UberJNell's Corner

Basically you just heat the milk up to kill the micro-organisms. The standard is called Hot Temperture, Short Time pasteurization. You heat milk up to 161.5 F for 15 seconds, and you kill 99.99999% of the micro-organisms. And then the milk has a refrigeration life of two-three weeks.

They can also have ultra-high temperature pasteurization, which heats it to 280 F for 2 seconds. This type of milk has a refrigeration life of 2-3 months.

Thanks for keeping me entertained, Red.
 

Thanks, uberbrian.
 

is there some sort of drawback to ultra-high temperature pasturization? If not, then why isn't that used all the time? And what is homoginization exactly?
 

uberbrenton,

I tried to find the answer for your question, and I think that UHT isn't used all the time because it's more difficult, more expensive.
 

Homogenization is a mechanical treatment of the fat globules in milk brought about by passing milk under high pressure through a tiny orifice, which results in a decrease in the average diameter and an increase in number and surface area, of the fat globules. The net result, from a practical view, is a much reduced tendency for creaming of fat globules.

http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/homogenization.html