milk (redirected from milker)

Milk, river, United States and Canada

Milk, river, 729 mi (1,173 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., NW Mont. It flows N into Alberta, Canada, then in long curves eastward, S into Montana again, and generally SE to the Missouri River, entering just below Fort Peck Dam. The Milk River reclamation project (est. 1911) irrigates c.134,000 acres (54,230 hectares). The largest of several dams is the Fresno Dam (completed 1939). Malta, Chinook, Glasgow, and Harlem, Mont., are in the project area.

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milk, food

milk, liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals as food for their young. The milk of the cow is most widely used by humans, but the milk of the mare, goat, ewe, buffalo, camel, ass, zebra, reindeer, llama, and yak is also used. The composition of milk varies with the species, breed, feed, and condition of the animal. Jersey and Guernsey cows produce milk of high butterfat content; Holsteins produce larger quantities of milk but with a lower butterfat content.

Milk prepared for sale is often homogenized; in this process it is pumped under pressure through small openings to break up the milk-fat globules, thus ensuring an equal distribution of fat throughout the milk rather than permitting it to rise to the top as cream. In most countries where milk is a commercial product, it is subject to regulations concerning its composition (i.e., the proportion of butterfat and other solids) and its purity, with sanitary measures in force that cover milk handlers, herds, plants, and equipment. Pasteurization (partial sterilization by heating) checks bacterial growth, thereby making milk safer to drink and increasing its keeping qualities and range of transport.

Milk, an almost complete food, consists of proteins (mainly casein), fat, salts, and milk sugar, or lactose, as well as vitamins A, C, D, certain B vitamins, and lesser amounts of others. (Many people are unable to digest milk after childhood because they stop producing an enzyme needed to break down lactose, but usually they still can digest yogurt, hard cheeses, and lactose-reduced milk products.) Commercial dairies often supplement natural vitamin D with a concentrate. Milk is a major source of calcium and a good source of phosphorus. Low-fat and skim milk fortified with vitamins A and D have the same nutritional value as whole milk, but with fewer calories and less cholesterol. Whole milk has 3.5% milkfat, low-fat milk 1% to 2%, and skim, 0.5%. Heavy cream has a minimum of 36% milkfat, half-and-half not less than 10.5% nor more than 18%.

A patent was issued for the production of dried milk in Great Britain in 1855, and for concentrated milk in the United States to Gail Borden in 1856. The two types of concentrated milk are condensed and evaporated; condensed milk is a sweetened product (over 40% sugar), and evaporated is unsweetened. Dried, or powdered, milk is made by passing a film of partially evaporated milk over a heated drum or by spraying it into a heated chamber in which the particles dry. Malted milk is a dried mixture made of milk and the liquid from a mash of barley malt and wheat flour.

See butter; cheese

The Production of Cheese

The milk of various animals has been used in the making of cheese: the milk of mares and goats by the ancient Greeks, camel's
..... ; dairying; fermented milk.

Bibliography

See S. K. Kon, Milk and Milk Products in Human Nutrition (1972); T. Quinn, Dairy Farm Management (1980); D. Carrick, Milk (1985).

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milk

Liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals to nourish their young. The milk of domesticated animals is also an important food source for humans. Most milk consumed in Western countries is from cows; other important sources include sheep, goats, water buffalo, and camels. Milk is essentially an emulsion of fat and protein in water, along with dissolved sugar, minerals (including calcium and phosphorus), and vitamins, particularly vitamin B complex. Commercially processed cow's milk is commonly enriched with vitamins A and D. Many countries require pasteurization to protect against naturally occurring and artificially introduced microorganisms. Cooling further prevents spoilage (souring and curdling). Fat from whole milk (about 3.5% fat content) can be removed in a separator to produce cream and leave low-fat milk (1–2% fat) or skim milk (0.5% fat). Milk is usually homogenized, forced under high pressure through small openings to distribute the fat evenly. It may also be condensed, evaporated, or dehydrated for preservation and ease of transport. Other dairy products include butter, cheese, and yogurt.

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milk

1. 

a. a whitish nutritious fluid produced and secreted by the mammary glands of mature female mammals and used for feeding their young until weaned

b. the milk of cows, goats, or other animals used by man as a food or in the production of butter, cheese, etc.

2. any similar fluid in plants, such as the juice of a coconut

3. any of various milklike pharmaceutical preparations, such as milk of magnesia

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milk [milk]

(chemistry)

A suspension of certain metallic oxides, as milk of magnesia, iron, or bismuth.

(food engineering)

A product derived from the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, of dairy cows; contains not less than 8.25% milk solids and not less than 3.25% milk fat.

(physiology)

The whitish fluid secreted by the mammary gland for the nourishment of the young; composed of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, mineral salts, vitamins, and antibodies.

Any whitish fluid in nature resembling milk, as coconut milk.