The Milk-Pro METHOD
An in-container, batch pasteurisation system, the Milk-Pro offers an affordable, simple-to-use and profitable means for packaging, pasteurising and chilling up to 1 000 liters of milk per day. The system has found application in both rural and urban environments, and is being purchased by individual farmers, groups of dairy producers, or sponsored by aid organisations and governments around the world.
Milk can be processed directly from the cow without having to be chilled beforehand, as long as the time between milking and processing doesn’t exceed two hours. The raw milk is strained before being packed into sachets or bottles.
Sachet tubing can be pre-printed with a logo, batch number, processing and best-before dates, nutritional information and producer contact details. Certain bottle designs and materials of manufacture can also be used (glass, for example).
The stainless steel, plastic-coated baskets keep the packed milk stationary during pasteurisation, and allow proper water circulation between the containers, ensuring proper and efficient transfer of heat from the water to the milk.
It is important the sachets are completely submerged in the water when the pasteuriser is loaded with baskets, to ensure all the milk gets properly pasteurised. Less-than-complete batches can also be processed, as long as this rule is properly followed.
The wire baskets are not needed in the Chilling Tank, and the sachets float in ice water for rapid chilling to storage temperatures of below 5˚C. Water for chilling is continually drawn over the iced-over copper coils and then circulated back into the body of the chilling tank to make sure the time taken to cool the milk is less than 2 hours.
As long as the pasteurised milk’s temperature doesn’t exceed 5˚C during storage, its shelf life (unopened) can be as long as six weeks.
Dairies don’t have to employ economies of scale any more in order to make profits. Small is good again!