🫙 Milk can

Milk can is a large metal container with a lid for storing and carrying milk. A milk can (also called a milk churn) is a tall metal container with a lid that carries milk from the farm to the dairy. It suits small volumes. Modern ones are stainless steel, aluminium or food-grade plastic, while a 1950s example in a Welsh museum is tinned iron.

FAO's manual for small dairy farms asks for a can that does not rust. It should be light but strong, with smooth walls that wash easily, and it should give the milk no taste. FAO also suggests steering clear of copper and iron. Strain the milk through a clean filter first, and keep that filter disinfected.

Warmth is the enemy on the road. At a collecting centre the cans stand in an insulated tank of chilled water until the milk drops to about 4 °C. FAO's calculation says that takes more than three hours, because the water is only stirred by hand now and then. The method tops out at five 50-litre cans, or 250 litres a day. Past that, a jacketed cooling vat takes over.

Compare it with its neighbours. A pint bottle holds 568 ml, while FAO plans around 50 litres for a can. Large farms use bulk tanks with pumps that need regular upkeep, and for small amounts FAO simply says to use cans. A bucket belongs to the milking itself.

Museum Wales keeps a 1950s tinned-iron churn linked to a creamery at Chwilog. It stands 68.5 cm tall and 34.5 cm across the base, with a handle on each side and a lid. If you handle milk yourself, the lesson is plain: stainless steel or aluminium, a clean filter, and cold right after milking.