Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 156, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1918 — Pasteurization of Milk. [ARTICLE]

Pasteurization of Milk.

The pasteurization of milk has been so much thought of as a process performed by elaborate plants that it may not be a matter of common knowledge that such equipment is not necessary. Milk may be pasteurized at home with the very simplest of paraphernalia. Pasteurization consists merely in exposing the milk to a high temperature. All the equipment necessary is a metal pall, a pie pan with some holes punched in the bottom, and a thermometer. The pail is filled to the proper depth with water and the milk, in the bottles in which it is delivered, placed in it, the pie pan having been placed at the bottom to allow free circulation of water under the bottles and to prevent bumping. A hole is punched through the cap of one of the bottles and the thermometer inserted. The pail is then placed on the stove or over a gas burner and heated until the thermometer in the milk shows not less than 145 nor more than 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The bottles are removed from the water and the one with the punctured cap covered with an inverted cup. The thermometer, meanwhile, has been placed In the wa-ter-in the pall and cold water added until the temperature of the water Is between 145 and 150 degrees. The bottles are then replaced in the water, covered with a towel and held thus for from 20 to 30 minutes. The final process is to run cold water into the'pail until the milk Is reduced to the temperature of the tap water. The milk is then pasteurized and should be immediately placed In the refrigerator, preferably with ice packed around the bottles. It must be remembered that pasteurization does not destroy all bacteria and that even pasteurized milk must be kept constantly cold. Where pasteurized milk cannot be purchased and where conditions under which the raw milk is produced are unknown, home pasteurization is recommended by the United States de partment of agriculture. ——