Condensed Mii,k and Milk Powder 151 



ing to the tin, presenting a very uninviting appearance. This condi- 

 tion can usually be traced back to a poor quality of fresh milk, con- 

 taining too much acid. Very often, too, the cause lies in the factory 

 itself, where it is due to lack of cleanliness. A thorough inspection 

 of milk tanks, milk pipes and pumps generally shows accumula- 

 tions of remnants of milk which get into the milk of the succeeding 

 batch. Where this condition exists, it is noticeable that the first 

 batch of the day contains more specks and lumps than the succeeding 

 ones. These lumps do not, as a rule, grow larger in size nor increase 

 in number with the age of the condensed milk, but they injure its 

 appearance to the eye, and certainly cannot add to the wholesome- 

 ness of the milk. They might easily become the cause of the for- 

 mation of ptomains. A more rigid inspection of all the fresh milk 

 as it arrives at the factory and a thorough scouring of all milk tanks 

 and milk pumps, pipes and conveyors usually prevents the recur- 

 rence of this defect. 



Milk From Fresh Cows. — During early spring there is a strong 

 tendency of the jacket and coils in the vacuum pan to become coated 

 with a thick layer of gelatinous and lumpy milk. This is probably 

 due to the fact that milk during these months comes largely from 

 freshened cows and may contain some colostrum milk which coagu- 

 lates when subjected to heat, or that the proteids of milk from these 

 fresh cows are abnormally sensitive to heat. This thickened material 

 usually does not leave the pan until most of the condensed milk has 

 been drawn off. It, therefore, appears in the last one or two cool- 

 ing cans. If the m^lk in these cans is mixed with the rest of the 

 condensed milk, the lumps will appear again in the tin cans. 

 The last cans drawn from the pan should, therefore, be kept sepa- 

 rate. The contents of these remnant cans may be redissolved in hot 

 water and should be recondensed in a succeeding batch. In this way 

 the manufacturer sustains practically no loss. In order to prevent 

 these lumps from getting into the cooling cans, some factories at- 

 tach a strainer to the outlet of the pan. This practice is as unnec- 

 essary, as it is' damaging to the milk in the pan. The straining great- 

 ly retards the removal of the milk from the pan, and the milk is 

 held in the hot pan so long, as to cause partial superheating which is 

 otherwise detrimental to its quality. 



