McCormick Cream Seperator What Will It Do?

[Brandon Webb]

I'm was rummaging in the attic of my grandfathers parents home, and found parts of a McCormick Cream Seperator. Just exactly what could you do with one of these. I understand make cream but how does it work, handcrank wouldn't make that much rpm's would it? What could you make with the creme once you made it? Thanks brandon.

[Dan England]

Brandon: When I was young a daily chore was using the separator to segregate cream from the remainder of the milk. We used cream in cooking, coffee, etc. and the surplus was sold at a village store. I have turned many thousands of rounds with the handle, and enough centrifugal force was created to do an effective job of separation. Dan

[Brandon Webb]

Can you make ice cream with one? Or is that a different creme? I've heard butter?

[Bill Hudson]

Hey Brandon,

The cow makes the cream , the cream seperator mearly seperates the cream. You would be surprised at the RPMs generated because that is a pretty serious gear reduction on the machine. Have fun with the machine

[Dan England]

Brandon: I can't remember for sure but I believe that my parents would have used the cream as a component when making ice cream. That would give it a nice, rich taste. Dan

[George Willer]

I'm was rummaging in the attic of my grandfathers parents home, and found parts of a McCormick Cream Seperator. Just exactly what could you do with one of these. I understand make cream but how does it work, handcrank wouldn't make that much rpm's would it? What could you make with the creme once you made it? Thanks brandon.

I've noticed in recent years that they seem to collect flower pots on the two platforms. One platform was for the container to collect the cream and the other the container for the skim milk.

[Jim Becker]

How long will it be before no one knows what "skim milk" is? The term seems to be loosing out to "nonfat milk". "Skim" is a name that recognizes the old way of producing it. "Nonfat" may be a more representative term for what it is, but it seems like we are loosing another link between what the supermarket sells and how it gets there.

[Eugene]

Cream was used as Dan stated. My grandparents would let the seperated milk set then skim off the remaining solids. The solids were used to make a form of cottage cheese. Any remaining (waterey) portion was fed to the hogs and sometimes a bucket fed calf with a milk supplement added.

The base of the seperator makes an excellent vise stand.

Suggest not using the seperator. They had to be cleaned and sterilized daily.

The seperated cream could be used to make ice cream or churned into butter. However, these chores took different machines.

Eugene

[George Willer]

How long will it be before no one knows what "skim milk" is? The term seems to be loosing out to "nonfat milk". "Skim" is a name that recognizes the old way of producing it. "Nonfat" may be a more representative term for what it is, but it seems like we are loosing another link between what the supermarket sells and how it gets there.

That's probably true, Jim. In the days before refrigeration the cream was easier to store until there was enough to sell. Strange as it may seem now, the skim milk was usually fed to the hogs.

Another tidbit... the hogs were so eager for their ration of skim milk that it was nearly impossible to get to the trough. For that reason an end of the trough was passed under the fence so the milk could be poured into it. What a melee!

[Jim Becker]

George,
You never let me get away with that extra "o" do you?

[George Willer]

George,
You never let me get away with that extra "o" do you?

No. I'm afraid we may run out of "O's".

[Rudi]

Jim, George:



My daily chuckle... thank you both

[Paul B]

Brandon
I have a bi-lingual Instruction Manual for your cream separator, printed in both English and Spanish. In Kentucky now days, that could come in handy . Inside the front cover the hand written date of May 18, 1946, is written in the blank space beside "Date first started to use". It covers model No's 2-S, S/N 20,000 and up, 3-S, S/N 70,000 and up, 4-S, S/N19,300 and up, and 5-S, S/N 2,800 and up. The 2-s had a 500 lb capacity, and the models went up 250 lbs per model to 1250 lbs for the 5-S.

[RustyVT]

You can find some other instructions online if you need them. Still a useful tool if you have all the parts and they're in reasonably clean shape.

The cream you take off with the separator is exactly the same as the stuff in the store, except "whipping" cream in the store often has thickeners added to make it easier to whip. All the store stuff is pasteurized-- ususally UHT. For butter, just let the cream set out a while and churn it- even a canning jar with some good shaking will work for small quatities.

Unless you have a serious amount of raw milk to work, it's a lot easier to just let the milk sit in the fridge overnight and skim off the cream at the top. You'll miss some, but unless you're going for fat-free milk to remain, you won't miss it and you won't spend the morning turning the handle!

[Hengy]

This is an interesting thread!

My dad used to tell me that they got milk from the dairy in the glass bottle with a "separation chamber" on the top. The Cream would rise up there and you poured it off separately from the milk.

One of my customers in the "business" still sells un-homogenized whole milk in glass bottles in New York City. It is a novelty to them to have to shake your milk before you drink it. The only milk that they homogenize is their chocolate and strawberry milk to keep the cocoa from settling to the bottom of the glass bottle. They Pasteurize all of their milk (they have to, of course) but they do not homogenize.

I have talked with several dairymen who say that there is NOTHING like fresh milk from the bulk tank...sweet and delicious...I would be afraid of the potential pathogens, but would love to try it someime!!

Mike in La Crosse, WI