So I’ve got a 89 fl oz container of Tropicana OJ and I swear it’s alive!!!:eek:
It’s one of the new containers with a fancy snap-open lid. I’d just poured a glass, and I was thinking of pouring one for Mr. singular, so I didn’t snap the plastic lid over the spout shut yet. All of a sudden the lid popped slightly open for a couple seconds and then fell back down into the resting position. It did this steadily for about four minutes, at which point I snapped it firmly shut & shoved it back in the fridge, doing a quick inventory of my hallucinogin intake. It’s been decades since I’d last indulged:(, and I’m not feverish, so it really happened. I showed my husband, and he said it had been doing that for a day or two. It doesn’t seem to matter what level of liquid is in the bottle. Assuming the idea of sentient OJ is out, what could cause this? It’s the first time I’ve used this bottle - anybody else familiar with this product? Should I alert the local media and grasp at the sweet smell of notoriety? Offer my over-active breakfast beverage to the highest bidder? Or just drink the rest of it and toss the demonic container into the recycling bin and try to forget my glimpse into the swamp of pulp-free madness?
Does it tastes “tingly?”
Because, OJ ferments really, really easily…
Does the OJ seem carbonated at all? If some yeast got into the bottle, it could be fermenting and releasing gas as part of the process. You may end up with orange wine, although I don’t know if it would be safe to drink. I guess it would depend on what type of yeast got in the bottle.
Strangely enough we just had a partially consumed gallon jug of OJ turn into a partially consumed jug of screwdrivers*, due to the content of alcohol which appeared as if by magic. Well actually, it appeared by fermentation but the taste of alcohol was unmistakeable, as was the effervescence from the dissolved carbon dioxide. From the internal pressure, the container had swollen up to the point where I could barely get my fingers around the handle. And I have slender fingers at that.
But nothing else in the refrigerator has spoiled as far as we can tell–eggs, butter, margarine, and milk were all fresh.
*Granted I don’t mean to assert that the alcohol generated was vodka specifically.
But how would yeast get in the jug?
We don’t keep any yeast here.
Yeast is naturally occurring in the environment.
Wild yeast is common. All you have to do is open the jug, and yeast can get in.
That’s not necessarily the cause of the “breathing” jug, though. Was it relatively warm in the room? Was the jug mostly empty? Could it be that refrigerated air inside the jug was warming, expanding, and occasionally pushing the lid up as it vented?
it is part of the new dynamic container developed by the manufacturer to suggest that you should consume a second glass. then again it might be gas.
I’ve experienced the same thing with the new pop-top bottles. I think it’s the temperature difference between cold fridge air and warmer non-fridge air. This changes the pressure, which can be enough to pop the lid open if it’s not sealed completely.
My guess is it’s just sloshing around in there after you poured a glass. The sloshing causing the plastic bottle to deform slightly over and over changing the internal gas volume slightly.
It may be this. There’s no noticeable fermentation or alcohol at all - that was my first guess as well. It sure was freaky, tho - & sorta delightful. I enjoyed having a possessed OJ container. Tomorrow it will be empty. I’ll see if it does another episode before it hits the recycle bin.
It’s just the air inside the jug expanding as it warms up.
Often, after I finish a carton of OJ and leave it, empty, outside the fridge it starts whistling after some minutes as the expanding air forces its way through the cap.
Sloshing will not do anything to change the gas volume. Changing the shape of the bottle will not do anything to change the gas volume.
Expansion of gas due to warming is another likely explanation, as is the “fermentation” hypothesis.
Reminds me of when I broke my glass lid to a pot. It broke into little cubes, but the cubes would spontaneously jump out at me while it sat there! I wish I’d had a video cam that I could have captured it.
Just don’t let it near any big knives.