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North Slope Chillers

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Dairy coolers

Dairy Cooling Solutions

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Don’t have a cow over keeping your milk cool

Farmers are well accustomed to staying in control over milk temperatures. What methods do they use?

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It’s said that you should never cry over spilled milk. When you utilize dairy coolers, you’ll never have to cry about spoiled milk either. In the cooling of milk, stable temperatures are crucial in ensuring it will still be fresh when it reaches the grocery store. 

Temperature control for milk starts as soon as it leaves the udder. It leaves the body of the cow at 98° F, but remaining at that temperature would spoil the milk quickly. The ideal range for dairy cooling tanks is between 40° F and 32° F, which balances keeping it above freezing with preventing bacteria growth. 

milk cow dairy

There are two main methods currently used to keep milk cool. 

  • In-line coolers: Some dairy farms prefer in-line plate coolers because they use less expensive electricity than other milk cooling methods. Milk is precooled by running it through an in-line plate cooler before it is stored in a larger dairy cooling tank. The heat is removed from the milk as water is also circulated in and out of the cooling plate. According to Wisconsin dairy experts, doing so only takes about 10 minutes, as opposed to cooling milk in large batches that can take as long as 45 minutes. Running in-line plate coolers to cool the milk for shorter times can save up to 50% of energy costs, and the water can be reused as long as it was clean going into the plate. 
  • Process chillers: Often used on large-scale dairy farms, process chillers utilize water or another coolant liquid to remove heat from the milk tank. Chillers pump coolant at low temperatures from the chiller machine to a cooling wrap encasing the milk tank, enveloping it in a blanket of cold. As the heat is absorbed into the wrap, the coolant then flows from the wrap back to the chiller, where it is cooled back down and sent back out to the wrap. 

Process chillers are by far the most effective dairy cooling solution. A milk tank wrapped in a Fluxwrap from North Slope Chillers will keep temperatures exactly where you want them, regardless of external climate influences. When connected to Beacon temperature control technology, Fluxwraps and chillers collect temperature data and allow for remote access to milk tank cooling settings. 

North Slope Chillers carries everything needed for milk cooling solutions. Contact North Slope Chillers to learn which cooling equipment is right for your dairy needs at 866-826-2993 or [email protected].

cow

Dairy and Milk Coolers

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Process cooling has a place in many industries, and is no stranger in the world of dairy production. What role do dairy and milk coolers have in getting milk ready for consumption?

Process Cooling in the Dairy Industry

The dairy industry is massive, with $38.1 billion of milk produced in the United States alone in 2017. As a part of that industry, pasteurization is critical to producing milk for consumer use. Pasteurization kills and removes harmful bacteria from milk liquids. Process cooling controls temperatures during and following pasteurization procedures.

Bacteria

E. coli

As it leaves the animal, milk is inhabited by harmful pathogens, and is generally unsafe to consume. According to Milk Facts, some of these bacteria include:

  • E. coli: One of the most infamous bacteria, E. coli in most of its strains is harmless and used by the human digestive system. However, E. coli strain O157:H7 is a different matter. This particular strain produces toxins that can make humans sick, even leading to death in some cases. Thankfully, pasteurization kills the O157:H7 strain.
  • Listeria monocytogenes: This bacteria can infect nearly anyone and is regularly found in unpasteurized milk. Symptoms found in humans that have contracted Listeriosis range from fever and muscle aches to stillbirths and death. Though pasteurization kills Listeria, it can grow in refrigerated temperatures if the milk becomes recontaminated.
  • Salmonella: If you’ve ever had food poisoning, you probably have Salmonella to thank. While not usually life threatening, Salmonella can cause intestinal issues resulting in vomiting and diarrhea. It is not uncommon to find strains of this bacteria in raw milk, but they are not found in properly pasteurized milk.

HTST vs UHT

Having killed off these harmful bacteria, pasteurized milk is globally considered safe to consume. However, different countries have different ways of pasteurizing.

pasteurization

Milk in the United States and Canada is pasteurized via High-Temperature, Short-Time (HTST) The milk is heated to a lower temperature (about 165°F) than milk in Europe. The milk is kept at this temperature for about 15 seconds before process cooling kicks in and the temperature is gradually reduced to refrigeration levels. As a result, milk has a shorter shelf life and needs to be refrigerated for maximum storage. Most often, dairy coolers or milk coolers are used to stabilize temperatures.

European dairy producers require much higher temperatures, utilizing a pasteurization process called Ultra-High Temperature (UHT). The temperature of milk is heated much higher than milk processed in the United States, to about 191°F. Unlike HTST, milk is only heated that high for a few seconds. This method allows for milk to be stored without refrigeration and giving it a longer shelf life. The downside is that the milk has a different taste, with some calling it a “cooked” flavor.

Keep it cool

Regardless of pasteurization preference, milk needs to be cooled after being pasteurized so as not to burn the milk into something unfit for consumer tastes. Milk coolers from North Slope Chillers offer temperature control solutions that dairy producers need to lower temperatures after pasteurization and ready milk for market or further processing. Contact North Slope Chillers for the best milk coolers in the dairy industry at (866) 826-2993 or by email at [email protected].