I was in the middle of making dinner when this happened. I’m grateful I poured it into a measuring cup first. Thankfully I don’t live too far from another source.

I remember milk staying good almost a week past its expiration date when I was a kid. Boy have the times changed.

    • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      Pretty much all milk in the US is homogenized, unless bought from a specialty brand/store. I can basically guarantee that Walmart is not selling non-homogeneous milk in the US.

    • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 day ago

      The American version of those are fun. Two months before the expiration date, stored in a dark space around 50F or less, they separate into globs. Not spoiled, just separated. Globs settle in the bottom of coffee. Once you get enough air in there, you can shake the everloving shit out of it, and the globs break apart into a delightful foam that floats on top.

  • SandLight@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    50
    ·
    2 days ago

    That was happening to our house and then we discovered that our fridge wasn’t running at food safe temperatures.

    Might be worth putting a thermometer in.

    • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      I make sure to keep the fridge just above freezing. I do this by actually setting it cold enough to freeze then raising it slightly until things stop freezing.

    • MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      2 days ago

      Bought a house (back when such things were still available to plebs). Hadn’t moved in yet, cleaning etc. Chucked some drinks and snacks into the fridge. Next day, barely chilly. Put a thermometer in, 40-some degrees F.

      A new fridge was just the first unexpected expense.

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 days ago

    Whole milk will go bad very quickly, especially once opened and if not kept below a certain temperature. 2% lasts a lot longer. Also changing the location in the refrigerator makes a huge difference, the door area is the warmest part. If you haven’t had an issue before, then it could be that at some point in handling from the store or you the milk was allowed to warm a bit too much. Again, for whole milk it doesn’t take a lot, and any perishables from Walmart is taking a risk vs. other groceries. Find a store that gets local farm stuff if possible, and try 2%, it’s possible to wean off that sweet whole and buy some time and health.

  • JupiterSnarl@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    2 days ago

    I know these solutions cost more but if you’re having trouble with frequent spoilage this might save you $$

    1. For cow milk, try and buy organic in a container that blocks light. I find these to have extra long expiration dates compared to plastic jug regular milk… Often 2-3 months from purchase and it is often unspoiled past that.

    2. Try unsweetened original almond milk. I find it hard to tell the difference and the almond milk I buy can last 4-5 months in my fridge if I don’t use it sooner.

    • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      You can’t tell the difference between almond milk and cow’s milk? More power to you, but I find that hard to believe.

  • Daggity@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    2 days ago

    There one I’m working at is soon to switch to delivering their own milk, rather than t g Lee. I’m expecting this is happen more in our area going forward. Their dc is further away and the turnaround time on processing will be longer.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    2 days ago

    If a perishable product comes in an opaque plastic container, that’s a deliberate choice. Always be suspicious of it.

    • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 hours ago

      It does help a bit with spoilage issues (by blocking light coming into the product) but what you said is totally valid as well.

  • Björn@swg-empire.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    Don’t you have ultra high heated milk? It keeps fresh for several months at room temperature as long as it’s unopened. It usually tastes a little less great than normal milk but that’s especially not much of an issue if you use it for baking or cereals.

    • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      2 days ago

      To be fair, to most of those who are used to fresh milk find the taste of UHT milk off-putting, myself included. North Americans do tend to drink more milk too so they go through a bottle long before it goes bad.

      • Björn@swg-empire.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 days ago

        For us the reason for going UHT is that we don’t have the fridge space for all the milk we consume. We would have to buy new milk every few days.

        And it actually is possible to make UHT milk taste almost like fresh milk. Those are usually just more expensive.

    • Victor@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      I’m baffled that America insists on selling milk by the gallon. That’s so much milk to finish after opening.

      The maximum size we used to get while I was growing up where I live was 1 litre. Then came the big milk, 1.5 L. Now we have this even bigger one that’s 1.75 L, I think. Seems like it’s going to converge on 2 L. 😄

      • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 days ago

        Dairy is heavily subsidized in the US. 1 gallon (3.8L) barely costs more than 1/2. Might as well buy the whole gallon and turn what you aren’t going to otherwise use into yogurt or cheese.

        • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 days ago

          I somehow doubt you can do much with pasteurized and homogenized 1% milk.

          There’s a reason that most dairy products in Europe are made from raw milk.

          • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 days ago

            Yogurt is super easy to make with any (dairy) milk.

            There are some cheeses that are better with unpasteurized milk, but it still works with pasteurized milk. I think most cheeses made with unpasteurized milk are just done that way because the pasteurization is an unnecessary step. Cheeses that are aged long enough have the pathogens die off. In the US, that threshold is 60 days. In the EU, tradition is deemed more important than safety, so there is no waiting period. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12146498/#fsn370409-bib-0006

            Homogenization is a challenge for curd formation with some cheeses, but you can counteract it with some extra calcium chloride.

            It’s common to add cream to milk to boost the fat content for some cheeses.

            You wouldn’t make rennet-based cheeses of the leftovers from a jug of milk, though, cause that’s not enough bang for your buck. I just make what’s essentially like a ricotta. All you have to do is heat it up, and add a little bit of distilled vinegar or lemon juice which cuddles it, and then you strain it through cheesecloth.

            • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 days ago

              Amazing. Thanks for the info.

              Any ideas on how I’d make dry cottage cheese out of it at home?

              • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 days ago

                From what i understand “cottage cheese” is a cheese made from milk treated with rennet, lightly strained, and mixed with a little bit of cream. I’m sure there’s regional variation in the terminology and process.

                From like 2 minutes of searching online, I seems like what people call “dry cottage cheese” is basically just what I described. Heat milk, acidify it, and strain. Typically what I do is strain it with a cloth until it’s fairly dry, then I’ll mix back in some of the whey until I get the texture I like.

                The fancier version involves fermentation with bacterial cultures to create the necessary acid, but that’s not something you are going to do with a half jug of milk you want to just use up before it goes bad.

      • Joeffect@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        2 days ago

        Kids drink lots of milk i used to think people who bought multiple gallons was crazy…

        Now I’m at the point we use a gallon in about a 2 days…

        • Victor@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          I have two kids, and I drink milk as well. The three of us that drink milk in the household might finish a gallon or so during a week. Maybe a gallon and a half.

          I still maintain that a gallon is a lot for one person though. But sure, people will have their anecdotes about consuming lots of milk. 👍

      • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 days ago

        I can go through a whole gallon by myself before it goes bad. Now, I might just barely be able to do it most times, but still. Between cooking, drinking, and cereal, I can usually find a way to use it all. I mostly drink it though.

      • Dima@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago

        In the UK we have (in UK pints, 1 pint = 568ml): 1 pint, 2 pints, 4 pints and 6 pints. We also have slightly smaller metric sizes (1L, 2L) that are typically seen in convenience stores or on branded milk.

        I would say that 4 pints (2.273L) is the typical size that most would buy for regular use, with smaller sizes popular for those that don’t have cereal/porridge. I find that milk from the supermarket tends to keep well, so it’s not that difficult to get through a 4 pinter, unless all you use it for is adding some in your tea - in which case you can just get a 1 or 2 pint jug.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          We use it for drinking directly from a glass. Typically about 1 dl per children’s glass, 2 dl or so per adult glass. So do that once a day, that’s 2.8 litres a week for us. That makes 2×1.5 L/week enough. One gallon for one person is a lot of milk IMO but people obviously manage. I just find it baffling to consume that much. 😄

  • herfen@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    16
    ·
    2 days ago

    It’s not a dealer’s issue or has anything to do with changing times. Everyone will or already has had that experience at least once. You’re just too inexperienced. ​There are many reasons why milk can go sour, as we call it here. Most depend on how you as a consumer handle it. ​Some are just bad luck. For example, if there was a thunderstorm, it’s more likely to turn into an ugly buttermilk mess. ​Don’t blame Walmart or the milk, because you can’t be sure if it wasn’t your fault.

      • herfen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        14 hours ago

        Noone older than 12 who drank milk since he was a kid would be astounded or angry about self made buttermilk 🤣