I left a gallon of milk sitting on the kitchen floor all night. (I have way too much going on.) I put it in the fridge this morning when I saw it – should I just toss it? or if it smells okay when I open it, is it okay?
How warm was the room during this period?
IANA Food Hygienist, but I think with milk you can tell pretty easily if it’s gone off. If it smells OK then it should be fine.
Damn, didn’t mean to post yet. As I was saying, I’ve done this before and not had any ill-effects, although you will probably find that the milk won’t last as long as it would if it had been refrigerated the whole time.
Of course, if you have your heating up to tropical levels, or live in Thailand or somewhere, your mil(k)age may vary…
Milk is one of those wonderful foods where you can just ignore the label and use your judgement. I have half a jar of lemon curd which was opened a few moths ago and it’s fine, despite it having a 2001 date on the lid.
If it tastes ‘kind of funny’ but not sour or tangy in any way, drink it.
If there’s another wierd taste under the funny taste and it smells a bit, use it only for coffee.
Trust me: I’m a student.
Thanks, guys.
Mangetout – cool room temperature, probably 60 or 65.
I’ll give it a sniff and see what I think. I’d been thinking what r_k suggested, that it might be okay but not make it the full week I expect from a gallon of milk, so I guess I’ll be giving it a hearty sniff every time I take it out.