it. We say a big Thank You to all these stores, markets, buyer clubs and delivery services willing to open their shelves to local products not just from Trickling Springs but from many hard working local businesses.

Our Consumers! YOU!! We need people like you who support local businesses, enjoy quality fresh foods and spread the word near and far about the foods you enjoy and get others enjoying them too. We couldn’t continue to offer fresh milk if we didn’t have people like you who keep our milk flowing and our sales growing. Thank you for your dedication to providing your family with nutrient rich, fresh milk and dairy products!

You are Invited to the Party!

Annual Hog Roast and Open House!

We love having a good time! Once again we are proud to announce our annual Hog Roast and Open House to be hosted at Trickling Springs Creamery on Saturday, October 16th! Bring your family, friends, and any strangers hanging around your house to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. See where we make these delicious dairy products, win prizes, enjoy good food and eat FREE ICE CREAM! We are also roasting a hog, it won’t last long, so come early! We will have fun, please come join us for the party!!!

What will be happening?