Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with milk

what's the science? and should i drink it?

msconduct — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:43:57 -0800

my mother used to put a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in milk to keep it fresh past the 'use by' date. it appears to work. very well. what's the chemistry behind this? and should i drink it?

An unwanted gallon of 2% milk

k. — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:28:05 -0800

What can I do with an unwanted gallon of 2% milk? I meant to get skim milk, but I bought 2% by accident. I can't stand 2% milk; it tastes like cream to me. I couldn't find anyone else who likes 2% either, so I don't think I can give it away. I put a little bit in my coffee, which was OK, but I'm not going to use it up that way. Should I just throw it away, or is there something else I can do with it?

I could try cooking something (if it doesn't taste too much like 2% milk), but I'm even open to non-food uses, if any exist.

Crying over poured milk. Why?

lexfri — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:29:23 -0800

My 3-year-old daughter suddenly hates drinking milk. Mealtimes are rife with tears and battles of will. How can we get her to drink milk happily and eagerly again? Anya has drunk milk well since she stopped nursing around 16 months. Very recently, she's been complaining that she doesn't want to drink her milk and would prefer water. This seems like normal, 3-year-old testing of life, limits, and controls. We're fine with that.

But seriously, we want her to drink milk. What do we do? We've tried other fun cups, "three small cups" instead of one big cup, "calls" to teachers and doctors who urge Anya to drink, etc. Each method works — sometimes.

Our approach doesn't scale, and we recognize that. We want to stop making such a big deal out of this, but still impress upon Anya that while she can control some things — the color of the cup, the order we eat breakfast foods — that milk is important. We're supplementing with other dairy options, but that doesn't get to the heart of my question:

How can we get her drinking milk again, without thrice-daily emotional breakdowns?

got milk? i do.

kitchencrush — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:07:19 -0800

What can I do with two bottles of real milk before they go bad tomorrow? So, I bought real, straight-from-the-cow milk at the farmers market on Saturday. I have not drank it all yet and am afraid that it will turn bad tomorrow since it doesn't last too long. What can I use it in, besides coffee, that will significantly benefit from its real yummy taste?

Photograph of a girl dribbling milk... Where is this from and / or who is it of?

FuckingAwesome — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:39:13 -0800

Photograph of a girl dribbling milk... Where is this from and / or who is it of? Please help! Thanks...

Real lactose-free milk in the Bay Area?

you — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:43:10 -0800

LactoseFilter: Where can I get real lactose free milk (i.e. the filtered kind, not the sickly-sweet enzymated stuff) in the Bay Area? Lactaid and all the other options I could find at the store are all made by adding lactase, which makes it sickly-sweet.

Valio seems to have this, but they only sell it on the east cost. Surely someone must have figured there would be a market for importing this stuff? I mean, where I come from the filtered stuff is something like four times the price of regular milk and still sells like hotcakes.

My Google-fu is weak. Are there specialty shops for this sort of thing? Can I have it shipped from the east cost myself?!

What can tasty things can be made with malted milk powder?

Napoleonic Terrier — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:46:01 -0800

What can tasty things can be made with malted milk powder? Aside from the obvious, that is. In desserts? baked goods? On vegetables? popcorn? Any suggestions welcomed.

Is this like when I said I was allergic to potatoes because I don't like french fries?

letahl — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:09:35 -0800

Can a person be allergic to milk but not ice cream, cheese, and butter? My buddy's g/f says she's allergic to milk (cooked or uncooked), but not ice cream, cheese, or butter. Seems fishy. They all have casein and lactose.

Do ye ol' MFs have insight on such a phenomena?

Is cheese bad like milk is for singing voices?

Quillcards — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:06:22 -0800

It is well-known that opera singers don't drink much milk because it makes phlegm and affects their voices, but what about cheese? Does that cause phlegm?

This coffee is worth the hassle, or else I'd stick to tea.

Solon and Thanks — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:30:17 -0800

Ca phe sua da crisis! Please help me figure out the best way to have condensed milk on hand. I love Vietnamese iced coffee, but am having some issues with the condensed milk: I can't use up anywhere near a whole can before it apparently expires. Upon opening, I store it in a closed glass syrup dispenser in the fridge - but some online sources say I should toss it after anywhere from a few days to a week. I'd like to keep it longer, and not have to constantly buy new cans for a cup of coffee in the morning, but am unsure how safe this is.

How can I tell when it is expired? (Does it change color, smell weird? Does it do nothing and I should play it safe rather than sorry?)

And: Any ideas for a solution to my problem? I could buy smaller cans online, but I'd prefer to buy the bigger, less expensive ones I can get in person. Is freezing worthwhile? Are there any delicious recipes I could make to use it up a little faster?

Impact of pasteurization on milk fat

Mimidae — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:38:53 -0800

I am trying to find information about the effects of normal pasteurization (not ultra) on fat molecules & fat soluble vitamins in bovine milk. Originally, I did not think it had any, but I've seen some indications that it does. For example, it appears that it decreases the fat soluble Vit. A content, but I can't find to what extent. Also, I want to know what effects it has on the fat molecules in general.

Is coconut milk fattening?

hifiparasol — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:46:37 -0800

Is coconut milk fattening? Lately I've been getting really into Trader Joe's Thai Green Curry simmer sauce, which I had assumed was relatively healthy until I happened to look at the label: 13 grams of saturated fat per serving, equaling 63 percent of the recommended daily value.

I assume most of this is coming from the coconut milk and shredded coconut in the sauce (there's no eggs/dairy/meat in it). I tried googling around for some info, but this was the best I could find, and I get a creepy SEO vibe from it. I get the same vibe from many of the other articles I found too -- though they all seem to offer some not-100%-convincing good news (that coconut milk can be healthy when combined with an active lifestyle, that Pacific islanders have low instances of obesity and heart disease, yada yada).

Has anyone read anything on this topic that can enlighten me?

Kids putting milk in super soakers...yes

trotter — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:22:40 -0800

80's-90's movie filter: What's that one where some kids fill their Super Soakers/water guns with actual milk to destroy...monsters, I think? I remember them depleting the town's milk supply. Cheesy movie. Any ideas? This has been bugging me for awhile.

Why cows need to calf to express milk?

foleypt — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:45:15 -0800

To maintain high milk production, a dairy cow must be bred and produce calves. Has any research been done on artificially stimulating milk production? Perhaps by artificial selection or by hormone treatment. As the calves are born half female half male that leaves farms with a surplus of male calves. In most countries the extra male calves are breed for a short while and then used as veal, in others they are simply shoot soon after birth. On a Hindu farm all the male cows are kept and worked on the farm. As an ovo-lacto vegetarian for many many years I am late to understanding that my milk drinking has an ethical cost and I am mostly comfortable about that on a "I'm doing what I can" basis and am unlikely to change now. However what I can't understand is why nobody seems to have tried alternative methods to getting cows to produce milk? I know the market for hormonally or genetically modified organic milk must be small but surely this would offer more efficiency for the dairy farmer?

Why does chocolate milk last longer in the fridge?

katocolon — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:14:39 -0800

Why does chocolate milk last longer than regular milk? I have a gallon of regular milk in the fridge, and some chocolate milk...the regular (whole for the baby, skim for us...) milk usually has an expiration date of roughly a week or so after we purchase it, but the chocolate milk has a date considerably further out...like a month...anyone have an explanation for this?

Evaporation or Condensed Milk

Funmonkey1 — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:50:53 -0800

[RelationshipFilter]: Omelettes. Which is better to add to the eggs? I believe it's milk, and contend her family resorted to water as a result of poverty. What is the difference or is it just preference?

my powdered milk cup overfloweth

chickadee — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:08:24 -0800

what the hell do i do with three pounds of whole-fat dried milk? so, someone at work was throwing away a whole bunch of whole-fat dry milk, originally a sample from a company but not needed anymore.

well, gosh darn it, i thought, what a shame! modern-recession-frugality dictates this need not to go waste! so i brought a big ol'bag of dried milk home. i realized halfway through the bike ride home i have NO IDEA what to do with dried milk. it has been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days now.

Google brings up a lot of lame things, like "add to hot chocolate". LAME. i am also not really interested in drinking powdered milk straight up.

so, mefites, help a sister out! do not let this rescue mission go south!

what are the most awesome things I can achieve with this dried milk?

do you have delicious and tasty recipes that use a lot of dried milk? what about potentially mind-blowing baked goods? art projects? 1980s-yuppie-coke-themed party? that home-made playdough stuff that hippie parents make? i like edible things the best.

(also, the fact that it is supposed to be used for large-scale food processing - relevant?)

Indian food allergies?

zeek321 — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:33:56 -0800

Which Indian restaurant dishes never have wheat or dairy (or corn or eggs)? I have seriously annoying but not dangerous food allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs, and corn. I know cream is in a bunch of Indian dishes, but I've also had some amazing Indian food that hasn't given me any problem at all. (Trace amounts of allergens don't seem to cause a reaction for me, i.e. as long as it's not an official ingredient.)

Can you help me compile a list of the "types" of dishes that I can eat? (e.g., if the dish has X in the name or it's cooked in way Y, then it's definitely safe. If it has Z in the name, then it's cooked with cream, etc...)

No-carb carnivore cooking and diet tips?

korpios — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:08:31 -0800

What are some cooking and diet tips for an ovo-lacto carnivore? (No, that wasn't a typo.) After reading Good Calories, Bad Calories, I swiftly changed my entire dietary regimen over to a near-zero-carbohydrate diet. I still eat leafy greens — but other than that, I barely touch single-carb foods and refuse to eat anything with more than a single carb per serving. The bulk of my diet now consists of meat, eggs, and cheese, along with servings of spinach leaves here and there. While I've gotten creative with mixing ingredients into omelettes, I'd like to expand my culinary horizons a bit while staying within the boundaries of my chosen diet. Does anyone have any suggestions for doing so? (Examples: ingredients to try, useful cooking techniques, or recipe sources.)

Note: Please do not reply with either moral or major health concerns regarding my diet; that's not what I'm asking for. Minor health concerns, e.g., "you might want to take a Vitamin C supplement", are okay.

Why do dairy products leave me with a bad taste?

ooklala — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:15:25 -0800

Why did dairy products suddenly start giving me a horrible aftertaste? About a week ago I bought some eggnog (Stony Brook). It was delicious, but I noticed a weird lingering bitterish aftertaste, and attributed it to the eggnog being stale. A few days later, I had some cereal with milk (regular corner bodega whatever brand), and noticed the same aftertaste. I thought maybe the milk had gone bad too. On Sunday, I had an ice cream sundae, enjoyed it and then about 5 minutes later, you guessed it--same aftertaste.
What has lead to this phenomenon?

I don't really like drinking milk as is, but like ice cream, eggnog, and cereal with milk, and really want to be able to enjoy them again.

Did I spoil "Milk"?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:37:25 -0800

Question about the film Sean Penn film "Milk" for those that have seen it (may be spoilers) In fact, spoilers are the topic of the question. Does the film "Milk" assume that you do not know he is assassinated? I accidentally told someone about his fate, and they felt I spoiled the film. Does the movie mention it early, or is it a major suspense point of the film that's meant to blindside the viewer, some who have never heard of Harvey Milk?

Obviously the film looks fantastic, and I am sure many viewers are aware of his demise. But I just wanted to know if any of the emotional punch was lost due to knowing about his fate.

Milk it up!

chrisalbon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:55:45 -0800

Is it OK to keep tea+milk in a thermos for 24 hours before drinking? Recently my wife has been doing overnight call at her hospital (30 hours working in the hospital at a time). To make it a little easier for her, I have been filling a vacuum thermos with hot tea (with milk... English tea basically) for her to drink.

My wife usually drinks the tea a full 24 hours after I put it in the thermos and while the tea is still hot (awesome thermos), I are wondering if it is still safe to drink the milk.

Is the milk still safe after sitting in a hot thermos for 24 hours?

My mother pronounces it "meee-yolk."

Ugh — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:00:35 -0800

Curiosity-filter: Why can't we drink primate milk? I was reading this ridiculous article when I came across this:

"They are not on the list of approved species such as cows and sheep, but they are also not on the list of the banned species such as apes and primates," Rolf Etter of the Zurich food control laboratory said."

Why are apes on the banned list? Seems like if they were our closest relatives, there would be no real harm in drinking their milk. Where is this banned/ approved list?

Getting milk out of computer keyboard

i_am_joe's_spleen — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:10:19 -0800

Crying over spilled milk - in Mac keyboard. My darling spilled a glass of milk over her keyboard. The milk has drained away, but the keyboard is not happy, with some keys not working and others apparently stuck on.

What is our best bet for salvaging it?

Can milk cause constipation?

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:59:24 -0800

Can [cold] milk cause constipation? My mother, grandmother, and great grandmother all swear that cold milk causes constipation, and my sister thinks so too, and I have definitely been having severe problems drinking milk (cold or warm, no difference). As far as I can search the internet, milk is supposed to be GOOD for constipation. Not the other way around. What goes?