Cooling Milk

[ShellCreekFarm]

What is the best way to cool the milk to below 35, which is what I'm told I should do. We don't have access to ice because there is no room for it around here. I was wondering if there's anyway I can put it in a deep freeze, if I can find the room, for a few minutes. How does everyone else cool their milk?

Thank you!

[Eunice]

Legal temperature for the bulk milk tank is 40*. Right now I cool the milk from my one goat by sticking it in a bucket of cold water on the back porch. Outside temp. is 18* this morning. I just leave it for an hour and put it in the frig. It will keep fresh for 1-2 weeks like that.

[Alice In TX/MO]

We use two stainless steel buckets, nested together. Milk into the inner bucket.

The outer bucket has a very cold slurry of ice/salt water. To make this, I heated water in a quart size pyrex measuring cup in the microwave and stirred in as much salt as I could make the water hold. (This is called a saturated solution.) When cool, the salt water is put into the stainless steel bucket and kept in the freezer. Because of the salt, the water will not freeze solidly.

When it's time to milk, insert your milk receiving bucket into the salt water slurry bucket. As you milk, the milk cools immediately.

When I return to the house, the inside bucket is removed, the milk strained and refrigerated in glass jars, and that bucket washed. The outside salt water bucket goes back into the freezer.

[wardarden]

Rose,

I just wanted to let you know that I used your idea for a brine (salt) water but modified it for my use. I took some rock salt (like used for ice cream makers) and disolved as much as I possibly could in water the put a small pail (for kids to use on the beach!) that I found on sale at Walgreens for 0.99. I keep that pail in the freezer now and it does not freeze! When I strain my milk into the 2 qt jar I just put it in that pail in the freezer and voila! it chills really fast! Thanks so much for the idea.

[Alice In TX/MO]

You are so welcome! My hubby, a petroleum engineer, came up with that idea, and he's so proud that other folks are using it ... and variations!

[4Hmomwyo]

I thought there was a thread on this last year where they put the slurry in a mason jar and dropped it into the milk pail while they were milking, however I cannot find it today! That would use less space and help with the cooling.

[goatiegurl*Oh]

You only have to make it once and it stays in the freezer? That would be helpful.

[Alice In TX/MO]

My frozen slurry is made once, too. I just put the outside bucket with the salt water back in the freezer after milking.

My concern with the mason jar would be the thread area getting milk in it and getting sour over time.

Some folks freeze water bottles and put those in the milk buckets, I think.