Shelf Stable Milk

Its good for a year. then refrig for 7 days after opening. Is this something you would want to store ? Sounds better than powdered milk !
 
What’s the price of this vs regular milk?
 
Never mind I just looked it up.

This stuff is $12 a quart while regular whole milk is on average $2.40 a gallon or $0.60 a quart.

That’s over 12 times the cost. I think I’ll stick with powdered or evaporated for that price.
 
🤮 Maybe it's gotten better than it used to be. When I was stationed in Germany, we used to get a lot of Parmelot brand milk. Supposed to be good for a year.

Then we got to pull port security for a merchant marine ship. I was never so happy to have fresh milk
 
Around ten years ago I did a site visit with a milk manufacturer that was doing a long shelf life product. All milk is sterilized in the pasteurization process. The difference is in the packaging. They were in line sterilizing the containers and aseptic filling in isolators. It was supposed to be good for 12 months unrefrigerated.
 
1075tech said:
🤮 Maybe it's gotten better than it used to be. When I was stationed in Germany, we used to get a lot of Parmelot brand milk. Supposed to be good for a year.

Then we got to pull port security for a merchant marine ship. I was never so happy to have fresh milk
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Yeah parmelot I’ve had and it was horrible.
 
waxhaw said:
Paid a 1.25 a quart at the dollar store. Tasted it tonight after putting it in the fridge. Same taste as regular milk.
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Fair enough.

I just googled it and came up with that price off of Amazon.

A buck and a quarter is not horrible for shelf stable.
 
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There are times that I will choose Powdered Milk over regular refrigerated milk. Especially when cooking and I do not want to use up all the cold milk for a dish that requires several cups.

I knew a kid growing up that put ice cubes in his glass of milk.....to this day, that is still a weird thing to do.
 
Chriselalto said:
There are times that I will choose Powdered Milk over regular refrigerated milk. Especially when cooking and I do not want to use up all the cold milk for a dish that requires several cups.

I knew a kid growing up that put ice cubes in his glass of milk.....to this day, that is still a weird thing to do.
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Dude. Iced milk is the bomb.
 
we put ice cubes in our milk as kids,
because the milk was still sort of warm.
farm fresh, you know.
 
Chriselalto said:
There are times that I will choose Powdered Milk over regular refrigerated milk. Especially when cooking and I do not want to use up all the cold milk for a dish that requires several cups.

I knew a kid growing up that put ice cubes in his glass of milk.....to this day, that is still a weird thing to do.
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My Mom used to mix powdered milk and whole milk 50/50 to extend the amount of milk for our family of 7. I don't know that there would be a significant cost savings these days doing that.
 
The question of milk preservation is very interesting. Although many do not think in these terms, the historical method for storing the nutrients and calories that milk provides is,,,, cheese making. Cheese making allows a very long period of preservation. I don't have a lot of experience with shelf stable milk or with powdered milk. On our homestead we have dairy goats so the question of the consumption and preservation of this resource is something we have considered. If you have the freezer space, I know that the FDA says that milk can be frozen for up to 3 months. A more controversial option is canning milk, but I would not recommend it.

Methinks that having a dairy animal is one of the most important resources a homesteader can have. Owning an animal that can produce fresh milk for 305 days a year + the art of cheese making, sort of makes the milk preservation/shelf life issue a moot point. But if one has made the commitment/investment to own a dairy animal, and one is contemplating the question of caloric/food preservation without the benefit of refrigeration than I would suggest culturing milk into Kefir. Kefir is one of the best things anyone can consume and is a culture that we scrupulously maintain!
 
Why we need milk cow? I have food lion? durrr
 
We get it from dollar tree as well. When cold I can't see a significant difference.

We keep some in stock; when I gets close to expiration we just use it up and restock.
 
Much of the world's population lives without refrigeration- or very small fridges compared to ours - parmalot et al serve a lot of market share globally. This is not a newfangled fad.

Personally milk is the easiest thing for me to imagine not having in a crisis. Understand with small kids things are different.
 
We keep the parmalat milk at the house for such occasions. It works out fine but is about 3 bucks or so a quart
 
This is how we preserve our milk.

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Dobby The House Boxer is one of the dumbest (but lovingest) dogs I've ever had.

But don't look cross-eyed at any of the goats. Especially the kids!

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Dobby does a good job of preserving our goats long enough for us to get the milk. When we have excess outside of daily use the wife makes various cheeses.



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1075tech said:
🤮 Maybe it's gotten better than it used to be. When I was stationed in Germany, we used to get a lot of Parmelot brand milk. Supposed to be good for a year.

Then we got to pull port security for a merchant marine ship. I was never so happy to have fresh milk
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I seem to remember irradiated milk for long shelf life in the Army.
 
Tailhunter said:
More info on this subject, please.
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Sure! We have been doing Kefir for over 15years or so with some breaks here and there.

So there was a guy that won the Nobel Prize at the turn of the 20th century who studied immunity and longevity. He is called the "father of gerontology." Funny how old things become new. He had lots of opinions about gut health and probiotics. He noted that there were more centenarians in the Caucasus and the Balkans than any other place in the world. This Metchnikoff fella attributed their long life and health to a regional cultured milk product called Kefir which he called the elixer of life. It's origins are elusive and apparently was regarded as something one held close to the chest because it was so valuable. Very crazy stories in Kefir's history.

Basically Kefir is made by adding a complex globular matrix of beneficial bacteria and yeast called "grains" or "pearls" to milk.
rbUim6J.jpeg


We add ours to warm strained milk, straight out of the goat so that we don't select for cold loving bacteria over warm loving ones. No refrigeration is needed for making Kefir. The grains culture the milk. We put it on the counter at room temp and have it every day, year round. If our goats need to be dried up, we freeze the grains and revive them when the goats come back into milk. You just have to figure your grain to milk ratio to give you the amount of finished kefir you want. I leave a cloth over the top so that it can breath but have a wide mouth plastic lid I keep nearby so that I can turn the jar upside down and gently stir a couple times a day so that it cultures evenly through. When it is finished I like to chill mine before consumption. We like to add vanilla, or strawberry jam and banana, cinnamon maple, etc to add some variety to how we drink it. But everybody gets a swig or two no matter what, every day. There are some tricks to getting it right but when you do, you have a wonderful "cheesy" thick effervescent beverage. If you let it go two long it will separate into curds and whey. No problem, just scoop the curds into a cheese cloth and hang it overnight from your faucet over the sink. You will wake up to soft spreadable cheese much like cream cheese. Add some garlic or chives and you have a real treat to put on a bagel or crackers. We have even used it as a sub for ricotta. Kefir can also be maintained as a natural culture for cheese making.

There is lots more on the topic, but I've been accused of being a WOT if I type to much, whatever that means. Hope this helps feel free to PM me. I have tons of Kefir grains anyone wants to get started and lives close to Boone.
 
Philosofarmer said:
Sure! We have been doing Kefir for over 15years or so with some breaks here and there.

So there was a guy that won the Nobel Prize at the turn of the 20th century who studied immunity and longevity. He is called the "father of gerontology." Funny how old things become new. He had lots of opinions about gut health and probiotics. He noted that there were more centenarians in the Caucasus and the Balkans than any other place in the world. This Metchnikoff fella attributed their long life and health to a regional cultured milk product called Kefir which he called the elixer of life. It's origins are elusive and apparently was regarded as something one held close to the chest because it was so valuable. Very crazy stories in Kefir's history.

Basically Kefir is made by adding a complex globular matrix of beneficial bacteria and yeast called "grains" or "pearls" to milk.
rbUim6J.jpeg


We add ours to warm strained milk, straight out of the goat so that we don't select for cold loving bacteria over warm loving ones. No refrigeration is needed for making Kefir. The grains culture the milk. We put it on the counter at room temp and have it every day, year round. If our goats need to be dried up, we freeze the grains and revive them when the goats come back into milk. You just have to figure your grain to milk ratio to give you the amount of finished kefir you want. I leave a cloth over the top so that it can breath but have a wide mouth plastic lid I keep nearby so that I can turn the jar upside down and gently stir a couple times a day so that it cultures evenly through. When it is finished I like to chill mine before consumption. We like to add vanilla, or strawberry jam and banana, cinnamon maple, etc to add some variety to how we drink it. But everybody gets a swig or two no matter what, every day. There are some tricks to getting it right but when you do, you have a wonderful "cheesy" thick effervescent beverage. If you let it go two long it will separate into curds and whey. No problem, just scoop the curds into a cheese cloth and hang it overnight from your faucet over the sink. You will wake up to soft spreadable cheese much like cream cheese. Add some garlic or chives and you have a real treat to put on a bagel or crackers. We have even used it as a sub for ricotta. Kefir can also be maintained as a natural culture for cheese making.

There is lots more on the topic, but I've been accused of being a WOT if I type to much, whatever that means. Hope this helps feel free to PM me. I have tons of Kefir grains anyone wants to get started and lives close to Boone.
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I have been reading a lot about gut health, immunity and health. I think you have a solid plan there. I’m stuck with store bought yogurts, but it’s better than nothing.
 
I once had an eastern european coworker who brought in fresh yogurt every day. Just a bottle of goatmilk, a spoon full of yesterdays yogurt, and a warm place. every day. every time i saw her. yogurt.
 
DrScaryGuy said:
I once had an eastern european coworker who brought in fresh yogurt every day. Just a bottle of goatmilk, a spoon full of yesterdays yogurt, and a warm place. every day. every time i saw her. yogurt.
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Yep, eastern Europeans do lots of yogurt and kefir. In fact women in Ukraine into Russia will do a "kefir" diet the month after giving birth. They eat as much vegetable soup as the want, and eat kefir for a month straight.

Yogurt is good but kefir is king!
 
rufrdr said:
My Mom used to mix powdered milk and whole milk 50/50 to extend the amount of milk for our family of 7. I don't know that there would be a significant cost savings these days doing that.
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Not so much done as a cost savings, when cooking or baking ill use it instead of the fridge milk.

Powdered milk can be mixed then chilled. When you're our of regular milk, a trip is needed.

When you can plan ahead to avoid a trip, I plan to make that choice.
 
Shelf stable milk? Don’t we call that cheese? 😝
 
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