Leon the Milkman’s Blog

Milkman mixes

Posted on August 23rd, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy Science.

Hi, Folks

I mixed some calibration standards for dairy composition testing yesterday.  We made up a set of ten samples with butterfat ranging from skimmed to 5%.

The whole process starts off with me collecting different milks from nearby farms - by different I mean milk that comes from different races of cows that feed on different feeds.

Once the milk is mixed to give it a range of fat it is tested by internationally accepted methods and distributed to factories to calibrate their testing equipment.

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

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Mozzarella not stretching?

Posted on August 18th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Cheese, Dairy Science.

Hi, Cheese lovers

If you have the above problem I would recommend that you taste the milk first to see if you can detect something that way.  If the milk is not very sweet - chances are that water was added.   After doing a freezing point to eliminate that possibility, I would do solids, meaning fat and protein in this case. 

I would also do a phosphatase test to see if the milk was not pasteurized previously, because that would denature the protein so that it will not stretch on a second heating.   You might have pasteurized at too high a temperature yourself as well.

The milk could have a high SCC(somatic cell count) which is an indication of mastitis and this would lower the casein protein in the milk, which would lead to lower yields of cheese and slower, weaker setting of the curd.

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

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Does this mean the end of milk recording schemes?

Posted on August 9th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy News, Dairy Farming, Dairy Science.

Hi, Dairy People

If you are part of a milk recording scheme you should check out this new research:

http://www.farminguk.com/bsp/10130/ews.asp?DBID=103-281-013-098&iPage=1&id=4659

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

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Alternative for Alfalfa

Posted on August 6th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy News, Dairy Farming, Dairy Science.

Hi, Dairy Farmers

Here is some research that you should keep an eye on:

http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=27166&cat=NMTOPSTORIES

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

0 comments.

Sarel Moore visits Elsenburg

Posted on July 19th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy News, Dairy Science, International Dairy.

Sarel Moore is happy!

Hi, Milk Fans

Sarel Moore of the South African Milk Recording Scheme visited today and gave the thumbs up for Elsenburg Dairy Lab to do analysis for them in the Western Cape!

The tests to be done are fat, protein, lactose, urea and somatical cell count.

Thanks, Sarel

Leon the Milkman

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Mark van der Walt visits Elsenburg

Posted on July 18th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy News, Dairy Science, International Dairy.

[LtoR] Peter Vassen and Mark van der Walt

Hi, Milk Fans

Yes, it’s true! Mark of Rhine Ruhr South Africa visited us today and calibrated the CombiFoss for Urea.   No we didn’t piddle in a can!

Thanks, Mark

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

0 comments.

Pasteurizing cheese milk at home

Posted on July 16th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Cheese, Milk, Recipes, Raw Milk, Dairy Science, Goat Milk.

Pasteurizing milk at home for cheese making

Hi, Cheese fans

If you want to pasteurize raw milk at home for cheese making it is best to use two form fitting pots like on the photo.  Fill the gap between the pots with water and make sure that the inside pot is hanging so that there is also some water under the bottom.

This is much like the set-up you would use to melt chocolate.   Heat the milk to 65°C and keep it there for 5 minutes - then cool it down with cold or ice water in the kitchen sink.

For cheese making the milk should be cooled to 32°C and for drinking it should be cooled to at leat 8°C and then refrigerated to cool it down further.

This method can of course be used for pasteurizing goat milk at home or any other milk for that matter.

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

0 comments.

Hands-on dairy science for students

Posted on July 15th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy Farming, Dairy Science.

Hi, Milk fans 

Brutus stood patiently as yet another student pulled on a glove up to her shoulder. The steer has gotten used to people sticking their hands through the fistula, or tube, in his side, reaching into his stomach and squeezing a handful of his lunch.

The steer is doing his part to help attract students into animal and dairy sciences at the University of Georgia.

Read the rest here:

http://www.thebladeplus.com/news/2006/0717/News/020.html

Kind Regards,

Leon the Milkman

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Should Dairy Free Consumers be Concerned?

Posted on July 10th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy Science, Dairy Diet.

Hi, Milk Fans

According to a recently released study out of UCLA, women may lower their risk for type-2 diabetes by increasing their intake of low fat dairy products. Should those who shun or limit dairy consumption be concerned?

Read the rest here:

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=16323

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

0 comments.

Calibrating Cryoscope

Posted on July 6th, 2006 by Leon the Milkman.
Categories: Dairy Science.

Hi, Dairy Scientists

Had a question on how to calibrate a cryoscope.  For you who do not know this is a apparatus that freezes milk to determine the freezing point.  This tells us if water was added.  No water may be added to milk legally.

Usually standards that freeze at -0.408°C and -0.600°C is used, because milk freezes between -0.512°C and -0.550°C.   The calibration standards thus lie on each side of milk’s freezing points.   Distilled water can also be used as higher standard in place of the -0.408°C standard.  This tip will save your lab money!

Kind regards,

Leon the Milkman

0 comments.

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