How at home to determine the fat content of milk?

In the process of transition to a healthy and balanced diet, most people begin to be more attentive to the calories consumed. Particular attention is paid to dairy products, the caloric content of which is largely due to the percentage of fat in the composition. And if with store dairy products difficulties in determining the percentage of fat content should not arise, as caring manufacturers indicate it on the packaging, then what about those who shop products prefer home production? You will find the answer to this question below.

As a rule, the livestock breeders are faced with the task of increasing the productivity of domestic cattle. The product derived from a cow, the quality of which can be influenced by an experienced breeder, is milk. Someone is trying to increase the amount of milk yield, someone is trying with all his might to increase the percentage of fat content of the product.

A device that determines the fat content of dairy products is called a milk quality analyzer and belongs to the category of expensive equipment. For industrial production and large-scale farming, such a determinant is an important component of the entire business. While for a livestock breeder, holding one or two cows - an unforgivable luxury. However, the question of determining the fat content of cow's milk is still open.

One of the methods is based on the fundamental property of milk - light weight. The fats contained in the dairy product visually resemble small balls. Their basis is glycerin and various acids. Therefore, the greater the percentage of fat in the product, the smaller the dimensions of the balls. A viscosity consistency more. Due to the fact that the composition contains fats, milk may form cream, which is a high-calorie substance. In this regard, we can conclude that a large percentage of fat is equal to the high caloric content of products. In a hundred grams of milk, the match will be something like

• skim contains about thirty-one kilocalories;
• in two percent - forty four kilocalories;
• in three percent - fifty two;
• in four per cent - sixty;
• in five percent - seventy two;
• in six percent milk - eighty-four kilocalories.

In order to independently determine the percentage of fat in homemade milk, It is necessary to conduct a fairly simple procedure.

• First, take a deep medium-sized tank. Rinse and dry thoroughly. As a container, you can use a regular glass jar.
• Then pour a small amount of homemade milk into the container. If you use a jar (0.5 l), fill it with liquid to the neck.
• Next, using a standard school ruler, measure the interval from the bottom of the tank to the surface of the milk. It is desirable that the distance be no more than one decimeter.
• Then place the container with milk in a dark place, where the temperature is not lower than twenty-three degrees.
• Leave the tank for the next nine hours. After this time, you will be able to observe the appearance of cream on the surface of the milk. The volume of the resulting creamy formations will be a parameter to determine the percentage of fat in the milk.
• Then take the same line, which measured the milk. Without removing the cream, measure their layer. One millimeter - one percent milk fat. For example, if after nine hours a three-millimeter layer of cream has formed on the surface of the milk, then you have a dairy product, the fat content of which is three percent.

For another method will require kitchen scales. First, take the settled product from previous experience and with a simple pencil mark on the container the boundary between cream and milk. Then pour the contents into another container. After that, as water is poured to each of the marked boundaries, its volume is measured using a kitchen scale. Upon completion of the measurement, the weight of the fluid between the boundaries is divided by the total weight of the water. The resulting figure is multiplied by one hundred percent.

Consequently, it is possible to determine the percentage ratio of cream and fat. For example, a 15 percent cream content says that there is only twenty-five hundredths of a percent of fat in milk.

Despite the fact that most of the composition of milk is water (a little less than eighty-eight percent), the remaining percentage is nutritious and beneficial to the human body. The amount of protein, milk sugar, vital trace elements and fats in the composition of dairy products depends largely on the following factors:

• genetics, origin, age of the animal;
• lactation period;
• the conditions in which the animal is kept, the diet;
• "Productivity" of a cow;
• milking methods;
• season;
• the presence or absence of the animal diseases.

Fats in the composition of cow's milk are its most valuable component. This is due to the fact that dairy products with a large percentage of fat content and has a large amount of protein, which is the main building material for the human body. The percentage of fat contained and the amount of milk produced increase in accordance with the number of calving. Calving is the final stage of a cow's pregnancy, which ends with the appearance of a calf. After a cow reaches the age of six years, the milk yield and fat content gradually decrease.

There is no point in expecting milk with a high percentage of fat from a newly-cowed young cow, although many cattle breeders or cattle holders claim that after giving birth to a calf, a cow produces the fattier product than ever. However, this statement is not quite true, since its use without special processing is impossible.

The colostrum released from the udder of a cow in the first three to four days is intended for a calf whose growing body needs to receive healthy and nutritive substances. After the first week after birth, the fat content in milk decreases. Most livestock breeders protect their cows from possible pregnancy, as calving usually occurs in the winter.

The composition of the contained substances and their indicators are indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging of the dairy product and must be recognized. Especially conscientious manufacturers make separate informational reports on the labels on the nutritional value of the contained substances and the percentage of fat. In such a situation, the consumer has a choice. Subjected to the product of sterilization or pasteurization, melted or dietary - one of the criteria will be decisive.

Giving preference to shop dairy products, the consumer relies on the opinion formed by most people about the dangers of raw milk, often based on statements by industrial companies.However, the purchase of milk from a proven farm with clean and responsible owners will be of great benefit than the purchase of store counterparts. But still it is not worth neglecting pasteurization, even if it was done at home.

Indeed, the likelihood of getting the above symptoms is quite high. However, most often this is not connected with a high percentage of fat content, but with non-observance of sanitary standards or methods of milking. In order to maximize the benefits from the use of home-made milk and at the same time not provoke an upset stomach, it is recommended to follow a few recommendations.

• Drinking hot or warm homemade milk is more beneficial for the body. Since the cold product is very hard for the stomach to digest, forcing it to additionally produce gastric juice.
• It is recommended to abandon the simultaneous use of homemade full-fat milk and salty or sour foods. Adding sugar to milk or making various cereals with it is permissible.
• Adding such spices as cinnamon and ginger root is permissible.

The following video presents the method for determining the density of milk.