Sheer Terror

We've officially started to work with actual milk and bacteria, but we're not adding any antimicrobials yet. Dr. O'Leary gave me several books that talked about pasteurization and cheese-making and everything else dairy. I learned that milk is actually the most regulated food in the entire United States, and that it must be heated to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit to be considered safe. Since we want the bacteria to grow, we're only heating to around 140, which is actually harder than it might seem. That's mainly because it's hard to measure the temperature of each milk sample when they're heating at different rates and when there is a stirring rod moving through the bowl.

We're currently using three different strains of listeria in each milk sample, because that's one of the more problematic microbes for dairy products. I also want to mention Kabby Akers, one of the senior research technicians, because she's been making all of our cultures, and she'll also be plating each of our inoculated samples once we start using the antimicrobials so we can see if there is any inhibition.

Also, the reason this post is titled "Sheer Terror" is because today when we were running cold water through one of the mixers, the jacket exploded and I was soaked with water (which I guess was better than steam). It was definitely one of the scariest moments of my life.