A milk churn is a tall, conical or cylindrical container for the transportation of milk. [1] In North America, it is often referred to as a milk can.
The usage of the word 'churn' was retained for describing these containers, although they were not themselves used for 'churning' butter. The milk churn was also known as the milk kit in the Yorkshire Dales. The 12-gallon steel churns were later replaced with 10-gallon aluminium alloy churns. Their lids had a small hole in its outer rim for tying the producers label on. [2] [3]
In Britain, Ireland and other European countries, milk churns would be left by dairy farmers by the roadside on purpose-built platforms, or stands, at the right height to be loaded on to the dairy's cart or lorry. They fell out of use when milk began to be collected by tanker from the farm and ceased entirely by 1979. Some stands remain in the countryside as historical features, but most have been dismantled or left to decay. [4] [5] [6]
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies that strengthen the immune system and thus reduce the risk of many diseases. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, but also lactose and saturated fat.
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment, and used as a fat in baking, sauce-making, pan frying, and other cooking procedures.
A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also describe a dairy farm or the part of a mixed farm dedicated to milk for human consumption, whether from cows, buffaloes, goats, yaks, sheep, horses or camels.
Ceredigion ( ), historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most modern buttermilk in Western countries is cultured separately. It is common in warm climates where unrefrigerated milk sours quickly.
Clotted cream is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms "clots" or "clouts", hence the name. Clotted cream is an essential ingredient for cream tea.
Kumis is a fermented dairy product traditionally made from mare milk or donkey milk. The drink remains important to the peoples of the Central Asian steppes, of Turkic and Mongol origin: Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Kyrgyz, Mongols, and Yakuts. Kumis was historically consumed by the Khitans, Jurchens, Hungarians, and Han Chinese of North China as well.
The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge system. It also provided passenger services to the small villages and beauty spots along its route. The line was built to a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge and to the light rail standards provided by the Light Railways Act 1896 to reduce construction costs.
Newcastle Emlyn is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenarth, also in Carmarthenshire, and by Llandyfriog in Ceredigion. Adpar is the part of town on the Ceredigion side of the River Teifi. It was formerly called Trefhedyn and was an ancient Welsh borough in its own right. The area including Adpar had a population of 1,883 according to the 2011 census.
Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk, typically in bottles or cartons, to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. The delivery route is a milk route or milk run.
A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter, a process known as churning. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device inside the churn.
Glass milk bottles are glass bottles used for milk. They are reusable and returnable – used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen. Once customers have finished the milk, empty bottles are expected to be rinsed and left on the doorstep for collection, or rinsed bottles may be returned to a participating retail store. Bottle sizes vary depending on region, but common sizes include pint, quart or litre.
Churning is the process of shaking up cream or whole milk to make butter, usually using a device called butter churn. In Europe from the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution, a churn was usually as simple as a barrel with a plunger in it, moved by hand. These have mostly been replaced by mechanical churns.
Ecton is a hamlet in the Staffordshire Peak District. It is on the Manifold Way, an 8-mile (13 km) walk and cycle path that follows the line of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway. Population details as at the 2011 census can be found under Ilam.
Plastic milk containers are plastic containers for storing, shipping and dispensing milk. Plastic bottles, sometimes called jugs, have largely replaced glass bottles for home consumption. Glass milk bottles have traditionally been reusable while light-weight plastic bottles are designed for single trips and plastic recycling.
Sudbury is a suburb in the London Borough of Brent, located in northwest London, United Kingdom. The suburb forms the western part of Wembley and is centred around 0.6 miles (1 km) west of Wembley Central railway station.
Milk chugging, or the gallon challenge or milk challenge, is the "sport" of consuming a large amount of milk within a set period of time. Although procedures vary, the general requirements are that a person is given 60 minutes to drink one US gallon of whole milk without vomiting. A gallon milk jug is a common size of milk container in the United States.
The GWR Siphon was a series of enclosed milk churn transport wagons built by the Great Western Railway and continued by British Railways.
Milk tank wagons were a common sight on railways in the United Kingdom from the early 1930s to the late 1960s. Introduced to transport raw milk from remote dairy farms to central creameries, milk trains were the last railway-based system before the move to road transport.
A milk churn stand was a standard-height platform on which milk churns would be placed for collection by cart or lorry. Some were simple and made of wood, but the majority were built from stone or concrete blocks. They were once a common roadside sight in Britain in areas which carried out dairy farming, but collection of milk churns from stands ceased in Britain in 1979. Many have survived, some being renovated to memorialise the practice, while others have been dismantled or left to decay.