The "wow" factor in raw milk is the flavor of the sweetness of LIFE.  Getting it requires capturing all the flavor of things life-giving and none of the flavor of things life-detracting.  It's not an accident of Nature that the most nutritious things taste the best.  It's fundamental to her operating.

I keep hearing that good quality raw milk can last a month or more, so I finally checked it out.  I kept one of my milks, unopened, in the fridge for 29 days.

Producing great-flavored milk is an art.  If your farmer is wanting to create more "wow" milk, show him/her this list and offer to help if you can.  Maximizing flavor requires dedication and diligence and may require higher milk prices to cover additional costs.  Be patient and supportive.

The hallmark of nature's food is variety and change.  The food changes with the seasons and with available nutrients.  It also contains the uniqueness of the individual plant or animal.  This is what makes natural food interesting and continually enjoyable instead of boring.

There are many commendable organizations and blogs fighting a great fight for raw milk and food freedom and I fully support them, but I think the movement is missing something.  These fights, noble as they are, inadvertently keep raw milk in the frame of "fringe", "extreme", "questionable".  Even places that just talk about it's health benefits tend to make raw milk the cure for everything (thus fringe, extreme, questionable).

It's great to have milk that keeps a long time, but that cream sure can get hard to re-incorporate and this makes the milk much less appealing.  Shaking the milk vigorously is very damaging to it and doesn't even do that great of a job, but my husband came up with a really clever solution.

Great raw milk is made on the farm, but it's preserved at the customer.  To ensure the greatest longevity and best flavor, make sure you do the following: