Pasteurizing milk at home

farmgirl6 · #1 12/23/14, 02:41 PM

Just started milking little Coop since she had her calf, she is being great, breaking in to it slowly....hubby is insisting we pasteurize it? I am not expecting more than half gallon to gallon a day, put a bid on a little vintage home pasteurizing unit on ebay but wonder what everyone else does? have heard you can use pressure cooker? I don't want to stand over the stove with a thermometer and a spoon..advise?

Athena · #2 12/23/14, 04:52 PM

Nothing. I strain ours through a double layer of muslin cloth (wash and boil those after use) and drink it raw, chilled. If the cow is healthy, the milk will last for days and you're getting it fresh every day anyway, so throw out anything you don't use.

BUT all health departments will warn about the dangers of raw milk, especially for the elderly, very young and immune suppressed, so do what you feel comfortable with.

**gone-a-milkin** · #3 12/23/14, 05:14 PM

Standing over the stove with a thermometer is not terribly taxing either.
It really doesn't take very long and it may be worth it for peace of mind,
especially "at first".

CrafterAl · #4 12/23/14, 05:28 PM

If you think you should pasteurize the milk, then you probably should.

The standard home unit is the SafGard Home Pasteurizer.

They have a good resale value.

How do I know?

We used one for awhile.

It's easy to use and the milk processed with it tastes pretty good.

After some time, we started drinking raw milk and still do.

There are two sides to the controversy over raw milk.

There are risks and rewards on each side...

Do what you're comfortable with after educating yourself on both sides...

billinwv · #5 12/23/14, 05:40 PM

I used a pasteurizer when I hand milked and hated it. Hoses to cool with water from the sink and another thing to wash. I now use a machine to milk CLEAN udders(cow and goats) and I sanitize after wash up with a spray of leave on hydrogen peroxide. I use this spray on all of my cheese making equipment also. I feel really comfortable with this and am a total germ freak.

mary,tx · #6 12/23/14, 07:12 PM

It will be very easy to pasteurize that much milk on the stove with a couple of pans. Sit a pan in a larger pan with water in it, sort of double boiler style, but you don't have to have a double boiler, just a pan of water to sit your pan of milk in. Turn the heat on high, put a lid on your pan, and stick a probe thermometer in it.

I wash dishes or something while the heat comes up, only takes a few minutes. When it gets to 140 or so, I start stirring and watching more closely, and start a sink of ice water to sit the pan in when I'm done.

Heat to 165, stir, then you're done. Sit your pan in ice water, and stir a few more times. When it's cooled down to 100 or so you can pour it up. I sit it in the freezer for an hour or so then move down to fridge.

Awnry Abe · #7 12/23/14, 09:52 PM

It won't take forever on the stovetop. Don't waste the 65 degree head start that the cow gave you.

arnie · #8 12/23/14, 10:11 PM

when I first got my cow I boght a pstureizer .but after I tried it to see if it worked it has never been pluged in again . I figgered with a healty cow . clean milking stall and environment for the cow stainess bucket ,glass milk jars cold fridge why bother , and I feel I was correct raw milk from a cow that you are in close contact with / live on the same land ,and eat from the same garden with . the cows immune system will help protect you just as it protects her calf. i'm keeping the old pasturier in case I ever get around to making cheese .

idigbeets · #9 12/24/14, 05:03 AM

clean your equipment really well... soap/acid wash/sanitizer. Clean the teats well at each milking.. and use a filter on your milk bucket when you pour out(paper is fine)... and you're covered...

Been drinking raw milk for decades and yet to have an issue... good healthy cows make good healthy milk.

haypoint · #10 12/26/14, 12:13 PM

Good healthy cows make good healthy looking milk that sometimes has listeria, brucellosis, campylobacter and E coli. Some might be able to drink raw milk out of an old boot while others end up hospitalized over seemingly safe milk.
For yourself, do as you want. Proper pasteurization doesn't harm anything beneficial in milk.

topside1 · #11 12/26/14, 09:50 PM

Oliver and Lisa never pasteurized their cows milk, maybe that's why Lisa never mastered the fine art of making hotcakes. Mister Haney attempted to sell the Douglas family a stove top pasteurizer but why bother, Eleanor the family Guernsey was in perfect health.

Straight raw milk drank here in Tennessee, with or without the boot....Topside

idigbeets · #12 12/27/14, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranbrook

Good healthy cows make good healthy looking milk that sometimes has listeria, brucellosis, campylobacter and E coli. Some might be able to drink raw milk out of an old boot while others end up hospitalized over seemingly safe milk.
For yourself, do as you want. Proper pasteurization doesn't harm anything beneficial in milk.

Sure it does. Pasteurization kills off all bacteria, both good and bad... not sure how you can claim anything else.. heat is heat.

Some decent pros/cons reading here... cited too. http://milk.procon.org/view.answers....stionID=000806

arabian knight · #13 12/27/14, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranbrook

Good healthy cows make good healthy looking milk that sometimes has listeria, brucellosis, campylobacter and E coli. Some might be able to drink raw milk out of an old boot while others end up hospitalized over seemingly safe milk.
For yourself, do as you want. Proper pasteurization doesn't harm anything beneficial in milk.

That is so true, and if the OP wants to, and feels better for doing so, by all means just do it~! It sure can't hurt, and gives you a lot of peace of mind it's better that way.