Pasteurize Milk......Safer for the kids?

[mrbstephens]

My kids are 3 and 6 years old. I would be getting goats and a cow of our own some day in the future and this is why I'm asking. If I wanted to buy raw milk I'd have to join a co-op and the milk comes from several hours away.

So, sterile equipment is the key? How to sterilize? I despise bleach!

 

[Wifezilla]

You can use oxyclean.

B-Brite is the brand for pretty much the same stuff as oxyclean that brewers use to sterilize their equipment.

 

[mrbstephens]

You can use oxyclean.

B-Brite is the brand for pretty much the same stuff as oxyclean that brewers use to sterilize their equipment.

What is in Ocyclean anyway? I actually don't use cleansers for anything. I use mostly vinegar, but I also use natural dish soap from the health food store. I think there is a setting on the dishwasher for sterilizing. It washes at dries at really hot temps.

 

[Wifezilla]

Oxiclean and B-Brite are just basically sodium percarbonate and soda ash. It breaks down in to hydrogen peroxide.

"Hydrogen peroxide is naturally produced in organisms as a byproduct of oxygen metabolism. Nearly all living things (specifically, all obligate and facultative aerobes) possess enzymes known as peroxidases, which harmlessly and catalytically decompose low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen."

 

[mrbstephens]

Oxiclean and B-Brite are just basically sodium percarbonate and soda ash. It breaks down in to hydrogen peroxide.

"Hydrogen peroxide is naturally produced in organisms as a byproduct of oxygen metabolism. Nearly all living things (specifically, all obligate and facultative aerobes) possess enzymes known as peroxidases, which harmlessly and catalytically decompose low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen."

HUH? That was way more than I expected! So, I guess it's harmless. Thanks smartypants!

 

[Wifezilla]

mrbstephens, you just learned a valuable lesson...

Be careful what you ask wifezilla! You often get WAY more information than you planned on or needed!

 

[mrbstephens]

mrbstephens, you just learned a valuable lesson...

Be careful what you ask wifezilla! You often get WAY more information than you planned on or needed!

I'll try and remember that!

 

[freemotion]

I did a ton of research before I "went raw" because a sip of milk would make me sick for two days, with a lot of severe abdominal pain to boot. I was SO afraid of that first sip of goat's milk!

I visited a dairy that was an hour away and decided that if I was going to try raw milk, I needed my own animal. I got my dairy goat before I even knew if I could drink the milk. I can, and do, and am completely convinced that it has been very healing to me in many ways, mostly digestive.

I sterilize in the dishwasher, and I do use a mild bleach solution as my udder wash and teat dip. I use only a half Tablespoon of Clorox in a cup of warm water. I could probably get away without using this, but the habit is there, and I feel it protects my doe from any microbes getting into her if she lies down after I milk while the orifices are still open. Handmilking is probably a bit harder on the animal than a kid would be, running in to take a smaller drink several times a day.

Statistically, you are 2-3 times more likely to get seriously ill from microbes in storebought fruits and veggies than from raw milk from ANY dairy.

My grandparents raised 11 healthy kids on raw milk, cream, and butter. As did millions of people before them. Pasteurizing came into fashion when dairies were run in disgusting filth with sick cattle and disease was spread. Another issue was the hand milkers, coughing TB and other germs into the milk bucket. Pasteurizing solved this problem. I'd rather have clean milking practices, clean handling and storing practices, and healthy animals!!!