# How to use expired milk?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 26, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089 "2019-06-26T09:02:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nimi31](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nimi31)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/1 "2019-06-26T09:02:39Z")
Hi, like the topic, do y’all have any idea?
Thank you in advance//
---
### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/2 "2019-06-26T09:11:33Z")
Make cheese!
---
### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/3 "2019-06-26T09:15:04Z")
It may depend on what you mean by ‘expired’. If it is past its sell-by date, then use your nose to establish whether it is still usable. I keep my milk at 4°C and it is still fine well over a week past the date.
If you mean after it has gone lumpy and started to smell - I have no suggestions.
---
### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/4 "2019-06-26T10:02:57Z")
> [@SanVito](#):
>
> Make cheese!
As soon as the bag of pasteurized milk smelled a bit off, we’d exclaim “_requesón_ for Daddy!” and open a new one. Leave it in place for a couple of days; when the liquid and clumps have separated, the clumps are your _requesón_, or if Google is correct, cottage cheese. It combines well with sweet stuff such as jams, honey, maple syrup, quince cheese…
---
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/5 "2019-06-26T11:20:35Z")
You can use it for things where the milk is heated. My Ma used to use sour milk to make pudding. The old fashioned, double boiler with pudding skin kind. Yum!
---
### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/6 "2019-06-26T12:12:25Z")
Feed it to the pigs!
(Our neighbors have a farm market. They raise a few pigs every year, fattening them on produce no longer fit for sale. The pigs looooove bad milk.)
---
### Author:  [@Didactylos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didactylos)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/7 "2019-06-26T12:23:10Z")
Pancakes!
---
### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/8 "2019-06-26T14:51:23Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> As soon as the bag of pasteurized milk smelled a bit off, we’d exclaim “_requesón_ for Daddy!” and open a new one. Leave it in place for a couple of days; when the liquid and clumps have separated, the clumps are your _requesón_, or if Google is correct, cottage cheese. It combines well with sweet stuff such as jams, honey, maple syrup, quince cheese…
My mother (born in 1914) said that used to work fine with raw milk, but that it didn’t work with pasteurized milk, which soured in the wrong fashion and just went rotten.
You’ve apparently had different results; though it’s possible she was used to, and liked the results of, soured cheese made from raw milk, and didn’t like the results from pasteurized milk because they weren’t what she was used to. It’s also possible the bacteria floating around in the air in your location are different.
I pour it down the sink; add bacteria to the septic system.
---
### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/9 "2019-06-26T15:50:34Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> My mother (born in 1914) said that used to work fine with raw milk, but that it didn’t work with pasteurized milk, which soured in the wrong fashion and just went rotten.
>
> You’ve apparently had different results; though it’s possible she was used to, and liked the results of, soured cheese made from raw milk, and didn’t like the results from pasteurized milk because they weren’t what she was used to. It’s also possible the bacteria floating around in the air in your location are different.
>
> I pour it down the sink; add bacteria to the septic system.
Pasteurizing and then storing milk cold for days and week will indeed change what bacteria dominate spoilage. I would definitely not make cheese from milk that is about to go bad, but if it just smells slightly sour and not rotten, I’d make waffles.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/10 "2019-06-26T15:58:10Z")
Moved to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
---
### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/11 "2019-06-26T16:21:13Z")
You can make a hat, or a brooch, a pterodactyl…
wait wrong thread.
Spread it before your enemies, and hear the lamentations of their women.
---
### Author:  [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/12 "2019-06-26T16:40:15Z")
Just the day before yesterday, I finished a quart of milk that was 13 days past it’s “sell by” date. It tasted fine.
---
### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/13 "2019-06-26T16:54:44Z")
I’ve had 4% milk go sour on me within 24 hours of opening the carton. (This was in Latvia.) I would put the remnants into a Turkish coffee pot and gently heat them until curds formed on top. Then I’d drain off the whey and spread the resulting cream cheese on my morning toast. Yum! :o
I tried doing this with Canadian milk, but it just didn’t work the same. Maybe it had been sour for too long. ☹
---
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/14 "2019-06-26T16:56:39Z")
> [@bob\_2](#):
>
> If it is past its sell-by date, then use your nose to establish whether it is still usable.
This. One of the best lessons I’ve learned in life is that spoiled milk _isn’t subtle_. If there’s any question about whether the milk is fine, it’s fine.
---
### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/15 "2019-06-26T17:54:50Z")
My nephew used to refuse to drink milk past its sell-by date. I wonder if he’s changed his tune now that he has to buy his own groceries?
But another vote for the sniff test. Once it’s bad, it goes down the drain, but that doesn’t happen very often in our house.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/16 "2019-06-26T18:14:52Z")
We use a lot of milk, and have three grocery stores within a block of our house. I can’t remember the last time we had milk that came within a week of its sell-by date.
That said, milk is cheap. If it goes bad, throw it away and buy more.
---
### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/17 "2019-06-26T18:38:19Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#):
>
> This. One of the best lessons I’ve learned in life is that spoiled milk _isn’t subtle_. If there’s any question about whether the milk is fine, it’s fine.
Not for my digestive system.
I can and do eat yogurt way past its expiration date. Milk, not more than a day or two, and then only if it smells entirely fine.
---
### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/18 "2019-06-26T18:44:00Z")
A related thing I’ve always wondered: Sometimes I’ll have half a carton of heavy cream that’s been left in the fridge too long and has turned thick, like sour cream, which I guess is exactly what it is. I always throw it out when this happens, just to be on the safe side. But I’ve always wondered if it’s safe to just keep it and use it like I’d use store bought sour cream, or if there’s some difference between the two that makes store bought sour cream safe to eat and the stuff that turned sour in the fridge not safe.
---
### Author:  [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/19 "2019-06-26T18:45:56Z")
> [@Didactylos](#):
>
> Pancakes!
My mother always used sour milk (i.e., by adding vinegar) or older milk for pancakes. Much better than fresh milk!
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089/20 "2019-06-26T18:50:34Z")
My mom used old milk to make chocolate pudding, and old eggs to make brownies. Chocolate covers a lot of sins.
If it’s really nasty, throw it out. But if it’s just a little old it’s fine to use in anything where it will be mixed with other stuff and cooked. And yeah, I don’t even look at the expiration date. If the milk wasn’t just opened, I sniff it as I am about to pour. If it smells good, it’s fine.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-expired-milk/836089.md?page=2)