Burkert in Everyday life...

Have you ever wondered what your milk goes through before it arrives at the shop? We all know the milk comes from a cow, but did you know that it is maintained at a chilly 4 degrees C until it reaches the dairy? To make the milk safe to drink a heat treatment process called pasteurisation is necessary.

What is Pasteurisation?

Simply - Pasteurisation is a treatment of heat that kills pathogenic organisms, which can cause fevers or worse. Louis Pasteur discovered in 1862 by heating milk to 63 deg C for 30 minutes, 99.9 % of the bacteria that was present would be destroyed.

Thanks to his discovery milk, cream, fruit juices, honey and eggs are all safe for us to eat.  While ensuring little, if any degradation of the food its self in terms of colour aroma and taste.   If going from a frosty 4 degrees C to a balmy 63 deg C was not harsh enough, UHT - Ultra high temperature milk treatment is a whole different ball game.  In order to make products with a longer shelf life and no need for chilling.  For UHT, the milk reaches a sweltering 140 Deg C for a few seconds before being rapidly chilled - Sauna to icy water sort of thing.

Where does Electroquip come in?

Electroquip Having been a Burkert Distributor for the last 26 years in Englands garden county of Kent, has provided us with exposure to the South of Englands Dairy requirements.  Although Burkert cannot ease the milk's pain,  Electroquip can help to ensure that the temperatures during pasteurization are reached on in time - every time for the operator.  Burkert process valves, Burkert sensors and Burkert controllers are used as a pivotal part of controlling and maintaining steam temperatures for heating and media such as glycol for cooling.

So next time  you're enjoying slurping your morning coffee, or enjoying an ice cream, spare a thought for Louis and the white stuff we call milk.

Electroquip and Burkert are offering a Dairy focus Steam Training Day for free on Monday September26th.  If you would like to come along - please drop us a line to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.