An interesting sidebar in our “Is Your Milk Spoiling Faster?” discussion is why does most organic milk stay fresher longer? It’s not because the cows are free of bovine-growth-hormone and the commune-members sing them lullabies every night.
Rather, much of organic milk is “ultra-pasteurized.” This means the pasteurization process occurs at a higher temperature than just regular pasteurization. More bacteria get killed, and so it stays fresh for longer. Not all organic milk is ultra-pasteurized, and some regular milk is, so be sure to look for milk that says “ultra-pasteurized.” An exciting entry on the different kinds of pasteurization can be found here.
However, pasteurization removes both good and bad bacteria, as well as proteins and flavor. So, unless you’re gonna install a cow in your kitchen, or join the raw-milk underground, there’s going to be a tradeoff. Personally, I only use milk as a conduit for cereal so it doesn’t really matter what it tastes like, it just needs to not go bad within two days of purchase.
(With thanks to commenter VA_White!)
(Photo: amyadoyzie)
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@dianabanana: This is probably a matter of what they’re feeding their cows. We feed our cows mostly corn and soy, but if their diet balance is different, that will produce different milk.
All those fantastic butters and cheeses that they make in Europe are from grass-fed cows, so the flavors become specific to the kind of flora that are in a particular region.
In Maine, the milk there was just exceptionally good. There was the normal brand, Oakhurst, which was so good that the first thing my GF and I would do when we got back from grocery shopping was drop all the bags, break open the milk and down a tall glass of “New Milk”.
For special occasions, when you needed to raise the bar (like making icecream), we’d get Smiling Hill Farm’s milk. Oakhurst was good, but Smiling Hill was unbelievably good. It was expensive, and came in glass bottles you had to wash and return, but you got what you paid for.
@ludwigk: Appendix:
Since moving to California 2 years ago, I’ve become lactose intolerant. I have no idea why. I blame it on a lack of Maine milk products.
What happened to the kosher symbol? It would help bring light to the fact that we are all paying kosher tax on almost everything that we buy and where that money goes.
@ratnerstar:
I’ve used soy instead of milk in baking with no problem. The only place where it might change the flavor is if you’re cooking something like a creamy soup or curry. I used it for canned potato soup once and it tasted awful.
Ultra-pasteurization is bad, bad juju. Kills all the flavor and most of the health benefits of the milk. It kinda surprises me that it’s more common in organic milk, since it’s one of those cost-cutting measures that all my vegan hippie friends assure me are done by the big factory farms and not by the organic “little guys”. Then again, I’ve always thought the whole “organic” fad was a meaningless label designed to maximize profits by preying on the stupid and gullible, so maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised.
Regular pasteurization is where it’s at. Gives all the benefits of pasteurization without any of the drawbacks of ultra-pasteurization. It’s also a longer, and thus more expensive, process, but hey.
How about powdered milk? I hear it is great if you only need a cup for cooking every now and then. Anyone tried this?
@shefarted:
Freezing in mason jars is fine as long as you leave enough head room for expansion. I do it all the time.
I havent drank milk in probably 10 years. I stopped because I thought I was getting lactose intolerant. A few years back I tried a glass and it tasted aweful and I loved milk back in the day. Over the 4th of July holiday we got to go on a dairy farm tour and they let us try some of the milk fresh out of their tank. If all milk tasted that good Id be a gallon a day addict…That stuff was unbelievably good
On pasteurization/ultrapasteurization, it does sound like the labeling might not be crystal clear. While I’ve found an FDA reference to the requirements for labeling, I think it’s more setting standards for the size and kind of labeling you need if you’re making an ultrapasteurized claim, not that it has to be so labeled if it’s subject to ultrapasteurization. My guess is that the current law views ultrapasteurization as the more restrictive standard, so that it’s okay to have ultrapasteurized milk labeled just “pasteurized” but not vice versa–but that’s just a guess.
My favorite milk available around here is Farmer’s Creamery, which is unhomogenized, but for me it goes bad at very high speed, so I have to plan if I’m not going to waste it.
Hmm,I didnt know that. Sucks that there is a tradeoff. But I rarely drink milk alone… usually it is with something else that adds to the flavor (cereal, or chocolate as in chocolate milk).
Horizon milk tastes so much better than the store brands my parents used to buy. Maybe I’m just an organic sheeple, but its just so much more creamy and flavorful.
@mschlock, pick up the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. My vegan friends tell me it rocks. No idea whether the recipes use soy or rice.
You DON’T want to buy ultrapasteurized whipping cream; it doesn’t whip right. Unfortunately you may have to go to a Whole Paycheck or natural-foods store to find it.
I’m pretty sure that most milk has regular pasteurization. I’ve gone through the trouble of finding the ultra-pasteurized milk because it has a longer unopened shelf life, but the comment about it lasting longer after being opened is flat out wrong. Because the ultra-pasteurization kills more stuff, the milk doesn’t last as long on its own after being exposed to air again.
@VA_White: Milk in aseptic packaging (e.g. Tetrapak) would solve a number of problems, like the eliminating the need for chilled distribution and cooled storage. Seems like there’s value in buying a skid of milk and storing it in your garage for half a year.
But it seems that stores in the US resist this idea. What would bring you back once a week to buy more shit once a week if you only had to buy milk every few months? And are Americans ready to buy milk that didn’t come from a cooler?
Personally, I wasn’t a fan in Europe (probably because I was born and raised with American-style milk), but it sounds good on paper.
Hood makes a product called Simply Smart. This product is also ultra-pasteurized. This milk will last a MONTH after I open it! I think it tastes much better than regular milk.
@Bill:
I can’t speak for other products, but Simply Smart does have different packaging then most milk, it has a cap. It DOES last for over a month AFTER it’s open. That’s a fact and I have done it many many times. To be honest, I have never had it spoil on me, but I haven’t tried to drink it after 3 months either.
@dianabanana: I was in Taiwan for a while, and the milk there tastes different than here in the US. It has way more of a milk taste.
Milk companies in Taiwan put sugar in it, making it denser.
@swimmey: got evidence?
I HATE MILK! And I don’t drink milk at all and haven’t since I was 9. I am 46 now. Cow’s milk is not very good for humans. It was made for calves. They is a multitude of medical research that proves milk is not good for people.
As for this “organic” stuff; the only way to have “real” organic products is to buy them raw from a farmer’s market or grow it yourself.
@dianabanana: This is generally true. As the article indicates bacteria is a key component of the taste of milk. This is why milk tends to taste like white water sometimes
@crabbyman6:
The sugars are not removed- rather lactose is broken down into glucose and galactose which are two sweeter and simpler sugars than lactose (which explains why lactaid milk tastes sweeter)
@JackHandey:
Yes, I use powdered milk for every recipe that calls for milk.
You just throw it up on the shelf with your flour and sugar. All you have to do is mix some with water, and PRESTO! You have milk. It tastes almost like regular milk, depending on the ratio you give it. I always add lots of powder to the water so the recipes are super creamy.
The BEST thing about powdered milk? I’ve had the same box of it for two years, and IT’S STILL GOOD!
@ludwigk: I too noticed a huge difference in dairy when leaving Maine, I made ice cream with the local Maola brand here in NC, and it was bland and flat tasting, without any good dairy flavor or richness. I now go to whole foods and buy some local cream which is much more like what I got in Maine. Oakhurst had the best skim milk ever, it wasn’t blue looking and actually had some body to it.
@stanner: apparantly every company in the world is evil. i drink horizon organic as well, and love it. drink up.
@Imhotep: uhm just a heads up that using almond (or any nut milk) or soy milk in baked goods is a risky proposition for people with nut/soy allergies. Most people are lactose intolerant can handle the relatively small amount of dairy in like a piece of cake or a cupcake, the almond milk in that same piece of cake can kill them. If you substitute regular milk for other milks you really, really need to inform people.
@Orv: I once used vanilla silk (sweet/flavored soy milk for those unfamiliar) in macaroni and cheese. It really wasn’t as bad as you’d think but it wasn’t good, surprisingly sweet vanilla is not a nice accent flavor to processed cheese powder.
I only drink milk with tea/coffee and used to have milk go bad on me all the time in the UK, even when I bought those tiny little plastic jugs that I think were just a pint (or something close). I couldn’t drink it fast enough. In the states I buy 1 or 2% non-organic whatever brand is cheapest in half gallons, and I’ve never had it go bad. I’ve thrown out the tiny remainder of a gallon of milk after two-three weeks because I felt that was too long to have milk around for, but it never seemed to be properly off. I don’t trust it.
@sixninezero: You do realize that before pasteurization that raw milk was the source of 40% of food borne illness? While you can prevent alot of milk-borne illness with proper sanitation you can’t prevent illness that comes from the cow being ill itself. Illness like undulent fever. It’s treatable with antibiotics BUT using antibiotics on cows kills all the bacteria that are VITAL to making cheese and yogurt.
Secondly, Anti-biotics have saved alot more lives than they’ve harmed. The real source of our problems aren’t the anitbiotics themselves but quack physicians prescribing them when a patient doesn’t even have the slightest need for them. If it weren’t for penicillin I’d be dead right now.
@newfenoix: Multitudes of research? All I can find online saying that milk is definitively bad is just some doctors going “Milk is for baby cows, not people” and using that as the sole basis for their conclusion as if it’s some scientific fact.
What I can find mounds of research on is given the alternative beverage choices milk does provide nutrition versus drinks that are nothing more than sugar mixed with water and coloring. Chocolate milk is also far less harmful to you than stuff like Red Bull or monster which is loaded with more caffeiene than coffee. Coffee might not be as bad for me as milk, but I can’t stand the taste.
Bottom line is, I’d be less worried about my kids drinking milk by the gallon than I would be about them drinking cokes in the same quantity.
Processed milk is not good for us.
See: [curezone.com]
Also: [www.notmilk.com]
And: [www.mercola.com]
Pasteurizing destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamins, denatures (damages) fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria and promotes pathogens. Pasteurized cow’s milk is the number-one allergic food in this country.
Pasteurization has been associated with a number of symptoms and illnesses ranging from diarrhea, cramps and gastrointestinal bleeding to heart disease, cancer and arteriosclerosis. (Exerpt from somewhere)
And then, there’s homogenization.
If you’re determined to drink milk, choose raw milk, or forget it.
For those who are concerned about becoming ill from raw milk: if the dairy farm maintains clean, healthy animals and facility, illness from the milk should not be a worry.