What do you mean by sterilizing milk? It means to heat milk so as to destroy the germs.
Does cows' milk contain germs? Yes, even if it is handled faultlessly; but when carelessly handled the number of germs is enormous.
Are all of the germs injurious? Most are harmless or cause only the souring of the milk.
What other germs are occasionally present? Typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever, cholera, tuberculosis and many forms of diarrhea germs.
Do I need to sterilize milk under all circumstances? When you cannot obtain it fresh in warm weather. Hence during warm weather in cities and towns; when you do not know that the cows are healthy or that the milk has been cleanly handled; when milk is kept over twenty-four hours, especially if there is no ice at hand. When there are epidemics of typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, or any form of bowel disease accompanied by diarrhea.
How many methods of heating milk are there? First, sterilizing, in which the milk is heated to 212 degrees F., for one hour or one and one-half hours. Second, pasteurizing, when you heat the milk to 155 degrees or 170 degrees F. for thirty minutes.
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Will the temperature of 155 degrees F. for one-half hour be sufficient to kill the germs of the diseases mentioned above? Generally.
How long will milk so treated keep on ice? Heated to 212 degrees F. for an hour will keep for two or three weeks; that heated (pasteurized) to 155 degrees F. will keep for two or three days.
Is cows' milk as digestible when sterilized? No, and it should be modified for infant feeding the same as milk not heated.