Milk is a valuable food product 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 much milk can be stored in the refrigerator?
Topical issue requiring clarification.
How much milk can be stored in the refrigerator: a fresh farm product
The most useful cow's milk is fresh, fresh. Get 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 difficult for the body.
Despite the fact that buying farm milk from unfamiliar sellers is quite dangerous, people continue to do so. How much milk can be stored in the refrigerator depends on the temperature of the household appliance:
• from 6 to 8 degrees - 18 hours;
• at 5-6 degrees - not 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 soon as necessary.
Thaw milk ice cubes in the refrigerator, not in the 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, the shelf life at medium temperatures (up to 8 degrees) increases to four days. At low, the product will quietly stand still for two weeks. Another question is that in boiled milk there are practically no vitamins and valuable protein (although pathogens, 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, with a clean container under a tight lid. The product is stored worse than the cow, so the question of container cleanliness in this case is the main one.
How much milk can be stored in the refrigerator after processing
In addition to boiling, there are other types of processing of milk for the purpose of its long storage. It is this kind of processed milk that is sold in stores and supermarkets.
• Sterilization - This is the processing of the product at temperatures above 100 degrees and keeping for several seconds under high pressure. No microorganism can withstand such conditions. Unfortunately, as with boiling, vitamins, proteins, and useful fatty acids are destroyed.
• Pasteurization - warming purified milk to 75 degrees in a special bowl. This is a more gentle treatment with respect to beneficial substances. Microorganisms die, but calcium, phosphorus, vitamins are preserved.
• Ultra Pasteurization assumes that the process takes place with minimal access to external factors, in a closed system. Milk is heated to 137 degrees and is rapidly cooled to 20.
How much milk can be stored 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 as follows:
• pasteurization in packaging film for 4 days, in a cardboard box for a week, in a tetrapack for two weeks;
• sterilization is stored for up to six months;
• ultra-pasteurization in a 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 in ice water.
How much milk can 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. A bottle of processed pasteurized product will stand in the refrigerator for no more than ten days.
How much milk can be stored in the refrigerator: tips
After opening the bag with store 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 much milk can be stored in the refrigerator also depends on the location of the bag. The cooler the shelf is selected, the longer the souring process does not take place. It is important to ensure that there are no smelling foods near the open bag. Milk can absorb odor.
It is not worth pouring a product from store packaging. Glass containers, vacuum packaging, tetrapack, it is better to keep 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.
You can also use milk powder in the home kitchen. 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 are worth saying about the storage of breast milk. Such a need may arise in the life of every lactating 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.
Strained milk is best dispensed into containers to the extent that the baby is used to eating. The fact is that again you can not store a used bottle. Do not mix leftovers with a new portion.
How much milk can be stored in the refrigerator after decantation? Not longer than four days at normal temperature 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.
