Welcome to Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy.

Fresh Clean Grass Fed Raw Milk - Our Process

posted on

February 10, 2022

START WITH HEALTHY ANIMALS


We start with high-quality, registered, healthy animals where we know the entire history of the animal. The picture below is Sharona. She is a two-year-old cow we purchased from a Grade A Raw Milk Dairy in Missouri. She gives us about 4-5 gallons per day. 


We blood test our cattle annually to assure we have the healthiest disease free animals and we also vaccinate for zoonotic diseases as part of our safe protocols.


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GRASS-FED CLEAN PASTURES

Grass-fed pastures make the healthiest and cleanest milk. Milk has more vitamins and minerals when animals are allowed to eat grass. We rotate our animals on pasture so they get fresh grass weekly. Keeping animals out of mud and manure helps keep udders clean and avoids contamination. We feed hay during the winter periods when grasses are not actively growing.


CLEAN PROTOCOLS

Machine milking creates a closed system that produces cleaner milk. Human hands don’t touch the milk and you don’t have the chance of little bits falling into the milk as in hand milking where hairs, dirt, or even manure fall into buckets. We use inline filters that allow us to inspect the filter after milking to assure a clean process. Filters can also indicate potential issues that can be mitigated before they become problems.



COLD AND CLEAN

Milk needs to be cooled fast. Milk comes out of the cow above 100 degrees. It needs to get cool as quickly as possible. Putting the milk in the freezer immediately after milking has proven to be unacceptable. Bacteria doubles every 20 minutes above 60 degrees, and It takes more than 4 hours to get milk under 60 degrees in the freezer. We put milk bottles in ice water which drops the milk temperature below 40 degrees in under an hour with ease. Quick cooled milk is clean milk.


THE FINAL CLEAN - WE MEASURE

Things happen on a farm. Sometimes the Milker falls off or gets loose, a helper doesn’t follow the clean protocol, a step is inadvertently skipped, a damaged part can draw in dirt, etc.. Sometimes it’s not possible to know something went wrong.


This is why we test our milk each time we bottle. Before we sell the milk. To date, we are the only farm that tests milk BEFORE its sold. Other farms that test monthly can only recall bad milk. By that time you already drank it.


We purchased lab equipment so that we can perform coliform and aerobic plate counts (APC) right on the farm. We take a sample out of the milk bottle, so we know we are not only testing the cow, but we are also testing the milker, the bottling process, and really our overall sanitary practices. This assures that each bottling of our raw milk falls within the coliform and APC standards for low-risk foods as defined by USA food safety experts. Our testing results for coliform and aerobic plate counts are less than half the allowable FDA standards for commercial factory dairies. We are not required to test our milk. We do this to protect our customers. We drink what we sell.



FINAL STEP

The last step after testing is one of my favorite parts. We drink the milk. We really are not trying to prove anything with this last step. Our family, just like yours, enjoys fresh clean raw milk and testing simply confirms what we already know. 


OUR MENTOR

https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org

We do need to give some credit here though. We are getting expert help from the Raw Milk Institute.





A2A2 Raw Milk

More from the blog

RAWMI vs Grade A PMO State Inpected

Low Risk or High Risk Raw Milk - You get to choose At Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy we follow the RAWMI Standards for producing Low Risk Raw Milk. We also test daily before its sold in our on farm lab. I wanted to take some time to offer some of my knowledge on GRADE A, AKA, PMO/State Inspected standards (high risk) compared to what RAWMI standards (Low Risk) are. Grade A/PMO/State Inspected milk is produced with the intention to pasteurize the milk and kill bacteria and pathogens. It's sometimes being offered and sold as raw milk before its pasteurized which can be a high risk that leads to problems since milk produced under the Grade A standards does not produce low risk raw milk. RAWMI or Raw Milk Institute has helped lead the raw milk community with proven standards that produce low risk raw milk.

FAQs and helpful information

FAQs Related to Home DeliveryDo I need to be home when my order is delivered?No, you do not need to be home. Since we ship our product frozen in special insulated boxes with frozen gel packs or dry ice. Your order will arrive safely and you can simply unpack it when you get home and put it into your freezer. Its very convenient.How is the meat delivered?We use Fed-Ex or UPS to deliver our products. We typically ship on Tuesdays for delivery on Wednesday or Thursday. All of our packaging is designed to keep meat frozen for 48-72 hours depending on delivery zone. We 100% Guarantee our product.FAQs Related to Subscribe & SaveWhat if I need to skip or cancel?You are in complete control of your repeating order. You can edit items, skip deliveries or cancel at anytime time. We will never lock you into commitments or hassle you with hard-to-find cancelation buttons. We don't like those either!Will I be notified before each delivery?Yes, you will receive an email notification 2-3 days before your upcoming order leaves our farm. What free items can I choose from?Currently, we are offering our pasture raised ground chicken frames. This is great for bone broth and or raw pet treats.How long do I have to adjust or change my Subscribe & Save order?You have until the cutoff deadline for ordering in your area to edit/change your order. You will receive an email and text the week before confirming your deadline for making changes to your order.Can I place a one-time order in between my subscription orders?Our system won’t currently allow this, but if you contact us, we can enter a one-time order for you manually. How do I change my Subscribe & Save order frequency?Log-in and select Subscribe & Save from the Account menu. From there, you'll be able to update your delivery frequency! We offer weekly, every two weeks, every four weeks, or every eight weeks as options.How do I send a gift to someone else under my account?Please contact us and we will be able to enter your gift order manually.  How do I change my delivery date?Log-in and select Subscribe & Save from the Account menu. From there, you'll be able to select a new date.How do I Sign-up for Subscribe & Save?Sign up on the checkout page by selecting the Subscribe & Save checkbox and then filling out the settings as directed as you finish the checkout process.How do I Cancel my Subscribe & Save subscription?Go to “ Account” in the upper right-hand corner of our home page, then choose the dropdown “Subscribe & Save” and scroll down to the bottom of the page to the “Cancel Your Subscription” button. How do I Skip a Subscribe & Save order?Go to “Account” in the upper right-hand corner of our home page, then choose the dropdown “Subscribe & Save” and hit the Skip button. Skipping will cancel the current order and jump to the next order date based on your subscription frequency. How do I get a Subscribe & Save order Sooner?Go to “Account” in the upper right-hand corner of our home page, then choose the dropdown “Subscribe & Save” and hit the Get it Sooner button. Getting it Sooner will process your Subscribe & Save order on the next weekly deadline date of your choice. How do I add/remove items from my Subscribe & Save order?Your current order will be listed in the cart and you can add and remove items at will. Any changes to that cart will apply to the order date listed at the bottom of the open cart. Any changes will automatically update and you will only receive one confirmation email. Any changes made after that confirmation email will be reflected in the final order packed receipt email.How do I change my address?Please contact us for any address changes at farmers@twistedashfarm.com