# Cream separator



## jonc (Nov 16, 2005)

I know this has been a thread here before but I wasn't in the market for one at the time. I wanted to know what all of you thought was the best bang for your buck so to speak. This would be for small scale use so I was hoping to keep this on the low cost side. From what I understand it's something which hasn't changed in design for some time, but maybe there is some new gadget out there that I don't know about.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

For a small scale operation, less than 3 or 4 cows, a ladle is about the cheapest practical alternative to a mechanical cream separator. Just let the cream rise and ladle the cream off. You'll get most of it and you'll save the hour a day cleaning a mechanical separator. K.I.S.S.


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## collegeboundgal (Jul 17, 2005)

haypoint, I can understand someone buying a separator for home use if only for one cow. if folks are anything like me, they need to watch they're putting in their bodies. I think I would justify the cost by being able to drink my own home milk that's like 2%. some folks need to watch their cholesterol and waist line!! lol and if you're a stay at home or just have some time on your hands, you don't need to separate every day unless you go through A LOT of milk a day!


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## Patrick (Sep 13, 2011)

haypoint said:


> For a small scale operation, less than 3 or 4 cows, a ladle is about the cheapest practical alternative to a mechanical cream separator. Just let the cream rise and ladle the cream off. You'll get most of it and you'll save the hour a day cleaning a mechanical separator. K.I.S.S.


I agree. I've never understood why people with cows need a seperator in the first place. Goats, yes.


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## DroppedAtBirth (Sep 23, 2010)

I HATE dishes and passed up a machine milker simply because I'd rather spend extra time in the barn than at the sink BUT I am interested in a cream separator that has the different settings to "sort" the cream for me. I'm really not looking forward to the extra dishes but would love to not have the one chunk of heavy cream I missed wind up in my coffee  I've been following a weight watchers diet for more than a year and would like to keep my tracking accurate.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

One of those big solar tea glass jugs might be another easier way to seperate milk. Just let it set overnight and then drain the milk out the bottom.

Mechanical cream seperators have lots more than needs cleaned than the big bowl on top. Those stacks of plates take a lot of time to get cleaned and dried.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

I have a cream separator I bought off E-bay. It's one from the Ukraine. It does a great job of making skim milk but the cream is too thick and turns hard once it's refrigerated. I got frustrated with it and it's been sitting in the cupboard for several months. DH says I should try it again, but in the meantime I've gone back to the old tried and true method of putting the milk in a Sun Tea jar. The cream rises to the top and the skim comes out the spigot at the bottom. I keep adding milk to the jar over a few days time and when the skim is gone I'm left with all the cream. Then I make butter. 

I have Jersey's and I think the separator has a hard time with their cream. I talked with a rep at Coburn Company about one of the separators they sell. It says on the website, "Not for use with Jersey milk". He said they tried all kinds of adjustments but couldn't get it to work right. 

It is a lot of hassle to use the machine and the resulting clean up but if you had a lot of milk I think it would be useful. I was running 4-5 gallons through at a time.


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## DarleneJ (Jan 29, 2012)

What would be the least expensive mechanical option for goat's milk? The cream doesn't separate out as well as cows milk. I do like the sun tea jar idea but would like more cream out of the milk.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

I have a small electric separator and love it. With only limited space in the refrigerator and limited counter space, a separator is very helpful. I can separate the fresh milk, keep the cream and share the skim milk among the cats, dogs, pigs and chickens. I would buy a separator again if I didn't have one. I have a Novo separator that has adjustments for cream thickness.

http://novocreamseparators.com/design.html


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

When I start having calfs i usually have 3 to 5 cows have before I get into the swing of things with the calfs....I use a 30 gallon barrel with a screw in plug.... just like the tea jar....but I use a plug because the water faucet gets stopped up with the cream when you drain it down that low....the plug never does

15 to 25 gallons of JERSEY MILK a day gives lots of butter...and my 30 gallon barrels fits right into my 1970 fridge


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## jonc (Nov 16, 2005)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAIRY-HAND-...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c2cebdb6#shId

so it seems to be the one from the ukraine that BWF mentioned. for around $100 it seems like a risk i would be willing to take. does the milk come out truly "skim"? that is a type of milk that really grosses me out. i am going to be working on a dairy that milks around 50+ jersey/jersey cross grass-fed cows. high butterfat content. part of my compensation will be in milk so i would want to get as much use out of it as possible. any other input on this model? is there no way to adjust so that the cream isn't as thick?


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAIRY-MILK-...ultDomain_0&hash=item1e67f0dc73#ht_622wt_1163

This is the one I have. I wondered after I bought it if a manual one might work better, but I think it would be too much cranking for 4-5 gallons.


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## jonc (Nov 16, 2005)

Thanks BWF...but now i have to decide on crank or electric! I kind of figure it would worth the extra $$$ for the electric. Just worried about the comment that it doesn't really work very well. I guess I am going to have to just make a decision and see what happens. Maybe diluting the separated cream with a little milk to keep it from being too rich...


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Jinc. Sorry adding milk will not thin it down. The milk will be left in churn. The butter fat only will make the butter


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## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

haypoint said:


> One of those big solar tea glass jugs might be another easier way to seperate milk. Just let it set overnight and then drain the milk out the bottom.
> 
> Mechanical cream seperators have lots more than needs cleaned than the big bowl on top. Those stacks of plates take a lot of time to get cleaned and dried.


I was thinking about using this method, but am concerned that I won't be able to clean out the spout well enough. Do you have any suggestions?


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

karenp said:


> I was thinking about using this method, but am concerned that I won't be able to clean out the spout well enough. Do you have any suggestions?


I don't know what your ice tea container looks like, but the push button drain should unscrew from the glass jar part.


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