| Pasteurization |
It is not as hard as you think to pasteurize breast milk.
The link below is to a Texas milk bank. It has images on there pasteurization
process.
Milk Bank Milk Processing Photos
I always pasteurize in large amounts. This is what I used. A large stock pot.
Several quart mason canning jars with lids. 3 pair of Rubber gloves,1 candy
thermometer, thick oven mitt,small piece of aluminum foil and small piece of
saran wrap.
Put on your gloves. Take all the breast milk you plan to pasteurize and put it in a
sink of cool water to thaw. Pour the milk into clean canning jars to just below the
neck. Put lids and disks on all the jars but one. (You can use whatever size
canning jars you like)
Take saran wrap and put over the mouth of that jar, then put foil over that.
Screw the lid down on the jar. No disc in this jar. Take a knife and slit the top
towards the edge. Now insert your candy thermometer and clip it to the side of
the ring lid.
DO NOT place this jar in the center of the pot. Put it on the side. Place the other
jars in the pot. Pour hot water in the pot till it reaches just over the milk in the
jars.
Turn on your burner and raise the temperature to 63 C or 144 F. You will have
to keep checking the thermometer to see where it is. When it is about 10
degrees from 63 C turn your burner to simmer as low as it will go
. You will need to constantly monitor to make sure it holds its temperature. If it
gets to high move it to the back burner for about 10 minutes and let the
temperature come down some. The temperature can go up a bit and the milk be
okay. But it CAN NOT go below 63 C or 144 F.
While the milk is heating. Run a sink of hot soapy bleach water. Wash all
surfaces that came into contact with the unpasteurized milk. Throw that pair of
gloves away and put on your second pair.
When you have reached the proper temperature and it is now holding steady.
Now start timing your 30 minute pasteurization. Take each jar out using the oven
mitt by the top of the jar and gently swish each one around. Do this every 5
minutes. The milk has to keep an even temperature through out.
When time is up. Have both your sinks filled with cold water and ice. Put the pot
in one of the sinks. When the water is getting warm switch to the next sink.
Prepare the previous sink with more cold water and ice. Have a few bags of ice
handy. The object is to bring the temperature down quickly on the milk. But not
so fast that the jars explode. Continue this process from sink to sink and adding
more ice when needed. When the jars are cool enough , put on a new set of
rubber gloves and pour the milk into storage bags or containers. Date them and
freeze..
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