A Gentle Process That Protects Our Fresh Milk Flavour
When people taste our Mistyglen milk for the first time, one of the most common comments we hear is that it tastes different from the milk they are used to. Many locals say it reminds them of the milk they grew up with on the farm, or they remember having something like it at a friend’s farm when growing up. One of the reasons for that difference is how our milk is pasteurized.
While there can be some controversies on this, the purpose of pasteurization is to make milk safe to drink. The process heats milk to remove harmful (or potentially harmful) bacteria while keeping the milk fresh and wholesome. In Canada, legally all milk sold to the public must be pasteurized, but not all pasteurization methods are the same.
Large scale processors often use high temperature systems that will heat milk very quickly, and just as fast as they heat it, they then proceed to cool it down. This method allows them to process very large volumes of milk efficiently. While it is effective for safety and shelf life, it can also change some of the natural characteristics of the milk.
At Mistyglen Creamery we take a much slower approach. Our milk is pasteurized using a vat pasteurizer, which allows us to keep the temperature lower and process our milk in a more gentle manner. In a vat pasteurizer the milk is carefully heated to a lower temperature and held there for a set amount of time before being cooled. This method meets all government food safety standards while helping preserve more of the natural farm fresh milk flavour that our customers enjoy. It also works well with our non homogenized milk, allowing the cream to rise naturally to the top just the way it is meant to be.
Low temperature pasteurization is one of the ways we keep our milk as close to its natural state as possible while still meeting the safety standards required in Canada. The result is milk that is clean, fresh, and full of flavour.
If you have ever wondered why Mistyglen milk tastes a little richer and more traditional, this gentle pasteurization process is a big part of the reason. It is simply another way we care for the quality of the milk from our cows to your table.
Many customers tell us Mistyglen milk tastes like the milk they remember growing up with on the farm. One of the reasons is how we pasteurize it. Instead of high temperature systems used by large processors, we use a traditional vat pasteurizer that gently heats the milk at a lower temperature to protect its natural flavour while still meeting Canadian safety standards.