MIFS #173 - Goat Milk Ice Cream

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I call our home the 100 Acre Woods because it is literally in 100 acres of woods. My father named the farm Mil-Ton farms as a reference to our last name and his and to a nearby town. But I really think we should have named it the Old MacDonald farm because of the variety of animals that we keep.

The latest addition to the farm was dairy goats. Before these ladies joined us we had no dairy animals. I had been toying with the idea of dairy goats for several months when a friend offered me a deal I couldn't pass on.

It has been a learning experience. It has at times been quite a challenge, but now that we all seem to have settled into the routine, it is quite rewarding. I am just milking once a day. The babies are left with the does during the day, separated at night, and I milk in the morning. Milking this way, we are getting about 2 quarts of milk everyday. This much milk adds up quick. Now, the fun begins. What to make with all the extra milk?

This week we tried something new, goat milk ice cream.

I had never made ice cream before let alone with goats milk. I did a little research about using goats milk in ice cream recipes. I found several places that said goat milk ice cream tended to be a  little thin. I also found a lot of recipes. This one for a short cut ice cream is interesting, but not what I wanted to try for our very first attempt at goat milk ice cream. This one for chocolate ice cream was given to me by a friend on Facebook, and it may well be the one I try next.  This one addresses the issue of the ice cream being thin by adding half and half.  While I am sure it is delicious, I really wanted to make ice cream just from goats milk.

After looking at all these recipes (and more,) I finally decided to go with Creamy Homemade Ice Cream found at Countryside and Small Stock Journal. I chose this recipe because it added thickeners and I really wanted the family's first experience with goat milk ice cream to be a rich and creamy one. I wanted it to meet their expectations of what homemade ice cream is supposed to taste like, and it did.

The recipe does take a lot more prep time than many of the recipes I looked at, but it was certainly worth it. I am so happy that I got those dairy goats and now have an abundance of milk. Next on the list of things to try, cheese. I am thinking feta. Anyone have a good recipe?


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