Homogeniser
Homogenising is liquid forced through a narrow gap under high pressure.
Thereby the milk reach an enormous speed, almost bringing it to the boiling point.
When the liquid has passed through the narrow gap, the flow slow down, the temperature drops, this dissolve the fat globules into very fine droplets.
The effect of homogenization shall be mentioned short:
- Smaller fat globules – No cream on top of the milk
- Whiter colour – Advantages for Jersey milk
- Reduced sensitivity to fat oxidation
- Better stability of Cultured products
Disadvantages
- Milk can’t be separated efficiently after Homogenising
- Increased sensitivity to sunlight and fluorescent light, can result in sunlight flavour.
- Reduced heat stability.
- Will not be sustainable for Semi Hard & Hard Cheese, the coagel will be to soft and difficult to drain.
The Use of a Homogeniser or Self-priming High-pressure pump
A Homogeniser is basically a piston pump on speed. It has a powerful motor and can operate with counter pressure up to 1000 Bar, but of course, the motor must be equally powerful.
In all Mejeriets Pasteurising Units, Homogenisers are as standard placed Upstream, which means before the final heating, but always after the Separator.
Consume milk is usually treated with pressure from 140 to 160 Bar.
Milk for Fermenting can be treated with an additional 100 Bar.
Often the Homogeniser has same capacity as the Pasteuriser, but its not a problem to partial Homogenising only the Cream and a small amount of the Skim milk. This can reduce the Dairy’s operation cost