Leon the Milkman

Leon the Milkman has a B.Sc majoring in Food Science And Chemistry. Having had stints in most food industries, his love for dairy won and he has been working in the dairy industry in the Western Cape Province of South Africa since 1997. He is a Research Tech. and presents regular Cheese and Yoghurt Making Courses.

Dairy Dictionary

Published March 9, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi, Dairyfans

Confused with a dairy term you’ve never heard of before? Get your own dairy dictionary by registering here – that will set you right. 🙂
You will use it again and again.

My pleasure,
Leon the Milkman

Wedding Anniversary

Published March 9, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi,

Yep, my wife and I are celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary today! Thanks, Love.
Like everything in life a relationship needs constant attention, may we have more time with each other this year.

I love you,
Leon

Bronopol

Published March 8, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi, Milkpeople

Someone asked me what the milk preservative bronopol (we use in lab to preserve samples) was and I could not believe the hard time I had finding that out.
Well here’s the real name – get ready for it: 2-bromo-2-nitropropan-1,3-diol
So now you know!

Till next time,
Leon the Milkman

Ekomilk

Published March 7, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi,

I had an Ekomilk Milk Analyser in the lab today to calibrate. It was one of the older models and had 2 testing channels; for cow and sheep milk .
I think for most dairies in South Africa it would be more practical to have a processed cow’s milk channel and a raw cow’s milk channel, except if you have sheep, haha.
If you are not familiar with this little piece of equipment, it tests milk with ultrasound technology instead of the Infra-Red technology I am used to. I think it does a pretty stand-up job for the price and it very robust, so that anybody can work with it in most conditions.. Thumbs up!

Kind regards,
Leon the Milkman

Yeast in cheese.

Published March 7, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi, Cheesefans

If you made cheese and you end up with a spongy curd that smells like beer brewing, bread or pineapple when you press on it and smell close by at the same time, then it is a pretty sure thing that you have yeast in that curd. To confirm you will have to have a yeast-and-mold test done at a microbiology lab. This takes a full 5 days.

You’ll have to make processed cheese 😉

Kind regards,
Leon the Milkman

Holes in cheese

Published March 6, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi, Milkfans

Two types of holes to be found in cheese. The one is a mechanical , irregular hole, mainly caused by too little pressure. The other is a gashole which is round, smooth and shiny, and is caused by bacterial growth( hopefully the good kind).

Regards,
Leon the Milkman

Dairy Diet 2

Published March 4, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi,

I think that a lot of the good effects of a diet incorporating dairy is that full cream dairy products are already balanced with the macronutrients, being Fats, Protein and Carbohydrates. This enables the body to get a more even formation of energy, because the fats and proteins slow the digestion and this gives an even rise of blood sugar. Products like milk and yoghurt are also high in moisture – thus it fills you up without a lot of calories/kilojoules.
High-carbohydrate foods tend to cause a fast blood sugar increase and a fast drop – that’s why when you eat cookies or sweets you want more and more and…

By the way a litre of full cream milk has 620 calories; compare that to the 3000 calories that an average man needs for weight maintanance.

Regards,
Leon the Milkman

Dairy Diet

Published March 3, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi,

The weekend is here, my political party won locally, and I’m giving a talk on diet and the role dairy plays in it tomorrow. I even see some research going round about the calcium and protein in dairy preserving muscle while burning off bodyfat. Will keep you updated with some more on this.

Wish me good luck with my talk – don’t want to break a leg though. 😉

Have a great weekend!

Leon

Microbiology Waterbath Hygiene

Published March 2, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi, Milkfans

Still waiting for all those votes to be counted.

In the meantime, here’s a bit of advise – if you have a waterbath in your lab, put some Formalin in the water – that will keep it clean. Take care to wipe the outside of the bottle clean before pouring agar to prevent Formalin water running into your petri dish.

Goodday,
Leon

Milkman Votes

Published March 1, 2006 | By Leon the Milkman

Hi,

Today was voting day in South Africa. I cast my vote and I hope it will bring an end to the power failures we have had to suffer. Of course this not only had huge effects for the dairy industry, but all others.

Will let you know if my party won and what measures are to be implemented to prevent further breakdowns/outages.

Kind regards,
Leon the Milkman