Am I the only person in Australia......? - Cream Separator?

[Tamandco]

Hi there everybody,

Am I the only person in the whole of Australia who would like to buy a manually operated cream separator suitable for an owner of a house cow?

I have searched the internet for weeks now and can't find any suppliers in Australia. I have managed to find something suitable on a US website http://www.lehmans.com albeit very expensive at $349.00 (US) which would convert to a lot of AU$ but nothing similar down under.

I have received suggestions to look in classified adds etc for a second hand one but that option really isn't viable. I'm not prepared to travel miles, just to be disappointed in some rusted antique which apart from belonging in a museum, would probably contaminate any foodstuffs it came in contact with.

I recently went to a clearing sale which had about half a dozen of these for sale, but alas, same problem; rusted, cracked and filthy. Of course there's no warranty and no guarantee that it'd work.

The closest I've come to finding one is on the CheeseLinks website which has an electric one. I need to phone for a price but I'd dare say it'd be expensive.

My question is; does anyone know of any suppliers of NEW equipment such as my much sort after cream separator and other things like a milking stool, butter churner and the like.

Where do the Amish people buy their stuff? After all, antiques don't last forever.

Tam

P.S. We need more users on this forum. Can any of you regulars encourage some of your permie friends to participate. That would certainly broaden our knowledge base.

Cheers T :p

[muttabuttasaurus]

Hey Tam, I can't direct you to any other suppliers, I'm afraid, and I don't know any Amish people - I presume by definition they aren't internet users. They are famous for making things for themselves, right? I wonder if you could do the same. I guess it wouldn't make skim milk, but I wonder if you could find , make or have cheaply made a container with a stopcock at the very bottom. That way you could wait overnight for most of the cream to rise to the top then drain off the milk until you see the first bit of cream come through. When we had cows we would just scoop the cream off the top with a ladle, but we weren't very serious about processing the dairy products, unfortunately. I'd love to hear more about your dairy project and whatever solutions you find.
I have actually encouraged several great permaculture minds to join in this forum, but alas...
I wonder if there are any housecow enthusiast forums out there? They might have some more specific ideas for you... Good luck!

[Gardening Rob]

I used to have one - got it from a clearing sale. It was in perfect condition and worked perfectly. Sold it when we left the farm. Your best bet might be to advertise in a regional newspaper - I don't know where you live, but try one of the farm newspapers. I doubt you would find a supplier of a manual one these days.

As a stop-gap measure, try making clotted cream - you should be able to find a method on the internet. It is a cheap alternative to buying a separator and works almost as well, unless you want reall, really skim milk.

Cheers
Rob

[millefleurs]

I think Gardening Rob is right - try running an ad in a regional paper. As you are in the Yarra Valley could I suggest you try the areas of Victoria where there are major dairy industries, eg here in Warrnambool or in Gippsland. The Warrnambool Standard is the daily paper for this area, and has a big classified ad section on Saturday. Also, there is this large and eccentric place called George Taylor Stores, which has 3 branches in the district, which carries a very diverse range of home and farm implements.

Useless fact of the day: South West Victoria makes a major contribution to Australia's greenhouse gases because of all the cow farts (methane). True story.... :D

[muttabuttasaurus]

cOW FARTS. The solution to that problem, in my opinion, is to direct as much cow shit as possible to biogas digesters for electricity or at least cooking gas. The average house cow operation would surely at least produce enough useable gas for heating the milk for yoghurt and cheese production. milk shed - biogas digester - dairy - etc etc etc. Of course, its the big industrial beef and dairy operations that are causing all that methane, eh?

[Jemes]

" South West Victoria makes a major contribution to Australia's greenhouse gases because of all the cow farts (methane). "

Interesting. I would have thought it was all the old farts in Canberra who made the most significant contribution to Australia's greenhouse gases. Learn something new every day!

[Gardening Rob]

Saw a programme on TV years ago about a biodynamic farm in Germany - they grew pigs and ran a dairy. The waste from the pigs and cows ran a small power plant. The power was used in the dairy and pig operation as well as in the cheese factory and the pig processing plant. The waste-water was used to grow feed for the cows and pigs, and a pellet-type food was produced for the pigs. Local people walked from town and bought cheeses, butter and milk products, as well as bacon, ham sausages and meat. All waste products were used in the production process either in feed making or energy production. The processed manure was put back onto the pastures once it had gone through the energy plant. It was a beautiful set-up, clean and chemical free. The only thing that escaped was the cow burbs and farts.

[Tamandco]

Thanx everyone for those tips. I really like your suggestion muttabuttasaurus about the container with the stopcock and also gardening rob's suggestion to make clotted cream in the meantime. I've got a few recipes but have never actually tried it.

My cow and foster calf have now adopted the old wood shed to sleep in so we've had to find somewhere to move all the wood to and now I'm once again tied down to mucking out daily. I know, I know, it would've been more practical to block it off but they looked so cute cuddled up and cosy that I didn't have the heart. Must say though, the compost come manure heap is looking a treat!

Thanx again,
Tam

[Chook Nut]

Hi Tam,

My sister is a bit of a forager when it comes to old farming equipment to use around the house and in the kitchen and she mentioned there were 2 cream seperators in a town not too far from me. My wife and i will be going there this coming Sat and i can at least give you and indication of price for you if you like?

I realise that we arent in the same locality so postage may not be a practical solution!!!.... Due to the dairy de-regulation a lot of that kind of equipment is for sale in the 2nd hand and antique stores in our area.

My sister picked up a butter churner pretty cheap and one of the smarmy comments she received was "you do realise that butter now comes in tubs don't you?".... so i imagine you may get the odd one like that too! ???

We were fortunate as to when we lived on our family dairy farm that out big milk storers whipped up the cream for us and we used to bring it home by the bucketful.... needless to say we weren't all exactly a thin! :laugh:

Cheers.... Dave

[Tamandco]

Thanx Dave, I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Tam :)

[Chook Nut]

OK.... i was a bit surprised by the prices but this guy was fairly expensive on his prices.... i think they get a lot of city folk through there that would pay those silly prices!

There were 4 cream seperators all up.... the one in best nic was $355, next was $190,$160 and $140. The last 3 having a lot of work done to clean them up. The most expensive one i saw looked as though it didnt need that much work to get completely clean.

I saw 2 milking stools...one for $15 and the other for $40.

Not sure how these prices compete with what you were after?! and by the weight of them i think postage would be out of the question as well.

Hope this helps a little ???

Dave