Today's stupid question....

[Panther]

Does anybody make butter from sheep's milk?

Is this animal mainly for fibers and/or meat or is dairy a viable option? Even strictly for personal use?

[RandB]

I don't have direct experience, just general info, but I have heard that there are sheep dairies, especially in Europe. Certain breeds have been developed for this use. Sheep milk has a high fat content, so I would think it could easily be made into butter. I know there is cheese made from sheep's milk. Don't know how the butter would taste, though. Maybe someone else here has tried it...

[hintonlady]

Haven't actually tried it myself but seen it for sale in an Eastern European deli type store. they imported a lot of stuff for a local immigrant population.

I have done a bit of research on sheeps milk and from what I understand is it is very rich and has a sweet flavor.

That remains to be seen.

[Slev]

http://www.stoneyacres.us/

glad to help! send them an e-mail, nice people.

[Somerhill]

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Homes...Separator.aspx

Here is a link describing how to make goatmilk butter. From what I've been reading in the archives of the dairysheep list, you can do sheep butter the same way. Apparently, the cream in goat and sheep's milk does not rise and separate as well as in cow's milk, but some of it will rise, so you can collect enough to make butter without buying an expensive seperator. From my reading, an advantage to this is that the milk remaining after you skim the cream is still good to drink and to make cheese from, since much of the butterfat remains in it.

Hope this helps
Lisa

[eieiomom]

Here's a recommendation from the milking sheep list that was posted a while back.
"Need either lots of patience or a cream separator. You can leave it in the fridge
and let the bit of cream that will rise to the top rise up and then you skim it with a spoon
or run it through a cream separator."

[lisarichards]

I use an iced tea pitcher -- glass jar with a spout on the bottom. The cream does rise somewhat, and I pour off the milk out of the bottom.

[eieiomom]

What a great idea...seems so simple !