# Paper towel for strainer?



## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Hi y'all!
We got an "almost Kinder" - she's 1/2 Nubian and 1/2 Pygora, and she has delicious milk, without doing any quick chilling etc.

I ran out of milk filters, and have just been pouring the milk into a jar with a thick type plain white paper towel in the neck of the jar, seems to work just fine. Any reason not to do this?

As a matter of fact, I milk directly into a glass jar, cap it, and put it into fridge. Then I take the 1/2 full jar out for a second milking right into the cold milk, THEN I filter it all into a new jar. So I am only filtering once for 2 milkings...
milk tastes great and stays good for at least a week.

So...why not just use the paper towel filter?


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## TennesseeMama23 (May 10, 2006)

If I were to run out of filters I would use coffee filters cut to fit my strainer. I would think paper towels are more likely to break down and leave little pieces of paper in my milk-you couldn't see the tiny pieces in milk. Just put a paper towel in a jar of water for a few minutes and see what happens.


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## prairiecomforts (May 28, 2006)

In a pinch - I have used cheesecloth. Never thought of the coffe fliters.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

I don't like to use a paper towel for the reason that they break down too easy and are likely to leave little pieces you can't see in the milk. I have used cheesecloth, coffee filters, clean dish-cloths or even cleaning rags in a pinch..... :shrug:


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

These paper towels are the thick stretchy kind, they don't seem to break down like the thin papery ones.

I would use coffee filters, but don't have those either. We drink instant laced with hot chocolate.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

bbbuddy said:


> These paper towels are the thick stretchy kind, they don't seem to break down like the thin papery ones.
> I would use coffee filters, but don't have those either. We drink instant laced with hot chocolate.


Hey, whatever works for you!  I think its well worth it to keep a piece of cheesecloth around for the odd straining job. We strained our Jersey cow milk for about 6 years using cheesecloth.
I don't have coffee filters around either as I don't drink coffee.  I had to buy the filters when I did use them for milk, but I prefer the cheesecloth.


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## crowinghen (Jul 25, 2004)

We routinely use paper towels to filter the milk -- but they HAVE to be Bounty or else they wither into nothing.
PLus they are perforated in just the right spot for my strainer.
Susie


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Paper towels work great for me, however I only use them when I'm out of regular filters. Only drawback, they take much longer to filter the milk. Tennessee john


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

ok, glad to see the milk filters are not absolutely necessary...


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## goatmarm (Nov 19, 2005)

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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

goatmarm said:


> Adding the second milking to the first is o.k. for home use, but I do not believe a dairy that is going to sell the milk can do that.


A little thread drift here, but actually commercial dairies that sell to the milk plants add one, two, or even three days milk together before pick-up. Its not the best for the flavour though....I wouldn't do it for home use. Adding warm milk to cold milk several times is almost always going to make the milk taste "off".


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Well I milk right into the cold morning milk at night. Then filter it all. One goat is NOT a dairy, lol. The milk tastes great, never any goaty or off flavor.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

bbbuddy said:


> Well I milk right into the cold morning milk at night. Then filter it all. One goat is NOT a dairy, lol. The milk tastes great, never any goaty or off flavor.


We have done the same thing many a time. I wasn't referring to you milking at home, just my experience with dairies and bulk tanks. Makes a difference especially when its one doe versus 100.


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

emily how long do you need to milk your 75 does?


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

I always use paper towels but they have to be bounty. Everything else seems to take forever and with bounty it just falls right through. I don't like the coffee filters..... they seem to take too long. But I've used bounty for 11/2 years and sure hope there's nothing wrong with it!! HAHAHA!!


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## moosemaniac (Mar 7, 2003)

I've used coffee filters in a pinch without problem. 

Ruth


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## dosthouhavemilk (Oct 29, 2004)

More thread drift...  

The thing about the milk being stored in bulk tanks is it is *filtered* during each milking. All the milk put in has been run through a strainer (unless someone goofs) and the milk should be in the process of being cooled down as it is added to the tank.
The filtering is the key here.
Keep in mind, if you have little bits of whatever in that milk that is cooling in the fridge you are giving the nasties a chance to multiply. Cool milk also is a bit more work to filter throough the normal filters as well. It thickens.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

susanne said:


> emily how long do you need to milk your 75 does?


It takes about 3 hours morning and evening.....with a better set-up I could run them through in *much* less time......


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

No, don't do that. Paper towels have dioxins from the bleaching process, and probably other chemicals, to. They weren't ever intended for milk filtering, and so the company is probably allowed to do all sorts of things to paper towels that they wouldn't be able to with coffee filters. 

Cloth lets sediment through, don't use cloth unless you are *ultra* clean in your milking procedure and the area is not dusty. Also, the cloths should be boiled after use, not just rinsed and hung up to dry. 

Coffee filters are too danged slow, especially if you have LOTS of milk. 

Now, I know I'm going to get a lot of criticism about this, what did the pioneers and such use for milk filters, etc... Folks, the pioneers had nothing else to use. They died off young and at a horrific rate due to greater exposure to diseases and other hazards. Their life was <i>not</i> a walk in the park. A lot of why we are living longer now is due very simply to improved sanitation. 

So, what I'd suggest is to get a couple gallons of fresh milk, and filter it into 3-4 different jars, using: milk filter, coffee filter, cloth, and paper towel. Then compare the filtering materials for hair, manure, other dirt, and sediment, and get back to us. Actually, I'd be happy to do it, but my goats are at my ex's now and he milks them.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

The best filter I ever had was tightly woven piece of cheesecloth. We wash it after every use and get many uses from it. Used it to filter the milk from our Jersey cows for around 6 years. Milk was always exceptionally clean. Used a rubber band around the jug lip, to hold it in place.


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## oberhaslikid (May 13, 2002)

Ok but dont laugh, but the milk filter I use is from a hospital the hospital uses them as Pee filters.I have a nurse friend that got them for me they are really fine mesh. the look like a funnel with a fine plastic mesh in the neck of them they are great for straining milk.


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## Westwood (May 13, 2002)

Oberhaslikid it's the same thing! lol

Milking a single goat, the milk being consumed quickly and not sitting around, coffee filters are just fine, but SLOW. Chamoisee is quite right that the chemicals in paper towels, I wouldn't want my milk strained through them. Milk filters are really the best, as that's what they're designed for. But sheet squares or cotton gauze, laundered in soap, not detergent would do just as well in a pinch.


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## Westwood (May 13, 2002)

> It takes about 3 hours morning and evening.....with a better set-up I could run them through in *much* less time......


Is that from start to cleanup? I'm curious because it took us about 2:30 to milk 89 when we had the dairy. But we did have the advantage of designing the barn. Was only 12x32 and had 4 in the stanchions at a time using a Surge bucket to milk 2 at a time.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Westwood said:


> Is that from start to cleanup? I'm curious because it took us about 2:30 to milk 89 when we had the dairy. But we did have the advantage of designing the barn. Was only 12x32 and had 4 in the stanchions at a time using a Surge bucket to milk 2 at a time.


Yep, thats set-up to walking out the door after clean-up. That time includes feeding kids, bucks, and all.


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Gramma always used one of Granpa's white hankies to filter the cow's milk.


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## Kshobbit (May 14, 2002)

I always used the Handy Wipes cleaning paper stuff for filters. You know that a goat that gives rich wonderful tasting milk is worth her weight in gold.


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