Kirt,

>Anybody "processing" batches of raw milk into anything edible? I'd love to
>know the details of what you do.

I have been making yoghurt from raw milk for years using the following
method. I've never had any problems with it unless I inadvertently allow it
to get too hot.

1.      Place a small amount of yoghurt (bought, or from a previous batch) into
a clean glass jar as a starter (about 15% of the final volume is the amount
I use.)
2.      Fill the jar slowly with milk while stirring thoroughly, and close the lid.
3.      Place one or several of these jars into a sufficiently large saucepan,
with a gap between the bottom of the saucepan and the jars. I use several
lengths of wood about 1.5 cm. thick to achieve this.
4.      Fill the saucepan with warm water and put the lid on. The water can be
almost hot at this stage, as it needs to heat up the milk.
5.      Place the saucepan on the stove (but leave it turned off).
6.      Check the water temperature at regular intervals. If it starts to feel a
bit cool, turn the hotplate on to high for a minute or so. I only need to
do this once every hour or two after the initial warming up period. The
water needs to be kept luke-warm - allowing it to get too hot will kill the
culture, and if it gets too cool, the process will stop. The yoghurt should
be ready in about six hours.

I don't worry about trying to sterilize the jars or heating the milk before
I start, and the quality of the yoghurt continues to be very good without
any need to replace the starter with bought yoghurt, even after several years.

By the way, what's the difference between yoghurt and kefer?

Regards,
Barbara