Fresh milk how to store. Milk storage conditions

The shelf life of milk depends on many factors. Since this product is present in the diet of most people all the time, and deteriorates very quickly, it is better to just learn how to store it properly once.

Not everyone can drink milk, there are categories of people who should limit or exclude the use of the product - these are the elderly and allergy sufferers with lactose intolerance.

If there are no contraindications, you can and should drink milk almost without restrictions. To get the maximum benefit from this product, it must be properly selected and stored under suitable conditions.

In this article, we will talk about how much different milk is stored, what to contain it in, what ways you can increase the shelf life.

General product storage rules

Storage of milk and other dairy products is determined by the method of processing. The shortest shelf life for a raw drink is just a few days in the refrigerator. A variety of production technologies allow you to extend the life of the product for a period of up to 6 months.

The following conditions are essential for the shelf life:

• Product processing method (sterilization, pasteurization, etc.);
• Packaging (plastic bottle, bag or tetrapack);
• Storage conditions (temperature).

To keep milk as long as possible and not lose its taste and benefits, you must follow some rules:

• The product should not be kept in direct sunlight - from this it loses vitamins and deteriorates faster;
• The most favorable temperature for the product is created on the shelves of the refrigerator - no higher than 3-4 degrees;
• Keep the drink in an airtight container so that it does not absorb foreign odors;
• The shelf life of milk can be increased by boiling it or pasteurizing it at home.

All known methods of milk processing affect the quality of the product. When heated, some of the vitamins are destroyed. Nevertheless, although raw and contains more useful substances, it is dangerous to drink it, and pathogenic bacteria may also be present in it. Therefore, it is better to choose something that has been processed, with a short shelf life and the maximum proportion of stored vitamins.

The difference in terms by type of milk

Most often, cow's milk is present in the diet, but there are other types of this product that differ in useful properties, taste and, of course, shelf life. Due to intolerance to cow protein or for other reasons, many have to look for alternative sources of dairy products, so these types of milk and the features of their storage should be discussed in more detail.

Goat

It is chosen because of its benefits and hypoallergenicity. In order not to lose vitamins, it is not recommended to boil the product after purchase if it has already been processed. It is best to store goat milk in the refrigerator, packed in a sterile and sealed container. Under such conditions, the product can retain all its properties and freshness for 7 days.

At room temperature, the drink can be stored for no more than 4-6 hours, at +15 degrees - up to a day. Freezing will help to significantly increase the shelf life; it is advisable to consume frozen milk within 3-6 months. To freeze, you need to pour the drink into sterile containers, close them tightly and place them in a freezer drawer with a temperature below -18 degrees.

coconut

This exotic product spoils very quickly. Even in the refrigerator, its shelf life does not exceed a day. You can save for a long time again only by freezing.

Soy milk is no longer a rarity in our stores. Opened packaging can be stored for 3-4 days without loss of product quality

soybean

People who, for reasons of belief or medical reasons, abstain from eating animal products can use soy milk. Once opened, it will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

breast

Another type of milk that may need to be stocked up for future use is. At room temperature, it can be kept for no more than 4 hours. In the refrigerator, the shelf life extends to a day. In the freezer - up to 3-6 months.

Shelf life depending on the processing method

The most important characteristic that determines how long milk can be stored, whether it is packaged in a bottle or a bag, is the way it is processed. On the shelves of stores you can find milk, the shelf life of which ranges from several days to several months.

How do manufacturers manage to increase it so much? There is an opinion that long-term storage milk is not natural, however, modern processing methods make it possible to preserve ordinary cow's milk for such a long period without losing its beneficial properties.

Important! Shelf milk may contain preservatives, so you should check the composition before buying, it should not contain chemicals.

What are the processing methods and how much they increase the duration of storage:

• Raw. You can buy this at the spontaneous market or from farmers. Before eating it must be boiled. The quality of such products cannot be monitored, so pathogenic microorganisms may be present in them. Without boiling milk, the shelf life is 2 days, for boiled milk up to 5 days.
• Sterilized. This product is treated with high temperature (over 100 degrees) under pressure for a few seconds. The sterilization process kills all germs, and with them most of the benefits. Duration of storage - up to 6 months in a closed original packaging.
• Pasteurized. The drink is heated to a temperature of 70-75 degrees. Due to this, it is possible to increase the shelf life up to 5 days and at the same time retain more useful substances.
• UHT milk. Such a product is heated to 137 degrees for a few seconds and cooled sharply to 20 degrees. This method allows you to store milk in an unopened bottle for up to 6 months. After ultra-pasteurization, the drink does not spoil, since all lactic acid bacteria are destroyed.

Thus, today there are ways to preserve the freshness and benefits of a drink loved by many for a long time. At the same time, processed milk is actually much safer than raw milk. Sometimes production uses aseptic bags for packaging, which minimize the possibility of the development of pathogenic microflora.

On the basis of milk, a lot of other useful everyday products are made that require a refrigerator for storage, for example, knowing, or sour cream, kefir, cottage cheese, you can more rationally approach your purchases and use only fresh ones, getting all the benefits inherent in nature from them.

Let's get back to milk. There are other processing methods, in which another independent and very tasty dairy product is obtained. We will talk about this further.

Raw milk can be bought at the market or from farmers and is often sold frozen in winter.

Ghee

Baked milk is essentially concentrated regular milk. It has more fat and calcium. The process does not use heat treatment at high temperatures, so most of the vitamins are preserved. The drink is subjected to prolonged heating up to 85-95 degrees. Store it exclusively in the refrigerator in a closed container. Shelf life is up to 7-10 days.

Condensed

In the process of preparing condensed milk, prolonged heating to high temperatures occurs, so there is little use in such a product, its main consumer property is taste. The duration of storage of condensed milk is from 1 year to 2-3 years.

Dry

Powdered milk is the solid residue of milk after all the moisture has been dried. It can be stored in a cupboard at room temperature for a long time. If the feedstock was defatted - the shelf life of powdered milk is 3 years from the date of manufacture, whole milk is stored for 10 months - after this time, fats can go rancid in it.

How to increase shelf life at home

There are ways that allow you to increase the duration of storage of milk for a different period. The first and most effective is freezing. You can store in the freezer any type and method of processing milk.

To freeze milk, two conditions are necessary: ​​clean containers, preferably sterile, and a chamber with a quick freeze mode. Frozen milk should be used within 3-6 months. Storage containers should be stowed in a drawer that is rarely opened. It is better to defrost gradually in the refrigerator compartment. Re-freezing is not allowed.

Important! The shelf life of milk after opening the package is less than the shelf life in a closed container, and, as a rule, does not exceed 2-5 days.

To slightly increase the shelf life in an open package, milk can be pre-boiled for 1 minute, cooled and then placed in the refrigerator. This procedure is required if you have purchased bottled milk. This treatment will keep the product for 5-7 days.

You can also pasteurize at home. To do this, the milk must be heated in a water bath and held for several minutes, removed from the stove, cooled to room temperature and kept in the refrigerator.

Long-term storage milk does not turn sour, but rots, acquiring an unpleasant taste and smell.

Can expired milk be used?

If the milk was raw and did not go through the boiling procedure, after the expiration date it will turn sour. You can make curdled milk from this product if you put it in a warm place for a day, or homemade cottage cheese, for this you need to heat it at a low temperature for several hours.

The product that has been processed by pasteurization, sterilization and boiling does not turn sour, but acquires an unpleasant taste and smell. If the shelf life expired no more than a day ago, such milk can be used to make pancakes and many other hot dishes. Discard if taste changes.

Powdered and condensed milk after the expiration date and while maintaining the taste can be used for baking. If the taste has changed, the product must also be discarded.

Dairy and sour-milk products are one of the most important in our diet and their freshness is rather a necessity than a whim, and therefore knowing and checking before buying from milk, cottage cheese or - should become a good habit when going to the store.

How to choose good milk

When buying, it is important to pay attention to some features:

• As a rule, fresher milk on the shelf is placed behind packages of goods that are already past their shelf life in order to encourage consumers to take a package of older milk;
• In the store and on the market, products must be stored in refrigeration equipment;
• A bottle of milk bought from a farmers' market must be well packaged and the lid must not be opened;
• In order to verify the quality of the product, you can request the relevant documentation from the seller;
• Goat milk must be purchased from trusted sellers, it is expensive and is often bred with cow milk.

So, to summarize: to increase the shelf life, milk can be frozen, simply boiled and pasteurized at home. If the product needs to be poured from the purchased package, you will need a sterile container; you cannot pour it back into the store packaging. Any milk is stored in the refrigerator.

You may also be interested to know, because it is on the basis of milk that a nutritious, rich in trace elements, invigorating drink is made from it, which is a natural antidepressant. Quality milk plus quality cocoa powder - and you have a truly healthy drink on your table, and not a surrogate for its taste.

How to make baked milk

We all know about the undoubted health benefits of milk and dairy products, about the irreplaceable calcium contained in it, and this is where our knowledge ends. Hindus, for example, revere the cow as a sacred animal, and cow's milk is treated with special respect.

A little about milk

Animal milk: cows, goats, buffaloes is a very useful food product. Milk is an essential component of cooking, especially when baking and production desserts and besides, and a valuable cosmetic product. Milk can be treated - it is used as an antidote, antidote and nutrient for exhaustion.

Milk protein in terms of nutritional value is not inferior to meat or fish, it is absorbed faster and easier. Milk contains calcium and phosphorus, which are necessary for building bone tissue - they are absorbed from milk thanks to milk fat and vitamin D contained in it.

That is why skimmed milk is not healthy, calcium from it is not absorbed at all. In addition, milk also contains vitamins A and part of group B, milk sugar - lactose.

How much milk should be consumed per day?

An adult needs about 200 g of milk per day to fully replenish calcium stores and benefit health, but different dairy products have different protein and calcium contents. So, cottage cheese you need about 100 g, cheese 30-50 g is enough, and you can drink kefir up to 400 ml.

Many adults cannot tolerate whole milk due to lactose deficiency; for such people, whole milk should be sharply limited, replacing it with any fermented milk products.

If you buy milk in the market

Tips: how to store milk

It must be boiled for at least 10 minutes, as raw milk can become a source of intestinal infections and brucellosis, yersiniosis and some other unpleasant infections.

Boiling milk is a whole science, as milk can "run away" and burn. It is necessary to let it “rise” at least twice, that is, foam and rise to the edges of the dish, only after that it can be turned off and started to cool.

You can not boil milk in a stainless bowl, it "loves" aluminum or enameled containers. Before boiling, the container is rinsed with cold water and not wiped. If you need to boil milk and at the same time leave, grease the walls of the pan with butter to a certain level: after boiling, the milk will not rise above this limit.

How to store milk

Milk is a highly perishable product due to being an excellent breeding ground for microbes. Therefore, it must be stored only in a refrigerator in a hermetically sealed container - a bottle or jar with a tight lid.

• If you don’t have a refrigerator or it’s broken, and you bought milk from a neighbor in your country house in warm weather, place the boiled milk in a glass jar or faience container, not narrow and low. This container must be placed in a basin of ice water. Cover the vessel with a cloth or gauze in several layers, and lower the edges into cold water. In this form, milk will be stored for a long time.
• To prevent milk from sour quickly, it is necessary to properly wash the container for it: wash it in cold water, and only then wash it in warm water. If you wash the container immediately in hot water, the milk will turn sour faster.
• Milk does not like daylight, store it in a dark place, then it will be fresher longer.
• Milk and dairy products strongly absorbs foreign odors, so they must be stored separately from sharp, unpleasant or strong-smelling foods - meat, garlic, fish, and close the container with a lid.
• For milk, glass or ceramic containers are more suitable.

store milk

Tips: how to store milk

In the store you can find milk in glass bottles, plastic bags, boxes and tetra-packs. According to the new standards for the processing of dairy products, there are three types of milk processing for sale in stores:

• pasteurized milk: heated to 70 degrees for 10 minutes, which kills microorganisms, but does not kill their spores. This milk is stored for a short time - on average, from 36 hours to 5 days, depending on its packaging.
• sterilized milk: it was kept at a temperature of 100 degrees for half an hour, it can be stored in packaging conditions for up to six months even without a refrigerator, it is sterile. After opening the milk packaging, it is stored in a sealed container for up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
• UHT milk exposed to high temperature in a special system for a few seconds and, without losing its nutritional qualities, is poured into sterile packages. It is stored similarly to sterilized milk.

In any case, after you have opened the package, put the milk in the refrigerator, otherwise it will become contaminated with microbes that multiply rapidly and can be harmful to health. At the slightest doubt about the quality of milk, you should not use it even when cooking.

Do you love milk?

Alena PARETSKAYA

A product without which few people can imagine their lives is milk. Nature endowed cow's milk with the lion's share of trace elements and vitamins necessary for the qualitative growth and development of cow offspring (calf). And now a man takes milk from a cow in order to raise his children.

healthy milk

I must say that, despite the various disputes that do not subside around the benefits and harms of milk, the majority of mothers try to make sure that their children have a certain amount of dairy products in their diet, including milk. The presence of this product on the children's menu is considered essential.

Should you give milk to a child?

But let's start in order. There are so many omissions and even rumors around milk that the debate about at what age you can give milk to a child is still ongoing. Someone considers this product useless. Some people find milk to be unhealthy. But many will hear stories from their lives or from the lives of relatives, saying that it was thanks to the presence of cow's milk in the house that the child was able to survive and is healthy and happy so far. A bottle of milk a day was able to create a real miracle and save a baby who had nothing to feed.

However, there are other stories that say that the child's body could not absorb the nutrients in the drink, and milk had to be replaced with other products. Most likely, parents already know how their baby tolerates lactose in milk, and they know how it (milk) can be replaced in modern conditions. Everything that is written above was written about full and real milk.

From what age?

At what age can you give pasteurized milk to a child? Modern nutritionists are adamant. They do not recommend introducing store-bought dairy products into a child's diet before the age of three. The thing is that in a bottle of milk there may be various additives that are not intended for children's consumption. Although, most likely, a similar incident happens more often with cheaper products. Formula-fed babies are allowed to introduce pasteurized milk into the diet from the age of one.

What's the use?

And now let's remember what is the use of milk for the human body. Milk regulates the body's metabolism. It supplies us with a decent amount of calcium, thanks to which the teeth and bones of a person remain strong and healthy for a long time. Just one glass a day - and you get half of the recommended amount. Milk also balances the body's water balance. The necessary proteins and carbohydrates enter the body, including from milk.

For men

What is the benefit of milk for the body of a person engaged in heavy physical labor or experiencing a large amount of stress? It turns out there are many benefits. For the male body, the consumption of milk is necessary. It replenishes the required amount of proteins. This is important because men are more likely to do hard physical work or attend weight training in gyms. The need for protein and carbohydrates increases significantly and is replenished with milk, because milk protein is a builder of muscle tissue. Yes, and protein shakes in the bulk are made on the basis of milk.

Energy Recovery

Office workers also experience stress, and sometimes these stresses are no less emotionally strong than physical ones. Stressful situations are fraught with loss of vitality, lethargy and chronic fatigue. Drinking a glass of milk a day, a man restores the general emotional background. Milk is practically a natural antidepressant.

For women

Women who regularly consume milk and dairy products have not only healthy and beautiful teeth. Milk gives strength and beauty to their hair and nails. All this is due to the iodine and calcium contained in the drink.

Pregnancy and lactation must be accompanied by the intake of additional elements found in dairy products. From there, the body will take the necessary forces for the successful development of the situation.

Cosmetic procedures for the skin can be carried out on the basis of this magical drink. The skin is an organ that can feed on more than just oxygen. Washing with milk, masks and baths will rejuvenate and give beauty to any woman.

According to GOST

And now about how they get pasteurized according to GOST. The product is heated up to sixty degrees. After one hour, the milk is rapidly cooled. Thanks to this method, bacteria that can cause spoilage of the product die in drinking milk pasteurized according to GOST. At the same time, a large number of various pathogens that may be in a fresh steam product die.

The method is good because the milk remains almost as useful as if it had just been from under the cow. But a fresh product would never have survived the road to the store, so that city children and adults could feast on it. And the shelf life of pasteurized milk is significantly increased compared to the shelf life of a fresh whole product.

About types of processing

Outlets today provide a wide range of dairy products. Before all that milk hit supermarket shelves, it had to go through some processing.

In addition to the pasteurized product, you can also find sterilized and ultra-pasteurized.

sterilized milk

The sterilized was subjected to heating (boiling) for several minutes. When asked how long milk is stored in the refrigerator if it has been sterilized, manufacturers say that ten days is not the limit. Even the absence of a refrigerator for milk that has undergone sterilization is not an obstacle. However, an opened bottle or other packaging is still recommended to be stored in a cold place.

UHT milk

UHT occurs at higher temperatures than pasteurization and sterilization. Milk during ultra-pasteurization undergoes instant heat treatment, being in a temperature regime of more than one hundred and twenty degrees, and is immediately packaged. Such a drink is able to stand without a refrigerator and not turn sour in a sealed form for at least six months.

Shelf life of pasteurized milk

And yet the most "live" product can only be considered pasteurized. It is subjected to less stringent measures to increase its shelf life than sterilized and UHT milk.

What will be the shelf life of pasteurized milk depends on the conditions in which it will be. It is also important that the package with milk is opened or hermetically sealed and has not been opened. If you brought a dairy product from the store sealed in an airtight container, then it will last longer.

The shelf life of pasteurized milk (even in sealed, undamaged packaging) exposed to sunlight is significantly reduced. And a huge proportion of useful substances are destroyed during storage in the light.

An important factor is what kind of packaging the milk has. If the product is sealed in solid packaging, then the shelf life of pasteurized milk is about ten days from the end of the technological process. Inside, the packaging is arranged in such a way that it does not allow light to break through to the product and begin its destructive effect. And in the dark and cool, microorganisms multiply less willingly. In this case, the milk should be unopened and kept in a cool place.

If you had to keep the milk open, it must be placed in the refrigerator at temperatures from zero degrees to plus five. In this state, milk will be well stored for three days. Rigid packaging is equipped with a screw cap, stopping the strong flow of oxygen into the product.

Soft packaging

Soft containers shorten the shelf life of pasteurized milk. The thing is that such packaging does not have a lid that allows you to close the opened box. Air, of course, gets inside the bag, and microorganisms develop much more actively. Therefore, the shelf life of pasteurized milk in a closed soft container will be no more than three days. And the opened package ceases to protect the product after thirty-six hours. Milk turns sour after this time. However, it can still be eaten using in baking.

Milk is a valuable food product that can be found in almost any refrigerator.

As a rule, this is ordinary cow's milk, although goat, soy, and even breast milk are used in the diet.

How long can milk be stored in the refrigerator?

An urgent question that needs clarification.

How Long Can You Keep Milk in the Fridge: Farm Fresh

The most useful cow's milk is fresh, fresh. Getting it in the city is not easy, but possible. If you managed to buy a liter or two directly from under the cow, bypassing industrial pasteurization and sterilization, it is important to know the shelf life. Poisoning with stale dairy products is always very hard on the body.

Despite the fact that buying farm milk from unfamiliar sellers is quite dangerous, people continue to do it. How long you can store milk in the refrigerator depends on the temperature regime of the household appliance:

From 6 to 8 degrees - 18 hours;

At 5-6 degrees - no more than a day;

At 3-4 degrees - one and a half days;

At 1 degree - two days.

In any case, it is better to sell the product within the first hours after the purchase, because it is not known for certain when the milk was produced. Another thing is that freezing is a great way to store milk almost unlimitedly. If the product is frozen and placed in the freezer, you can use it without any fear as needed.

You need to defrost milk ice cubes in the refrigerator, not in heat. If lumps appear on the surface, you can return the product to uniformity: beat with a mixer or in a blender.

If farm milk is boiled, its shelf life at medium temperatures (up to 8 degrees) increases to four days. At low temperatures, the product will easily stand for two weeks. Another question is that in boiled milk there are practically no vitamins and valuable protein (although pathogenic microbes, too). In addition, boiling changes the formula of calcium and phosphorus, and they are poorly absorbed.

Goat milk without processing can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days, and in a clean container under a tight lid. The product is stored worse than cow's, so the issue of cleanliness of the container in this case is the main one.

How long can milk be stored in the refrigerator after processing

In addition to boiling, there are other types of milk processing for the purpose of its long storage. It is this processed milk that is sold in stores and supermarkets.

Sterilization- this is the processing of the product at a temperature above 100 degrees and holding for several seconds under high pressure. Not a single microorganism can withstand such conditions. Unfortunately, as with boiling, vitamins, proteins, and useful fatty acids are destroyed.

Pasteurization- heating of purified milk to 75 degrees in a special bowl. This is a more gentle way of processing in relation to nutrients. Microorganisms die, but calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins are preserved.

UHT assumes that the process takes place with minimal access to external factors, in a closed system. Milk is heated to 137 degrees and cooled sharply to 20.

How long you can store milk in the refrigerator depends on the type of processing and packaging of the product. Store bags or glass containers in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. As a rule, they are:

Pasteurization in a film package for 4 days, in a cardboard box for a week, in a tetrapack for two weeks;

Sterilization is stored up to six months;

Ultra-pasteurization in tetrapack up to one and a half months.

At home, milk can not only be boiled, but also pasteurized. To do this, the product must be placed in a water bath and heated for half an hour. The processing temperature is approximately 70 degrees. After half an hour, remove the container with hot milk and immediately cool it in ice water.

How long can milk be stored in the refrigerator after home pasteurization? If the container was sterile, the product does not sour for two weeks, while retaining all its useful properties.

Goat milk can also be pasteurized. However, it is still stored worse than cow's. A bottle with a processed pasteurized product will stand in the refrigerator for no more than ten days.

How long can you store milk in the refrigerator: useful tips

After opening a package with store-bought milk, the product should be consumed within two to three days. Therefore, it is best to use the product in a small, half-liter package. Of course, if you do not cook porridge from it for a large family, for example.

How long you can store milk in the refrigerator also depends on the location of the package. The cooler the shelf is chosen, the longer the souring process does not occur. It is important to ensure that there are no strong-smelling products near the opened package. Milk can absorb odor.

It is not worth pouring the product from the store packaging. Glass containers, vacuum packaging, tetra-pack are better to preserve both taste and nutritional properties.

Milk should be protected from sunlight, which destroys vitamin D. Therefore, if it is stored at room temperature, you need to put the vessel in a dark place and additionally cover it with a thick cloth or paper.

Powdered milk can also be used in home cooking. Its shelf life is six months. After opening the package, the powder should be used within a month. The diluted product is stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days.

A few words should be said about the storage of breast milk. Such a need may arise in the life of every nursing woman. The main requirement for safe storage is the cleanliness of hands and utensils. If a breast pump is used for pumping, it must also be perfectly clean.

It is better to pour the expressed milk into containers in the volume in which the baby is used to eating. The fact is that you cannot store an already used bottle again. Do not mix leftovers with a new portion.

How long can milk be stored in the refrigerator after pumping? Not longer than four days at normal temperatures from zero to 4 degrees. Moreover, it is better to put the container not on the door, but deeper, on the middle or upper shelf.