Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of pasteurization, vaccination, and microbial fermentation. Notably, he created the first vaccines for the rabies virus and anthrax. However, Louis is best known for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization.
The original method of pasteurization was vat pasteurization, which heats milk or other liquid ingredients in a large tank for at least 30 minutes.
The most common method of pasteurization in the United States today is High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurization, which uses metal plates and hot water to raise milk temperatures to at least 161° F for not less than 15 seconds, followed by rapid cooling.