DAIRY FAQ'S

---

Not all raw milk is the same. At Border Farm we focus on our goats health, quality forage/wild forage, soil health, free choice herbs, access to movement, access to sunshine, fresh air, quality water, and the care of where they live. 

We work with a seed company and have developed our own blend of nutritious pasture forage that gives our goats a wide variety of choices and optimal nutrition. 

Raw goat milk has a rich nutritional profile, with key components per - 1 cup serving. These DV's are in general and not specific to Border Farm.

• Calories: 168 kcal
• Protein: 8.7 g (17% of Daily Value)
• Fat: 10.1 g (13% DV), including 6.5 g saturated fat
• Carbohydrates: 10.9 g (4% DV), with 10.9 g sugar (mainly lactose) and 0 g fiber
• Cholesterol: 27 mg (9% DV) 

KEY NUTRIENTS

• Calcium: 327 mg (25% DV) – supports bone health
• Vitamin A (RAE): 139 mcg (15% DV) – important for vision and immunity
• Riboflavin (B2): 0.337 mg (26% DV) – aids energy metabolism
• Vitamin B12: 0.17 mcg (7% DV) – essential for nerve function
• Potassium: 498 mg (11% DV) – supports heart and muscle function
• Magnesium: 34 mg (8% DV) – involved in over 300 biochemical reactions 

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES

• Higher in fat, protein, and ash than cow’s milk, but lower in lactose
• Contains more medium-chain fatty acids (e.g., caprylic and capric acid), which are easier to digest
• Higher bioavailability of minerals like calcium and iron compared to cow’s milk
• Lower casein content and a β-casein/αs1-casein ratio similar to human milk, enhancing digestibility and reducing allergy risk 

If you want to learn more about the history of MILK, how optimal care and forage where the basis of good clean milk, check out  the book

GERM IN THE DAIRY PAIL

We get more questions about our raw goat kefir than any other product from our farm. Here is a compilation of the most common questions and answers. We encourage you to do your own digging around and read. As we have found, through our Eastern European clients - every grandma, every morning, makes kefir for their family since the beginning of time!

Flavor – Everything about raw goat dairy starts with the health of the animals. Our goats are naturally reared, herbally cared for, and raised on our nutritionally diverse pastures, meadow grass and alfalfa hay, sunflowers, and ACV. 

Kefir Changes - Your kefir can ferment and be thin and pourable or thick like yogurt. The temperature in your house determines how quickly it ferments. In the summer it ferments faster and tends to be thinner. In the winter it ferments more slowly and is usually thicker and creamier. Hence the terms – Summer & Winter Kefir!

Kefir Separating - The yellowish liquid that starts to appear is the Whey – this is normal, just shake it back up and you are good to go. It can be that your kefir was fermented for longer, fermented in warmer temperatures, or stored longer in the refrigerator. But its all the same, give it a shake! 

Flavoring - We enjoy our kefir plain most of the time. Liquid Gold as we call it! Over pancakes, with a bowl of fruit, or in a juice glass first thing in the morning. We also enjoy adding citrus zest, orange and grapefruit are our favorites, so bright in mid-winter! Try blending with berries, or bananas, or pumpkin/gingerbread spices.

Acidic or Alkaline? Raw goat kefir is acidic in nature due to the fermentation process, where lactic acid bacteria convert lactose into lactic acid.  Its pH typically ranges from 4.2 to 4.6, making it distinctly acidic.  However, despite its acidic taste and pH, raw goat kefir can have an alkaline-forming effect on the body after digestion.  This is because the minerals in kefir—such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium—are metabolized and leave behind alkaline residues, which may help support overall pH balance. 

Fresh Raw Kefir vs Store Kefir - If you’ve ever purchased store bought kefir and didn’t like it so gave up on kefir health benefits, well join the club. There is actually a reason why, and I hope some of this information helps you. Store-bought Kefir is not authentic Kefir, but rather kefir-like, and therefore will not have the properties of nutritional healing that real raw kefir has. Why is this? In order to mass produce Kefir, the producers use a powdered starter culture that contains a fraction of the beneficial bacteria that real Kefir has. Of course, they also start with a pasteurized milk product because they have to. You also have to be considerate of the added sugar in store-bought Kefir products. And store-bought kefir because it is not actually a cultured product, uses thickening agents to get a kefir-like consistency. Fresh Raw Kefir on the other hand starts with raw milk and kefir grains, and is lovingly and carefully cultured at room temperature building all of the correct bacteria and yeasts that are healing and nutritious. It is a true artisan product as nature intended.

How long does it store in the refrigerator- As the old adage goes, “pasteurized milk goes bad and spoils, raw milk just changes character”

Kefir is a cultured dairy product. Culturing or fermenting was one of the first methods of food preservation. If you have your kefir in the refrigerator, and your jar is clean, it is good! How long? From one week to 6 months to a year, it is good. Over time it will get thicker, the whey will start to separate, and it will become sourer when you hit about 6 months, just shake it up to reincorporate the whey and you are good to go. Over time you will lose some of the beneficial bacteria, but not much. Truth be told, if you are drinking it each day, I can’t imagine it being older than a week or two in your fridge! The only reason we store gallons of kefir in the winter is to preserve the last of our goat’s milk before the end of milk season. It is a method of extending our dairy season while our goats are in the final months of their gestation before they kid, and then we are back in raw milk again!

Refrigerating Grains or Freezing Kefir? No! Grains are always kept at room temperature; in the cold of your refrigerator they have to eat the sugars in the dairy to stay vigorous and start to eat themselves. Always room temperature for the grains and culturing process. Please do not freeze your kefir, you will kill the beneficial bacteria that was carefully cultured.

REMINDER! Grains culture at room temperature, Kefir is refrigerated once cultured, No freezing Kefir

When to toss it! - If for some reason your kefir gets a pink, grey, black film on top or smells off like dirty gym socks, something went wrong, toss it.

What caused this? Maybe a dirty jar or lid, the lid was not on tight enough, you had some moldy food in the fridge next to your kefir, someone dipped a dirty spoon into the jar instead of pouring the kefir out of the jar, it sat at room temperature on a hot day because someone forgot to put it back in the fridge! In any of these cases, toss it.