I purchased two of the 3-gal size pails and one of the cream-separator lids at the Homesteaders of America conference in 2026. Because my cow is not in milk yet, I cannot speak to the actual hands-on functionality of this set up but what I can tell you is that this pail is WELL MADE. It is sturdy and 100% stainless steel which is imperative to me when handling raw milk. The concept is awesome...fill your pail using the incredibly fine mesh strainer (also stainless steel) and then put the cream separator lid on making sure the valve is shut. Invert and store in a fridge for 8-24 hours or as long as your milk takes to have a nice clean separation. Then, take the assembled unit out of the fridge without jostling it too much and attach the hose to the separator and open the valve into whatever vessel you want to hold your skim milk. When you start to see the cream (which of course is at the top of the stainless pail) turn off the valve and replace with a new vessel to hold your cream. Now you have only a handful of parts to sanitize instead of the dozens of pieces that are in a centrifugal type cream separator. I cannot wait to use this! Such a simple, straight forward and easy to use design. I bought two pails to rotate the one base between. This three piece set up would work for one cow that gives up to 3 gals in a once-a-day milking scenario. I calf share and milk 1x day so this is perfect for our needs. If you have two cows, you could use the 5-gal pail but remember you have to have a place to chill it in a fridge and it is taller so just be aware of this.
