My good friend gave me an old pasteurizer! It was one that was buried under stuff at her house. She had gotten a newer one and didn't need this one anymore.
Here's a photo of my 'new' old pasteurizer. I looked it up on the internet and the new ones cost quite a bit of cash, so I'm very happy with this one.
I took it to the local repair shop and they put a new electrical cord on it because the other one had been kinda chewed up by the mice! I spent $35, which I found out later was a bit silly because our son-in-law knows how to replace cords. Apparently he has replaced many cords since he works construction and construction workers regularly cut through their electrical cords. It's a good thing he's going to school to be a nurse, it sounds like construction workers can really cause themselves some damage!
Notice the twist tie on the side? That's because I couldn't get the lid-holder to stay. I tied it to the side and don't have any trouble getting the lid to seal now.
The white stuff around the side on the drain tube is mending putty. I couldn't figure out why the water level was lower when I finished pasteurizing than when I started. It was because there was a slow leak around the edge. I love mending putty!
I always do things that could make a mess in the sink. When I'm using the pasteurizer it sits on a pot in the sink just in case there is a leak. It makes it much easier when I am draining the water level before I take the milk out, too. There have been quite a few times that I have been grateful that I've made using the sink a habit.
It is really easy to tell when the milk is pasteurized. There is a loud buzzer that we can hear throughout the house and the yard (if the windows are open)! It usually takes about 40 minutes to pasteurize 2 gallons of cold goat milk. It takes less time if the milk is still warm from milking.
I love having a pasteurizer because I can do something else while the machine does the work! Like blog! Oh, there goes the buzzer. Time to cool the milk and make some farmstead cheddar!
Thank you for posting this! I recently purchased the same model pasteurizer at a terrific price! However, when I opened the pasteurizer I discovered that it reeks, peeew-eeee! Any tips on cleaning? The milk container itself is clean but the water bin is stinky! I want to be able to use it, but I'm not comfortable with the smell. Any suggestions? Bleach maybe? I am hesitant to clean it with something that could get into our milk - HELP!!
ReplyDeleteGive me a day to check with Hubby, who is a chemist. I wouldn't use bleach yet. It is a pretty strong base. I'll check with him and leave another comment soon!
ReplyDeleteTwo things you can do before I get back to you are, 1) put water in the water bin area, plug it in and let it 'pasteurize' the water. It won't boil, but it should get up to somewhere between 150˚ and 165˚, hot enough to kill some of the bugs.
2) leave it outside in the open air and sunshine for a day or two. Sunshine kills alot of bacteria!
Hubby said that you should either put in about a teaspoon of bleach and fill it with water, then leave it for a few hours. Dump the water and bleach, rinse well. Fill with water and let it heat for a while.
ReplyDeleteOr you can put in about 1 pint of hydrogen peroxide, then fill it with water, let it sit for a few hours and then rinse out.
Check the wiring, too, to make sure that it is okay. Ours was chewed a bit and I decided to replace it because I wanted to be safe.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for your response! I will try those. I also read that a mixture of water and vinegar can remove, what I now believe is milk stone, I think I'll begin with ideas which use the least amount of chemicals and work my way up. I'll let you know how things go, thanks again!
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