Chilly Milk How2s
April 24, 2012 7:37 AM Subscribe
I like the taste of milk best when it is very cold. Colder, perhaps than the minimum temperature of my refrigerator. Or at least the minimum I'm going to adjust it for the comfort of the other foodstuffs. Any tips or products for keeping milk duly chilled?
I like drinks to be slightly colder than the 4C my refrigerator runs at, so I just put them in the freezer at -19C for half an hour before I drink them.
posted by pipeski at 7:42 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by pipeski at 7:42 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
Put it in a colder spot in the fridge, perhaps? Many people put milk in the compartments in the doors, but that spot tends to be less well chilled. Try the shelves, any shelf.
posted by Conspire at 7:43 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Conspire at 7:43 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
Our fridge is set at a good temperature, but milk put in the back freezes solid - especially when the fridge is very full*. You probably don't want yours frozen, but move it around a bit and experiment.
*I think more mass inside makes temperature changes happen slower, so it might take a bit (of course you could give it a jump with some time in the freezer) but once extra-chilled, it can stay that way for a while.
posted by attercoppe at 7:44 AM on April 24, 2012
*I think more mass inside makes temperature changes happen slower, so it might take a bit (of course you could give it a jump with some time in the freezer) but once extra-chilled, it can stay that way for a while.
posted by attercoppe at 7:44 AM on April 24, 2012
Stick a heavy glass mug or similar in your freezer, and pour the chilled milk into that. Pour it, give it a minute, drink.
posted by curious nu at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by curious nu at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
I like to drink milk just after thawing, with little bits of frozen milk chips floating in it. Try freezing small batches, then set one out to thaw overnight. Icy milk in the morning!
posted by SLC Mom at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by SLC Mom at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2012
Use a refrigerator thermometer to precisely determine that cold spot in your fridge. Best $7 you'll spend in this quest.
I also like the chilled mug idea. You can also pour the milk through the reusable ice cubes, in case you're putting the milk in cereal.
posted by Mercaptan at 7:54 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
I also like the chilled mug idea. You can also pour the milk through the reusable ice cubes, in case you're putting the milk in cereal.
posted by Mercaptan at 7:54 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
I used to put ice cubes in it. I think the suggestions of the reusable ones are cool too!
posted by Yellow at 7:54 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by Yellow at 7:54 AM on April 24, 2012
Granite cubes (meant for cooling expensive Scotch without diluting it).
posted by gauche at 7:57 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by gauche at 7:57 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
You can freeze some milk into ice cubes, and put those cubes into your cup of milk a few minutes before you're ready to drink it. (This is what I do with juice and it works perfectly for me.)
posted by shamash at 7:58 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by shamash at 7:58 AM on April 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
You are me. I either toss a glass of milk in the freezer and keep it there for a good long time as I am making dinner, or I keep a pint glass in the freezer and put milk in it right before I'm ready to drink it.
posted by jessamyn at 8:07 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by jessamyn at 8:07 AM on April 24, 2012
This might seem odd, but I also don't like milk unless it's really cold, and I've found that drinking out of a stoneware / ceramic mug instead of glass seems to help. (In addition to ice.)
posted by cobaltnine at 8:22 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by cobaltnine at 8:22 AM on April 24, 2012
If you have ample fridge space, pour the milk into a carafe, and keep the carafe in a bucket (in the fridge) that is always full of ice.
There's just something about pouring milk from a carafe that always seems super fancy to me, so that adds to the enjoyment.
posted by phunniemee at 9:42 AM on April 24, 2012
There's just something about pouring milk from a carafe that always seems super fancy to me, so that adds to the enjoyment.
posted by phunniemee at 9:42 AM on April 24, 2012
Buy a dorm-size refrigerator. The kuanes household did this, but this had more to do with having two kids who drink a ton of juices/Gatorade/etc, and we needed a fridge for just their drinks. But it's much cheaper to keep that small refrigerator colder just for drinks.
posted by kuanes at 10:28 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by kuanes at 10:28 AM on April 24, 2012
Yeah, I keep a glass in the fridge at all times specifically for milk. SO TASTY.
posted by elizardbits at 11:29 AM on April 24, 2012
posted by elizardbits at 11:29 AM on April 24, 2012
How about a freezer mug? Works well for keeping my beer cold, I'm sure it would work with milk. They also make a freezable can cozy which would work if you had a glass that fit inside.
posted by amelliferae at 2:54 PM on April 24, 2012
posted by amelliferae at 2:54 PM on April 24, 2012
Drink it out of a metal cup like this. I am sure there's a sciencey reason for it, but drinking cold milk out of a metal cup makes it (seem?) so cold it could crack your teeth.
Also, I second the suggestion to add ice. My mom used to do this and I have recently discovered that it does improve the milk drinking experience.
One more suggestion: get the lowest fat content you can stand to drink- the higher fat milks don't seem as cold to drink (again, I am sure there's a sciencey reason for this).
posted by LyndsayMW at 7:23 PM on April 24, 2012
Also, I second the suggestion to add ice. My mom used to do this and I have recently discovered that it does improve the milk drinking experience.
One more suggestion: get the lowest fat content you can stand to drink- the higher fat milks don't seem as cold to drink (again, I am sure there's a sciencey reason for this).
posted by LyndsayMW at 7:23 PM on April 24, 2012
Buy the thermometer and keep your fridge as close to freezing as possible. Your food will stay fresh longer.
posted by gjc at 9:46 PM on April 24, 2012
posted by gjc at 9:46 PM on April 24, 2012
Oh man, this reminds me of a passage from Cryptonomicon:
"He goes to the kitchen, opens the fridge, reaches deep into the back, and finds an unopened box-bag-pod-unit of UHT milk. UHT milk need not, technically, be refrigerated, but it is pivotal, in what is to follow, that the milk be only a few microdegrees above the point of freezing. The fridge in Randy’s apartment has louvers in the back where the cold air is blown in, straight from the freon coils. Randy always stores his milk-pods directly in front of those louvers. Not too close, or else the pods will block the flow of air, and not too far away either. The cold air becomes visible as it rushes in and condenses moisture, so it is a simple matter to sit there with the fridge door open and observe its flow characteristics, like an engineer testing an experimental minivan in a River Rouge wind tunnel. What Randy would like to see, ideally, is the whole milk-pod enveloped in an even, jacketlike flow to produce better heat exchange through the multilayered plastic-and-foil skin of the milk-pod. He would like the milk to be so cold that when he reaches in and grabs it, he feels the flexible, squishy pod stiffen between his fingers as ice crystals spring into existence, summoned out of nowhere simply by the disturbance of being squished."
http://www.euskalnet.net/larraorma/crypto/slide58.html
posted by world b free at 1:10 AM on April 25, 2012
"He goes to the kitchen, opens the fridge, reaches deep into the back, and finds an unopened box-bag-pod-unit of UHT milk. UHT milk need not, technically, be refrigerated, but it is pivotal, in what is to follow, that the milk be only a few microdegrees above the point of freezing. The fridge in Randy’s apartment has louvers in the back where the cold air is blown in, straight from the freon coils. Randy always stores his milk-pods directly in front of those louvers. Not too close, or else the pods will block the flow of air, and not too far away either. The cold air becomes visible as it rushes in and condenses moisture, so it is a simple matter to sit there with the fridge door open and observe its flow characteristics, like an engineer testing an experimental minivan in a River Rouge wind tunnel. What Randy would like to see, ideally, is the whole milk-pod enveloped in an even, jacketlike flow to produce better heat exchange through the multilayered plastic-and-foil skin of the milk-pod. He would like the milk to be so cold that when he reaches in and grabs it, he feels the flexible, squishy pod stiffen between his fingers as ice crystals spring into existence, summoned out of nowhere simply by the disturbance of being squished."
http://www.euskalnet.net/larraorma/crypto/slide58.html
posted by world b free at 1:10 AM on April 25, 2012
Also, if you use a metal cup, you can keep THAT in the freezer as long as you want and still keep the milk in the fridge.
posted by world b free at 1:12 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by world b free at 1:12 AM on April 25, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Quonab at 7:41 AM on April 24, 2012 [1 favorite]