The bacterial load is a reflection of the hygienic quality of milk. At the time of milking, temperature of raw milk will be about 37°C, which is ideal for microbial growth. It is crucial to contain the bacterial growth at the initial stages by cooling immediately after milking. Cooling of milk to less than 10°C immediately after milking at Co-operative society level reduce the microbial growth and the microbial count significantly before pasteurization. Milk cooling is practiced through cooling rings, surface coolers, ice-cones. Modern methods include Ice-bank cooling, Direct Expansion cooling and Bulk Milk Coolers (BMC). Indian milk production is a saga of millions of small farmers who contribute to milk production and at milk collection centres having less than 100L of milk .Due to economic reasons the existing cooling methods are unsuitable to cool the milk under small holder production system. Existing methods of cooling which are mostly suitable for large quantity of milk and become uneconomical to use for small holder dairy farms and small procurement collection centres, the proposed system of cooling is supposed to be well suited with affordable cost. In the context of the unsuitable technology for small scale milk producers, economic constraints and the relative inefficiency of present systems, the development of cooling module to suit requirements for quality maintenance in small scale production levels is of great interest to Indian dairy farmers. Our efforts resulted in the development of the portable stainless steel cooling module comprising of secondary refrigerants inside the module for cooling of milk and liquids after prior freezing to enhance shelf life and improve quality.
