milk bucket ?

[wildhorse]

Will any ss pail work for a milk bucket?

[Rockytopsis]

I would think as long as you can get it under the goat and has no seams for ease of cleaning any SS will work just fine. JMO

Nancy

[us4davis]

Check out the post in the barter board under "looking for milking supplies" by AtHomeDaughter.

[Slev]

I just use a stainless Steel trash can Wal-Mart sells in their home office dept. It works great except it has no lid. For handles I asked my friend who works with leather make a sling and I can carry it fine.

[SHELBY]

I use a SS bucket made for feeding pets, seamless and has a handle for carrying,

my SIL used a SS bowl.

[pookshollow]

Lee Valley Tools sells a real nice compost bucket - SS with a lid and a handle - for about $20 CDN. It comes in two sizes, 4 litre and 6 litre. I milk into the 4 litre and dump into the bigger one to bring the milk into the house.

[BlueHeronFarm]

How many goats do you have? For one or two, you can milk into mason jars.
If you have more you can still do that, but then dump into a food-grade plastic bucket.

[mamajohnson]

I have an ample supply of SS stock pots, and that was my plan, until I found out my little pygmy cross was too short for it to fit!
Went to wally world and found a SS utensil holder, 5 quart for about $5. Not too tall, nice and wide. I make a lid for it out of tin foil, and if I have more milk than it holds, I carry one of my stock pots out to pour the milk into.

I may check the trash can section now tho, see if I can find one with a handle!

[Alice In TX/MO]

I love goat owners. We are so tricky and resourceful!

[gryndlgoat]

I've always used a 8qt stainless stock pot. Got it for under $10 on sale. It has a lid, double handles and a nice flat bottom and straight sides. Very hard to tip over!

[dezeeuwgoats]

I have also used stainless stock pots - nice, flat bottoms! However, lately I have used the stainless steel mixing bowls from Sams Club (have seen them at wal mart too). They have flat bottoms, and no rolled edges for milk to get under. I believe they are called 'commercial'. They came in like six sizes at Sam's club - all the way from mega milker to dwarf dairy doe, lol.

IMHO - anything will work - figure out what you like the best, and what you can afford. My stock pots were picked up for a couple of bucks at thrift stores!

Niki

[jBlaze]

I am a total bucket snob, the only one I care to use is the 8qt from caprine supply. Well worth the extra $ IMO. It is heavy enough that it is not so easily kicked over and their description fits:

" 8 Qt. Stainless Steel Milk Pail
$41.75
Our sturdy 8 qt. seamless stainless steel milk pail is large enough to hold all the milk from your best-producing doe (up to 12 lbs. with foam) yet small enough to fit under yearlings. Tall sides help keep nervous hooves out of pail. We like this pail because it does double-duty: it's a good container for making cheese as well as for milking. Strong, lifetime construction (made using flowturning process for maximum strength). Edge is not rolled; so it's easy to clean. 8" high, 10" top diameter. Our 8 qt. pail will fit in the Weck canner/pasteurizer. "

I have tried many other buckets and containers to milk in and end up getting frustrated (pi$$ed). I am sure some of you have been there when doe gets foot in the bucket or kicks it over. This bucket helped overcome most all of that. It is also the bucket you will see most vets use, "the good one."

[dkdairygoats]

I have a 4 qt pail made for a dog, paid $8 for it at TSC, and Hoegger Supply's milk bucket with the moon lid. I like the cheap bucket better except my better does will overflow it. The covered one is nice but hard to aim because the opening is small, also much heavier to carry but I've never had a doe overflow that one.

[mygoat]

l like my cheap 6.00 stainless 8qt stock pots from the dollar store. For a handle, I have 0-rings zip tied to the side handles and have a dog leash coupler (though any sort of strap would work) for each bucket... Couplers work great though because they have a ring in the center for hanging and plus, it's what I had on hand.

I also have small kennel supply stainless dog buckets for straining into. They are 2 qt, and only 2.95 from jeffers pet supply.

So, I milk into one stock pot, strain into a 2qt bucket and weigh, then I pour it into the other 8qt stock pot which has those mini pop bottles filled with ice for quick chill... most of the time when I get into the house the milk is already really cold.

[Gailann Schrader]

Yep, Target had some inexpensive SS buckets at one time too.

Just as long as it doesn't have a seam and a lip to hold the old milk?

You'll be fine.

Get some Dairy Soap (at TSC if it's near - you can order on line). It's like $6 a gallon and works wonderful for sink dishes too.

And get some milkstone remover from there too if you milk a lot.

And I usually run my bucket through the dishwasher once in a while too.

Good luck!

[4Hmomwyo]

Another thing you can use is enamel ware as long as it does not have seams or chips in it.