Making cheese: dextor, jersey or guernsey

[Katgowen]

I am wanting to get a cow; I was set on a jersey or a guernsey, but after read about dextor's, I was wondering has anyone made cheese with the milk from a dextor. We have 5 1/2 acres; and currently have 4 goats on it; we plan on in the next year or two to get one milk cow, one beef cow, maybe a horse and or a sheep.

[myminifarm]

There is a Dexter Creamery here in NY that makes cheese, here is a link to their site
http://www.fingerlakesdextercreamery.com/Index1.html

[wstevenl]

If you're just raising beef for yourself I would not get a milk cow and a beef cow. I would just get one or two cows to do both. You might want to try the dexter forum http://dextercattle.proboards84.com/index.cgi for more advice but it could work out just right for you to have 2 dexter cows, milk them both, and use their calves for beef. You could also buy a young bull and butcher him when it's convenient to you if you don't want to do AI.

I would make sure that you're getting decent Dexters for milking though. Some don't produce alot of milk and so will take alot of taming down.

Dexter beef is supposed to be wonderful so don't think that because it's not angus it won't be great.

[MullersLaneFarm]

Jersey all the way.

They give the richest cream and make wonderful beef for the freezer. I think Jersey beef has more flavor and is more tender than the last Angus we raised.

[farmmaid]

I agree with Jersey for beef. We just butchered a Jersey year old steer. He was 327 pounds hanging weight. We gave him corn from the field and hacked it up into 2 inch pieces for the last 6 weeks and long stemed hay.
The next one will be next fall and he will be 1 1/2 years old. Yum, yum....!

[Katgowen]

Anyone know of a good Jersey breeder here in the Georgia area; I have been looking in our states farmer's market publication but all I am seeing in it is the bull's right now. I really only need one and I would even take one that I had to bottle raise; and what not, I know I have to have them checked for any diseases and stuff, do I ask the seller to pay for that or should I pay for it and then ask them if they are willing to subtract that from the price?
Is there a forsale/wanted thread on here that I could possibly post that I am wanting to buy a cow?

[linn]

I have made cheese with Dexter milk. It turned out well. Jersey milk is supposed to have the most solids of any milk.

[cathleenc]

sometimes I have problems making cheese with straight jersey milk - too rich! To get the recipe to come out right I need to skim the milk somewhat to adjust to the common denominator - holstein milk. But the jersey milk works great for any double cream or richer in butterfat cheeses.

[Farmsteader]

I read that some Guernseys have a special gene called a cassein gene that is supposedly the best for cheese makers , have you heard or know anyone who has Guernseys and makes cheese?

Originally Posted by cathleenc

sometimes I have problems making cheese with straight jersey milk - too rich! To get the recipe to come out right I need to skim the milk somewhat to adjust to the common denominator - holstein milk. But the jersey milk works great for any double cream or richer in butterfat cheeses.

[cathleenc]

I am a novice cheese maker, not a pro, and have no information to answer your question. My very comprehensive cheesemakeing book does not have anything in it to answer you, either. sorry!

[cowkeeper]

Katgowan, If you go over the the aformentioned dexter board (she posts under LIZ on the dexter board), or the KFC board, you will see a poster called ELIDEN. She will be able to answer all your questions about the differences between Dexter and Jersey milk for cheesemaking.

[LizD]

Hi katgowen I milk my Dexters and also a Jersey and make a lot of cheese with both either in combination or sometimes separately. Both milks are rich with butterfat, Dexters around 4% and my Jersey around 4.5%. The difference is really the size of the butterfat globule. Dexters have a smaller fat globule which makes the milk more naturally homogenized and the Jersey has a large globule that separates easily. This does a couple of things in cheesemaking, makes the jersey milk a little more difficult to handle at the begining of synersis (wheying off) when the curd is still fragile because it is very easy to loose that valuable butterfat but it also makes this milk perfect for cheese that is soft or and semi-soft like a washed curd type, Gouda etc. Dexter milk on the other hand, because of it's small fat globule is perfect for aged parmeasan or chedder because its easily retained small fat globule ages with good flavour. Hope this helps, Liz

[Mark T]

If you are really shopping around for a cow, look for Normande/Montbeliarde crosses. These French cattle are used extensively for cheese and there has been extensive breeding to capture the kappa casein gene. In fact, Montbeliarde sires are tested for that gene. The B variant of the gene increases the amount of cheese yield for a given volume of milk.

Take a look at Plummotif:
http://creativegeneticsofca.com/docu...l/plumitif.htm

[LizD]

Hi Mark do you have a picture? I would love to see because I also have been interested in the Normande (Normandy) breed for some time as another small dual purpose Euopean breed. I am also interested in the A1/A2 milk thing as it reflects the casien protein development in cheese and am still trying to research whether or not it is same as what you are talking about. It is pretty vague and I would really appreciate any input. L