verb
pasteurize
PASS-chur-yze/ˈpæstʃəraɪz/
To heat food or drink to kill harmful microorganisms.
The woman pasteurizes milk by carefully controlling its temperature in the saucepan.
Etymology
Pasteur’s name becomes a verb meaning to apply his heat-treatment process. The treatment kills most microorganisms in food or drink, unlike sterilization, which kills all of them.
In context
they'll pasteurize the milk where they'll heat the milk up to 170 degrees for 30 seconds to kill off any bacteria
More examples
- This producer pasteurizes apple juice before bottling it.
- The recipe calls for pasteurized eggs.
- Careful temperature control is essential when pasteurizing milk.
Forms
pasteurize · pasteurizes · pasteurized · pasteurizing
pasteurization noun — Heat treatment that kills harmful microorganisms.
Similar words
- sterilize
- Eliminates all microorganisms, rather than only killing harmful ones.
- sanitize
- Reduces germs to safe levels, not necessarily through heat.