Clabber

HERE’S HOW IT WILL GO

You’ll skim the cream off the top of the milk 

Then set it on the counter and wait for 24 to 48 hrs.  

This is become your clabber starter

You’ll pour 4 cups of skimmed raw milk into a quart jar

Then add a ½ cup of your clabber starter to that new jar

Set it on the counter for 24 hour 

Now you have clabber that you can drink and use for baking

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

6 cups of raw milk

2 quart glass jars 

Coffee filter

2 canning jar rings that fit your jars

A whisk

Towel to pick up dripples

Funnel

Measuring cup ½ cup

Permanent marker

Some Patients

HOW TO MAKE BUTTERMILK

Skim the cream off the top of your milk

Pour 2 cups into a glass quart jar

Place the remainder of your milk into the fridge for later use

Take your milk in the glass jar and cover with a coffee filter using a canning ring to hold it in place

Using a permanent marker write the date and “Clabber Starter” on the jar

Place on the counter away from direct sunlight in an area that’s about 65-75F degrees

Check your milk every 6 hours until it begins to thicken

You’re looking for a thicken substance that has just started to separate into curds and whey. This is your Clabber Starter

Now you’ll get your other 4 cups of milk out of the fridge

Pour it into your other quart jar 

Using the permanent marker date and label this jar “Clabber”

Set the jar on the counter until it reaches room temperature

Now take a ½ cup of your Clabber Starter and whisk it into your fresh milk

Put a coffee filter over the top with a canning ring to hold in place

Set on counter out of direct sunlight for 12- 24 hrs 65F-75F

Check it every 6hrs our so and notice the difference as it starts to ferment

Smell and look at it, when it has thickened and is just starting to pull away from the jar you have clabber

Set aside a ½ cup of your new clabber to start your next batch and place in the refrigerator. Remember to label 

What you have left is your clabber and you can drink it or use it for baking just like you would if it were buttermilk. 

Make sure to place it in the refrigerator when you are not using it otherwise it will turn to curds and whey and then get bitter

You can refresh your clabber every 2 weeks using the starter batch. (Over time the clabber loses it umph. After 2 weeks you may have a hard time starting a new culture without leaving it out for a long time)

WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE CLABBER

-It’s a mesophilic cultured milk and you can use it to start making cheese. (Mesophilic starts to activate at room temps unlike Thermophilic cultures which require heat to activate.  This makes clabber a great homesteading and practical way to start cheeses.)

-Use it in baking. The lactic acid in the clabber reacts with the baking soda creating a light and fluffy batter. 

-Dressings or dips like tartar sauce

-In a smoothie. 

 Add some ice, buttermilk, berries, and honey. Blend until smooth. Drink up

-Replace milk in recipes.  

-It can extend the life of your Raw Milk. (If you have some extra raw milk that is starting to sour in the back of the fridge you can always start a batch of clabber and get another 2 weeks out of your milk!)

-If you still have extras you can always freeze them using ice cube trays for future use.  (It won’t unfreeze and be a drink, but it will work great in all recipes and smoothies)

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF CLABBER?

Originally humans didn’t drink fluid milk.  We had no refrigeration back then so we would milk the cows and within a few hours the milk would start to ferment into clabber

During the fermentation process, the enzyme lactase breaks down the lactose in the milk and produces lactic acid which made it easier for our ancestors to digest the milk. 

Because the milk “clabber” was so easy to digest (in as fast as an hour) our ancestors would have gotten a concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.    

When a single food source can give a person so much health in such a small dose it allowed us to have more time to “study & imagine” rather than hunting for food.   

As hunters and gathers we would follow the herds of milking animals and steal the milk but the more time we gained from drinking this milk would allow us to switch things up and start herding the animals where we would want them.  Eventually, we quit being nomadic and we would keep our cows and goats by supplying them with grains and hay.  

This allowed us to have our milk whenever we wanted

Around the 1900’s we figured out that by adding baking soda to the flour and using clabber to moisten it into the dough there would be a reaction that caused the bread to rise.

With the invention of pasteurization clabbered milk became a thing of the past.  If you try to clabber pasteurized milk it will turn rancid and becomes deadly to use. This is when they started to make buttermilk which is basically a culture of clabber that is added to pasteurized milk

You can use your clabber for starting sour cream, cottage cheese, and soft cheeses. 

Some folks even enjoy just drinking it plain.  

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CLABBER

It quickly cools down our bodies 

It will help with digestion

Boosts your immune system

Rich in probiotics

The lactic acid in clabber normalizes the acidity in the stomach and gives a soothing effect. 

People who have lactose intolerance may find clabber easier than standard pasteurized milk to digest. When we make clabbered milk we do a wild fermentation which adds bacteria that break down and digest lactose in the milk. This bacteria converts lactose into lactic acid, lowering the total amount of lactose. 

NOTES ABOUT MAKING CLABBER

ONLY USE RAW MILK TO MAKE CLABBER

If you notice mold starting to form just throw it to the chickens and start over

Use clean equipment when making clabber 

You can make clabber with any type of raw mammal milk. Goat, camel, donkey.  

If you make it with cream it becomes sour cream

Store your clabber for up to 2 weeks.  

You can make a clabbered cheese with it really easy and without much effort if you have more than you can handle.  

Use your clabber in a replacement for all milk in recipes.  Even smoothies, mashed potatoes, and pancakes.  It will add a wonderful flavor and those awesome health benefits.

WHAT’S THE BEST DISH TO USE CLABBER WITH?

Simply Clabber

Take your clabber and mix in some cinnamon and honey to taste.  Sit down and enjoy

Some folks like to make up pumpkin and pour the clabber over the top with some brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of cloves for a wonderful fall treat.

There is so much amazing information about clabber. Please let me know if you have any other questions about it.