This is food-related, but I put it here because it’s a poll. Mods, please move if necessary.
Whenever I take the carton of milk out of my fridge, I smell it to make sure it hasn’t gone bad. I only use milk for coffee/tea, so it can sit there a long time. Doesn’t everyone do this?
But the question is, do you to it at other people’s houses… like if you’ve spent the night and you’re having breakfast, or if you’re having after-dinner coffee. would you do it only at a close relative or friend’s house or if you were sure no one was looking? I can’t cover all these nuances in my simple poll, so feel free to elaborate, explain, justify, defend, or whatever.
I only smell the milk if I’ve accidentally left it out on the counter for a while and I want to make sure it hasn’t gone bad. I usually check a milk’s freshness by looking at the expiry date.
I live with my sister and the two of us drink so much milk, that milk going bad almost never happens as we drink it up well before the expiry date.
Sure, it’s automatic for me to take a whiff and double check freshness. I don’t want to pour sour milk, and waste a bowl of cereal . Cornbread mix, or even a cup of coffee.
I do it anywhere if I’m the one pouring the milk. Typically they prepare breakfast if I’m staying at friends homes. I’ve been served cereal with milk that was a little off. I take a couple bites and if its really bad, push it aside.
At my own home, I know exactly when I’ve bought the milk and it almost never stays around long enough to go bad. I buy it on Friday and by the following Friday or Saturday it’s gone (I drink a glass daily).
I don’t drink milk at people’s houses. I never stay the night at anyone’s house, and if I was going to have after dinner coffee, I’d have creamer or half-and-half and I’d never dream of smelling it. Even if it was poured and it turned out to be bad I might not say anything. I am the guest after all; I might just demur that I was too full, after all, to drink my coffee.
The Firebug, age 7, drinks a lot of milk. We go through a half-gallon jug every 3 days, give or take. There’s really no way for milk to go bad in our refrigerator, unless we have milk left in the fridge from before a trip or something like that. In that case, when we return, I’ll sniff it to see if it’s still good.
Also I keep half-and-half in the fridge at work. I don’t use it all that frequently, so I sniff it if it’s been around awhile.
I’ve sniffed the milk in my MIL’s house when we’ve stayed there in the past. She’s a pack-rat, and is as bad about throwing stuff out of her refrigerator as she is about throwing out anything else. (Unlike with the rest of the house, though, she’ll let us clean out her fridge and toss stuff.)
Can’t recall having sniffed the milk at friends’ houses, although it’s not the sort of thing I’d remember.
I don’t stay at other people’s houses. I rarely sniff it at my house, because I know when I bought it and I by only as much as I need, so it never stick around long enough to go bad.
Milk at my house does not have time to go bad. I buy a quart of half and half and it is gone days before the sell by date. A gal of whole milk lasts about 3 days, so I never smell it.
I can’t remember using milk from someone else’s house, but I guess I trust them to get rid of it before letting me have some if it has gone bad.
I so rarely drink milk or use it in beverages (like coffee) that I don’t ever sniff. And when baking at home I know when it was bought so there is no need to sniff. I went no - never.
Sorry I left out the “sell-by” date option. I always smell the milk, no matter how close it is to the sell-by date. Y’all are very trusting. The milk may have sat in a truck unrefrigerated or something and smelling it only takes a second. I said you would need to provide your own nuances.
MayGirl is the primary milk drinker here, so I don’t often deal with the milk, nor do we often have milk go bad. When I take out the milk, I smell it in the jug before I pour. If I’m going to be drinking it, I’ll smell it in the glass before I drink it, too. Soured milk is nasty.