I Bought Unhomogenized Full Fat Milk- How Do I Skim It?

Filip1993

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I want to avoid milk with added vitamins, so I've decided to buy unhomogenized full fat milk and skim it at home. Can someone explain for me how to do this in an easy way? It would be very nice. And also, how do I know roughly how much fat there is left in the milk?

Cheers.
 

loess

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Sep 22, 2013
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Very simple. I buy it by the gallon and when I get home I transfer the milk into 4 quart size mason jars. Stick them in the fridge, and after a few hours or overnight, the fat will have all risen to the top. Remove that cream layer by the spoonful (depends on how much there is, but it is usually around 6-10 spoonfuls). If you look very closely you can see the difference, it will be slightly more translucent without the cream.

It is basically 95-99% fat-free at this point. Of course you won't consistently be able to remove every single tiny bit of cream using this method, but I wouldn't worry about it especially if it is good grass-fed milk.

Another way to do it would be to buy a jar with a spigot:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-sepa ... from-milk/
 

BingDing

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Or you can siphon it out, which is a cool physics lesson. Stick a tube into the milk container before you put it in the fridge. When the fat has risen to the top put the container on something a little off the counter so the other end of the tube can be below the bottom of the container. Suck on the end of the tube to start the flow and stick the end into another container, and all the non-fat milk will fill the other container. The fat (probably) won't be able to flow through the tube.

I've always wanted to do that but I can't stand low fat milk. ;)
 

Jennifer

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WOW! That's a cool way to do it, BingDing. :)

I do like loess, except instead of using a spoon to remove the cream, I use a turkey baster to suck it out. It works quite well.
 

loess

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I've gotten that reaction from more than a few people when they see me removing the cream layer. What they don't take into consideration is that when you drink 2-3 quarts or more of milk every day (and not necessarily all in liquid form as for me, this includes the farmers cheese that I make from it), you're still ingesting the "small" amounts of fat (and fat-soluble vitamins) that remain in the milk after skimming off that top layer. Cumulatively it adds up. Cumulative context is overlooked in so many ways in our culture...
 

pboy

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yea...as long as fat is around 30% or below of total calories, its still metabolically friendly in a catabolic (co2 producing) way...its probly better to leave it in unless your diet has a ton of meat fat and coconut oil, cocoa fat
 

Amazoniac

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Is it possible to make skim milk without appliances?
Our resident angel, Such, commented some time ago that if you remove the excess of cream that rises to the top after it sits for a while, you're only removing about half of the fat.
I came across this video, it's rustic but it was the only one exemplifying the process clearly.
You can find on Youtube videos with the same principle by searching: butter shaking
It's basically removing the excess of fat that rises, then shaking vigorously until the rest separates.
The demonstration is with fresh whole milk.


Wicked, isn't it?
 
Last edited:

Vajra

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Our resident angel, Such, commented some time ago that if you remove the excess of cream that rises to the top after it sits for a while, you're only removing about half of the fat.
Pretty sure this is true. Raw milk can come with a good 10% milk fat if fortune decides. I mean, look at the cream line. And I've heard similar claims that it basically just becomes like store-bought whole milk at 4% or so after removing it from the top.
But the method in that video looks like a really practical way for getting to a low % if it consistently works; it feels like a waste taking a bunch of light cream off the top of the bottle. Will have to see if shaking my milk is a good addition to the daily routine.
 

ScottyVP

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If you get those big jars with a tap at the bottom (for summer drinks, sun tea etc) you can wait for the cream to float and then just pour it out via the tap.

Dont waste the cream though as its really easy to make butter, ghee and buttermilk from whats left over
 

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