We used about that much when I was a kid, although I never drank milk. We had High's Dairy Stores that were little convenience stores that sold High's milk and the best ice cream. When they put their milk on sale, my mother would buy a bunch and put some in the freezer.
Point of clarification. Pasturized is having been heated to kill micro organisms. Homogenized is mixing the milk to micronize the fat particles so they stay in suspension. It is said that that is probably the more damaging process to digestion. Commercial milks have some of the cream removed to a certain percentage before it is homogenized.
Which is more the damaging process to digestion...pasteurization or homogenization? I've not heard that. Regarding pasteurization: I recently started to use a sous vide machine (cooking in a hot water bath) and discovered that pasteurization is a function of temperature and time. I've cooked chicken breast to a done temp of 140° because I've held the chicken at that temp long enough to kill the critters (the recommended 165° temp kills the critters instantly.) I believe that milk is briefly exposed to temps in the 1,000°F range during the process.
You are right about killing the critters which is why things were pasturized. Fresh from the cow in a relatively clean facility, I don't worry much about bugs but I never drank milk if there was a fly in the filter. Blagcchhh They say the breakdown of the fat globules by homogenization allow them to enter the bloodstream in a non healthful way. Will have to find a reference...I wonder if that is where the health problems come from. Or it could be that the cleaning solutions occassionally make it to the bulk tank but no one wants to own up...or...
The farm I grew up on had enough milk cows that 4 or 5 were “fresh” all year. Some of the milk was sold to a cheese factory, but there was always a gallon or so in the fridge. The milk was poured through a filter when freshly out of the cow, but not pasteurized. (My last cow-milking was the evening before I left for the university.) For 5 years after I quit my full time job, and we moved to our present semi-rural home, I milked goats. We drank raw milk. (I miss my goats.}
A woman came into a health spa that was advertising the benefits of "milk baths". She decided to have one and was asked several preference questions by the attendant. "Whole milk, 2% or skim?" "Oh, let's do it up right! I'll have whole milk." "White or chocolate?" "Well, if I have a choice, I'll go for the chcolate." "Cooled down, room temperature or warmed up a bit?" "Well, since it's chocolate, I'd like it a bit on the warm side." "Pasturized?" "No, up to my chin would be fine." (Badda-boom)
Whether one sits/stands shaking a jar or sits pumping a pole up and down, still got to be most boring. They make propane powered ice boxes/ refrigerators, why can't they make propane powered butter churners?
If ya want to get rid of the boredom, throw the cream into a kitchen aide and run it on low. Really low. Otherwise, when it starts solidifying, the mixer will start rocking back and forth and going Bang, Flop, Bang, Flop whilst throwing the whey everywhere but in the mixer bowl. Nice adrenalin rush though and the kitchen probably needs a little cleaning anyway. Of course, since the Amish kinda like to stay off the power grid, using a Kitchen Aide might be a little too modern. Dunno….
And yet we are both still alive and well despite laws against us drinking fresh milk! We had an Amish guy who ran a 'health food' store--naturally grown herbs, vegetables. He figured to sell shares in a cow and if you brought your own container you could get some raw milk for the health benefits. An undercover agent actually applied for a share and then arrested him and he spent time in jail! Patrons Owning part of the cow did not save him. All to prevent people who wanted to drink the milk they wanted. Kind of like the vaccines in reverse.
Kinda hard for an Amish person to use electric paint shakers to make butter unless they buggy on down to Home Depot and ask to use one. I visited my parents and noticed they had cell phones AND Met Ed power line coming into the house, very disappointed they compromised. They had the gall to shun me for joining the military maybe I should shun them.
How does The Community feel about your parents' compromise? Is this the beginning of the end for "purity"?
From what I observed around the community there is a lot of compromise beginning to creep in. I guess each generation caves in to modern ways a little more.