Milk!

wildebus

wildebus

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Wondering if anyone is seeing what we are regarding milk shelf life?

Since the lockdown we are finding milk seems to have a much shorter shelf life and sometimes is off when it is opened. Example is today opened a new 2 pint bottle that is dated 10 Jul (so should be good until Friday) and it is off from the get-go. This one was from Sainsburys but seeing similar with the Co-op, LIDL and Morrisons as well.
Never has these problems prior to this pandemic situation :(
Wondering if something about the supply chain currently which is meaning milk is older by the time it gets to be processed so the use-by dates are now too long?
Usually buy the blue top milk but thinking might switch back to green semi-skimmed as less fat might mean better-lasting?
 
I don't drink cow's milk, but Neil does.

He thinks it might be how well they're storing it, i.e. how quickly they get it refrigerated before during and after transportation and at the delivery destination?

In the chaos of lockdown it could well be there have not been enough staff working to deal with some products & deliveries quickly enough?

Neil also says milk he's been getting from the local village shop isn't lasting as long as it should.

In that regard your theory about the supply chain from 'farm to fork' (as it were) would seem to make sense for the same reason?
 
mariesnowgoose said:
I don't drink cow's milk, but Neil does.

He thinks it might be how well they're storing it, i.e. how quickly they get it refrigerated before during and after transportation and at the delivery destination?

In the chaos of lockdown it could well be there have not been enough staff working to deal with some products & deliveries quickly enough?

Neil also says milk he's been getting from the local village shop isn't lasting as long as it should.

In that regard your theory about the supply chain from 'farm to fork' (as it were) would seem to make sense for the same reason?
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yup. I think the "udder to cuppa" time has got longer.
started getting 2 smaller bottles rather than one big one to try and freeze one, but run out of freezer room for last pair.
 
wildebus said:
yup. I think the "udder to cuppa" time has got longer.
started getting 2 smaller bottles rather than one big one to try and freeze one, but run out of freezer room for last pair.
Click to expand...

You could do what I've done, switch to almond milk, with oat milk for cooking.
Has a long shelf life (unrefrigerated) until opened.

All the other 'alternatives' to cow's milk are not much cop, imho. Especially soya, which is yuk!
The only brand of almond and oat milk I buy now after much experimentation is PLENISH.
It's not the cheapest, but most of the other brands are inferior products in both quality and taste.

I also drink pasteurised goat's milk occasionally, both full and semi.
Not a huge amount, but use it for a milky coffee - almond milk separates in coffee, but strangely not in tea! - or used on cereal or for baking.
Seems to keep better and longer than cow's milk, but it's definitely an acquired taste for some folk!
 
I could .... but I won't :D I don't like Almond milk. Soya is blurrghh as well

UHT is ok but the UHT process seems to make it go a bit rich, but ok for drinks.
Condensed milk is nice in Coffee and ok in tea ("dosenmilch" as we used to call it in Germany - literally 'tinned milk' - is popular there. As a youngster used to drink "kinder kaffe mit dosenmilch" - Childrens Coffee with tinned milk (used to be a mild coffee called Karat)). Trouble with condensed is it is a fight between me and the cat who gets it once opened! she is a monster for Carnation!!
 
Used to love both condensed and carnation when I was a kid.

Unfortunately both are 'sweetened', expecially condensed, so not all that good for you really - and especially not good for a cat, you bad boy!!! 🙀😼 😉🙃

One of our old cats was a monster for cake, equally bad for them (n)😳
 
mariesnowgoose said:
Used to love both condensed and carnation when I was a kid.

Unfortunately both are 'sweetened', expecially condensed, so not all that good for you really - and especially not good for a cat, you bad boy!!! 🙀😼 😉🙃

One of our old cats was a monster for cake, equally bad for them (n)😳
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You are right - not good for a cat. So she only gets a little amount very occasionally as a special treat :)
It is funny though... we use one particular bowl for it and all I have to do is show here the bowl and she instantly reacts and runs over licking her lips in anticipation :D
 
Around 30 years ago my small workshop had no fridge. I was brought up on full fat milk.
I purchased my lunch supplies and milk each morning in the local Gateway store, five minutes walk.
By lunch time the milk was off. Even a bucket of water didn't help.
I was advised by someone wiser than me that I should be buying semi skimmed.
Problem solved, milk lasted till following morning.
We now have a glass bottle delivery every other day sort of. No problems, but I wish it was daily.
I guess if more people did it the service would be better.
Also most milk is tampered with these days. It's taken apart and remade so they can control the fat levels.
It would be nice to have deliveries from a smaller dairy that does not mess with the milk.
 
I think a switch back to semi-skimmed is on the cards :)
(moved to full-fat for the reason I commented on on a different post - meant to help scar healing)

We didn't use him, but the local milkman lived across the road - but he retired a couple of years ago otherwise would switch to him.
 
We did have one 4ltrs go bad a while back but otherwise everything is as usual.
We always use long life when we are abroad, it seams different to UK bought long life, we haven't ever done a taste test.
The benefit is we buy it in bulk and it means we don't need to go to the shops regularly and because they tend to sell it in litres, it saves space in the fridge.
 
wildebus said:
yup. I think the "udder to cuppa" time has got longer.
started getting 2 smaller bottles rather than one big one to try and freeze one, but run out of freezer room for last pair.
Click to expand...
sorry wildbus but your milkin it a bit, try long life, no i like fresh, stop goating it, an dip your bread-in, ok.pj. and there are off.
 
we buy 2 x 4 pint plastic containers of semi skimmed milk each time we need it and have had no problems with it , it keeps OK we buy it from various shops Asda , Co op , Lidle depends where we are when we shop , we used to use UHT in the van and at home but now only fresh, we did however get a couple of cartons of UHT when the madness was on in the shops , just in case, still have it in the cupboard , We have an ice cream maker and my wife is going to try the UHT in that to see what happens .
 
We buy mostly long life milk. Some has a very sweet taste but we found a couple that are almost indistinguishable from fresh milk.
A few weeks ago, we started using a local farm for our veg butter and eggs and we also buy fresh organic whole milk in 5 litre tubs which we decant into 1 litre bottles. It seems to last the best part of a week.
We still use the long life skimmed milk in coffee.
 
snapster said:
We buy mostly long life milk. Some has a very sweet taste but we found a couple that are almost indistinguishable from fresh milk.
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Which ones are the ones you like? It is that sweetness that I find slightly offputting in tea (even though I do use sugar/sweetners anyway!) so I'd like to try the ones you have identified :)
 
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