Annie is better in the AM than in the PM - wonder if it's because of all the people around in the afternoons? This AM she gave me 1 lb 5.1 oz (I LOVE my postal scale! In fact, I love it so much, I bought a battery operated fisherman's scale to put in the barn. Once it gets here (eBay!), I can weigh the milk right in the barn, instead of hauling it to the house, first. I can also collect it all in 1 bucket..but I digress); last night she gave me 10.8 oz (well, more - she got agitated and kicked the bucket over faster than I could grab it. :sigh: I was letting Himself try to milk...he pulled instead of squeezed and got her all agitated. :bigger sigh:) Anyway, we milked out both does in about 15 minutes this AM - me hand-milking, Sweet Geek with the Maggidan's. (I do need to find *something* I can use - my left hand is all cramped and achy from the extra work. There's one on eBay - "Henry's Milker" that is similar to Maggidan's, but uses a Automotive Brake Bleeder thingy (it's a hand-powered vacuum pump with pressure gauge. It claims it's so easy that anyone can do it....we did buy the pump yesterday. He wants $150 for the complete set up, or $30 for plans. I spent $40 on the pump (coulda got it cheaper on Amazon, but returns are harder. The guy at the auto shop said if it's too much pull for my hands, I can bring it back for a full refund, no questions asked. Sweet!), and we had a canning jar.....put it together last night, but I couldn't get it to pull a vacuum. Sweet Geek will look at it - it *works*, we tried it from a cup - AND it pulsates, like an electric milking machine. So - less stress to the does. Plus the milk doesn't go THRU the pump like it does with the Maggidan's - I can't change our setup unless I get a smaller jar - the MD pump can't pull a vacuum on the gallon jugs I bought (what? I was hopeful! :wink:))
Today I am making a salt-water brine. IF you make it so it won't absorb any more salt, then freeze it, you get a super-cooled "gel" pack that will cool the milk down as fast as it hits the pail. Since you want it down to.....38* (I think) as quick as possible for the best taste, and I don't have a commercial fridge or freezer, THIS is the way to go. I'm going to put the brine in quart-sized freezer bags, put 2 of those in a Gallon size bag, then make a sleeve to fit the bucket(s) with pockets to insert the packs. Put them on each bucket, and voila! Cold milk!
I need to get the water started, then I get to clean house. THEN I get to nap! Bliss.....
tired