# Milk Strainer



## linbee (Jul 7, 2010)

I have the small strainer with paper filters from Hoegger, made to fit over quart jar. Seems like it takes a long time to strain the milk. Do you need to change the filter during the process? Is there a better / quicker way to do this?


----------



## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

My friend uses that filtration system, and it is very slow. I use a reusable coffee filter and have never had a problem with dirt or hairs. I don't know what other people use for a filter but I bet people will chime in what works for them too.

Good luck


----------



## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Slow filtering can be just good rich milk but it also can be a sign of udder health problems.
Is there any thing left in the paper when you are finished? Is it slimey or coated with anything but milk? I have always poured through the KenAg non gauze filters into half gallons with a canning jar funnel and it should just flow. Warmer milk flows more readily but thick milk can be your first indication of problems.


----------



## linbee (Jul 7, 2010)

Nothing left after straining - seems to be just good milk. No slime or coating. I'll see after this evening's milking. I think that since I have nothing to compare to, I just have to wonder about everything and ask until I understand.


----------



## Jo~* (Oct 26, 2007)

Well I have only been milking since May of this year so I HOPE what I do is OK, it works for me---I go to Wal Mart and buy some muslin wash it good then cut it up in squares then bleach one square and after each milking I put that square of muslin over the opening of a 1/2 gallon jar with a rubber band to hold it in place make a well in the middle and pour my milk into it. Then after I wash my milking jar (big wal mart pickle jar)and muslin I soak the muslin square in a glass of bleach water. Every so often I change the muslin. 
If I'm asking for trouble some tell me!


----------



## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Don't order the little filters from Hoeggers - get the bigger size ones and then cut them into quarters. They flow much faster!! Anne from Hoeggers told me that one day when I was ordering


----------



## linbee (Jul 7, 2010)

Thanks for all the suggestions! Bigger filters it is.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Linda,

I think I have the same strainer and filters you do. Sometimes there's a vacuum. If you lift up the strainer from the jar slightly, it flows well.


----------



## linbee (Jul 7, 2010)

Thanks, Cindy, I'll try that, too.


----------



## linbee (Jul 7, 2010)

Jo, I really like the idea of the muslin - I think I read somewhere that it was certainly okay to use. If anyone disagrees, please let us know.


----------



## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

I do not like washing and sterilizing muslin. I use the small strainer and filters from Hoegger and it works fine. Warm milk flows faster than chilled milk. It doesn't take too long for me. However, it is not an instant process. I usually have time to get everything rinsed while I'm waiting for it to filter into jars. I really like the fact that I can just throw away the filter and have a clean one ready to go at next milking.


----------



## dawnwinddg (Aug 29, 2010)

For me, it's a matter of making sure there is no foam on the milk before I strain it. This time of year, the milk chills enough on the way in from the barn to eliminate the foam, but in the summer I sometimes let it sit for a half hour to let the foam settle.

We use KenAg folded into quarters through a canning funnel.

Frances


----------



## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

I just bought the Hoegger mini strainer and small filters thinking I'd save myself money in filters in the long run. Bad idea. They are slower than the green box filters. I knew that before but wondered how bad it could be... Should have bought the regular ones and stuck with my Caprine Supply mini strainer, which I like better than a full sized strainer any day!


----------



## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

What Cindy said about forming a vacuum. The strainer forms a seal with the top of the jar and the air cannot get out easily in order to allow the milk to go in.


----------



## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I also like to strain when the foam is down. That foam really slows the straining process.


----------



## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

If you wait till foam is down, isn't your milk growing bacteria, etc?


----------



## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

Those little filters from hoeggers are terrible. The big filters in the green box, I got mine from Caprine, filter almost as fast as you can pour. PM me your address and I will send you some  You can give a donation for the website in exchange.


----------



## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

By the time I get back to the house with the milk the foam is down some. I usually don't wait till it's all gone or I don't wait at all, but I'd rather strain with out the foam. I get the filters from Jeffers and just cup it over the wide mouth jar I pour into, then rinse the filter out and stack them up and when the stack is tall I wash them all, rinse well and then boil the heck out of them in the microwave oven and put them in a boiled pillow case and dry them in the dryer. I'm a big recycler. I don't mess with extra filter contraptions to clean, but I only have two milk goats.


----------



## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

A high SCC will cause the milk to filter more slowly. Do a CMT on your does, please. Also, later in lactation the butterfat increases but the premise behind the value of goat milk is that the butterfat passes through the stomach quicker because of the smaller sized molecules over cow milkl. So even with an increase in BF the molecules are still the same size only more of them. The milk should not take longer to filter. Bounty paper towels also work very well to filter milk. One sheet will make several square cut filters. When I could not longer find the correct size filter locally, I began using Bounty. The purpose of the filtering is to remove rather largish particals, not bacteria etc but bacteria causing things like hair, dirt and bugs.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Where is the "like" button for Jennifer's post


----------



## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I use muslin. I put it over my bucket to strain as I milk. What I do is boil a sauce pan of water, pour this all down the insides of my bucket to clean it good with about half the water, then throw the cloth into the boiling water that is left. I let it boil a second and turn the burner off and leave it a few minutes. So then it's good and clean. After I milk I just wash them both out doesn't take long at all. This is the best way I have found to do small amounts of milk.


----------



## nuzmom (Sep 17, 2010)

I use the Hoegger mini strainer and filters (white box). There are times I need to lift a corner of the strainer to get the flow going again - I guess it's due to the suction - but most times it drains just fine. I learned the hard way - cold milk does NOT strain quickly!!! Lastly, double check that you're only using 1 filter. They have a habit of sticking together.


----------



## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

Different brands of filters make a difference. The first brand I got were softer and strained well even when there was a lot of foam, but the ones I got now, Agrilabs brand, are a course, stiff texture and the milk doesn't go through as fast with foam. If the foam goes away after about 10 or so minutes they will filter fine.


----------



## SecoCreek (Jan 27, 2010)

Try this: http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,2604.msg27849.html#msg27849

It's easier for us to just put the insert in upside down, but we have a different strainer than you do.


----------



## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Is there glue or other additives in paper towels? That is the reason I have never used them to filter milk before. Someone told me that a long time ago.


----------



## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I looked up paper towels a couple years ago and the pulp is bleached and there could be dioxin so I decided against them.


----------



## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

kuwaha said:


> Don't order the little filters from Hoeggers - get the bigger size ones and then cut them into quarters. They flow much faster!! Anne from Hoeggers told me that one day when I was ordering


I agree with this. I had the same problem with the small filters. Since quartering the larger ones, I've had no problems except when a doe's SSC was up.


----------



## Island Creek Farm (Jun 16, 2010)

I hated the little strainer from Hoegger...sharp edges, cheap "tinny" stainless and generally a pain to work with. I splurged two months ago on their $46 strainer that uses the 4 5/16" filters. I LOVE that one...commercial grade satin stainless steel, fits a widemouth jar or my stainless tote, no sharp edges, easy to clean and holds about 3 qts of milk!


----------



## dawnwinddg (Aug 29, 2010)

The feedstore ran out of the large filters, so I resorted to coffee filters this week. How very annoying!!! I will be thankful when the store has the regular filters back in stock this week.


----------



## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

Question?
I have heard a few times on here that cold milk doesn't filter easily. So, does that mean you are filtering before you chill the milk? Just curious because I thought the idea was to chill the milk asap. I tried putting a filter inside the jar I was milking into...hahaha...it hit the filter and splashed me in the face! I had milk all over. :blush It works if you want to milk very slowly...which isn't for me. Linda


----------



## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I am using the reusable coffee filter right now and love it. I just toss it in with the bucket to wash, takes less than a minute.

I used to use the Schwartz's 6" (or is it 8"?) Filter Clean milk filters. I would buy 3 boxes at a time for under $10.00. Those things would last me a couple of years. I would hold them over the top of the Mason jar and then push the canning jar funnel down on top of it. That sealed it while I poured the milk through it. The milk flowed quickly, even later in the year when the girls were pounding out the BF.

Before I found the canning jar funnel, I was taking the filter and folding it into a funnel shape and setting it into a food grade plastic funnel, then pouring the milk through. After the filter got real soggy, it would stick to the sides of the funnel and the milk would not flow very well. I had to hold the filter away from the sides for the milk to flow freely.


----------



## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Linda,
yes, you are supposed to chill the milk asap, but for most people, that means bringing it up to the house right away when you finish milking, filtering it into the bottle(s) you are going to store it in, and chilling it, in that order. If you are chilling the milk first for any length of time, the stuff that the filters remove (hairs, shavings, dirt) is still in the milk, contributing bacteria. Some people put their milk into some sort of cooler while they are milking the other goats, and there's nothing wrong with that, but unless you have a LOT of goats, the time needed to thoroughly chill the milk is longer than you want hairs and such in it. You want gross (and by that, I mean large, visible to the naked eye) contaminants out of your milk as soon as possible, and that needs to happen BEFORE you worry about getting the milk really cold. Besides, filtering the milk should be a relatively quick process, nothing to interfere in any appreciable way with getting the milk chilled. Think of it this way...if you were told, "Get your shoes on right away!" you would still put on your socks first, you wouldn't think, "Oh no, I guess that means I'm going without socks!"


----------



## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Does anyone use or have you tried those inline filter socks?


----------



## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

I have not tried them but a couple of friends with a licensed commercial dairy swear by them.


----------

