# No, really. Is this milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334 "2010-11-29T22:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/21 "2010-11-30T17:56:18Z")
It’s better than that instant milk crap. Carnation Instant Milk is an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/22 "2010-11-30T19:56:43Z")
I grew up on it, and I actually like it better than fresh skim milk. UHT skim milk tastes… more malty than fresh skim, which is, to me, too watery to drink by itself. We’ve always kept it in the fridge, even when unopened, so I never drank it “lukewarm”. While I drank the fresh milk at my grandparents’, I suspect I drank the UHT stuff at my house because the fridge was smaller and my parents themselves were more accustomed to it. They also dislike the fresh stuff. It’s too watery for them. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/23 "2010-11-30T23:52:52Z")
Question for those of you using the term “fresh milk”…do you mean normally pasturized milk or actually fresh (raw) milk? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/24 "2010-12-01T00:07:00Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Question for those of you using the term “fresh milk”…do you mean normally pasturized milk or actually fresh (raw) milk? pasteurised, raw milk is not allowed to be sold down under. When I was young my uncle had a dairy farm and we often drank “raw” milk when we were there. It was great to make cheese and cream from. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/25 "2010-12-01T01:39:13Z")
I was referring to fresh (pasteurized) skim milk. The type with a short shelf life. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/26 "2010-12-01T03:39:31Z")
> [@BleizDu](#): > > It’s pretty much all we ever drink in France (can’t vouch for the rest of europe). Before reading this board, I had no idea it was odd to keep milk outside of the fridge if unopened. We go through 6 liters of 2% UHT milk a week. > > I rarely if ever drunk milk that has only been pasteurised, so I can’t tell you a thing about a difference in taste. > > I don’t like soy milk, if that helps heh 😛 Yep! ULTRA-pasturized I think. Yeah, I started drinking this in Italy, France, and Germany back in the 1960’s. It is not new. It is not refigerated on the store shelves. Lots of little stores in France and Italy did not even have coolers back in the 1960’s. Depending on what brand it is, and whether it is 2% or regular whole milk, it is quite tasty, and can taste just like refigerated. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/27 "2010-12-01T05:20:40Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’d been wondering why I couldn’t get regular milk that way, but it turns out that some grocery chains (e.g. Harris Teeter) sell UHT milk. But the nearest Harris Teeter is clear the other side of the DC area from me, so it may be awhile before I can buy regular milk in a box. I’ll bet they have it in just about all the big supermarkets by you. The problem is where in the store to find it. Sometimes it’s with juice boxes. Sometimes it’s in baking ingredients. Sometimes it’s with the tea and coffee. Sometimes it’s in a display off by itself somewhere. I think it tastes just fine, but I don’t drink plain glasses of milk. With a shot of Kahlua or creme de menthe in it, you definitely can’t tell the difference. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/28 "2010-12-01T05:41:33Z")
When I lived in Hungary, most of the milk I bought was UHT–it was just easier to deal with. The fresh milk typically came packaged in plastic bags (yes, really), like the ones on [the bottom of this page](http://www.solemizo.hu/eng/brands/mizobrand/categories/111/mizo.html). There may have been some cartoned brands of regular milk at the time, but I remember my choices as being cartoned UHT milk or bagged fresh milk. At any rate, I don’t remember noticing much of a difference at all. UHT milk tasted perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/29 "2010-12-01T14:47:32Z")
> [@BleizDu](#): > > It’s pretty much all we ever drink in France (can’t vouch for the rest of europe). Pasteurized still seems to be more common in the UK, but in Switzerland, Italy and Spain, UHT is very much the way to go. You can find pasteurized, but it’s almost a specialty item. ETA: gosh **pyper** , I made a lasting impression! Gives me the warm fuzzies, it does. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/30 "2010-12-02T00:54:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > When I lived in Hungary… I remember my choices as being cartoned UHT milk or bagged fresh milk. I didnt believe this until I saw it, but those crazy Canadians also sell milk in plastic bags!!! Ha Ha ! It is virtually impossible to put the opened bag of milk back in the refrigerator after the bag has been opened. You need to put the unused milk from the bag into a pitcher or something. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/31 "2010-12-02T01:02:14Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > I didnt believe this until I saw it, but those crazy Canadians also sell milk in plastic bags!!! Ha Ha ! > > It is virtually impossible to put the opened bag of milk back in the refrigerator after the bag has been opened. You need to put the unused milk from the bag into a pitcher or something. They use special pitchers that you just set the opened bag into. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/32 "2010-12-02T01:25:04Z")
Weird. I like vanilla and chocolate soy milk although I’ve never tried plain. So I’m down with differently-abled milk, but I’m not sure if I would like this stuff or not. Is there a reason to prefer UHT sterilization vs pasteurization? Is one process cheaper than the other? Why are different standards used in the US compared to the rest of the world? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/33 "2010-12-02T09:09:57Z")
You don’t need a fridge to store the UHT milk. Growing up, my family went through so much milk we should have had our own cow: we didn’t bother write “milk” and “cookies” on the shopping list, because we knew how large the trolley was and what we did was buy whatever was listed, and then fill up with milk and cookies until we reached the trolley’s capacity. (By “trolley” I mean the one we used to cart the shopping home, not a supermarket car). American houses and American fridges tend to be a lot bigger than European ones; for me, the term “pantry” means, liberally defined, “any space where I store food”, which may include the balcony; I’ve seen boxes of home-canned goods in people’s bathrooms (not “the good bathroom”, if you’re in the bathroom and it’s the one with the washing machine, either there isn’t another one or you’re being treated as family). Before UHT milk came to my home town, that meant having a whole shelf of the fridge dedicated to milk bags. Once we got UHT there, it meant having a whole shelf of the pantry; milk only goes to the fridge once opened. UHT has now been succesfully applied to horchata, a product which previously could only be bought for very limited periods and in a very limited geographical region: it’s gone from a local, seasonal treat to year-round and exportable. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/34 "2010-12-02T13:29:49Z")
I’ve got a whole box of Mini-Moo’s (UHT half and half) right here in my desk that I use for my morning coffee each day. Tastes just like regular half and half to me… Love me some Mini-Moo’s ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/35 "2010-12-02T13:36:27Z")
This this thread deals primarily with a food product, I’m moving it to Cafe Society, from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/36 "2010-12-02T13:40:35Z")
I’m surprised at the responses in this thread. UHT is disgusting. It’s horrific. You can instantly tell when UHT has been used over regular milk in coffee, for example, because UHT doesn’t taste anything like fresh milk. The only similarity it has with regular milk is that it’s a white liquid. Further, I’ve never met anybody who goes out of their way to buy UHT. Everybody I know thinks it’s disgusting. Supermarkets usually have some on the shelves, but nobody goes near it. The dairy aisle is packed with people picking up bottles of milk, whereas the UHT is usually stored in some aisle on the other side of the store where nobody ventures. The only legitimate use I’ve ever had for it is when I go camping, but even then we try to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/37 "2010-12-02T13:47:38Z")
As many already mentioned, it’s recognizably milk, but also recognizably… different. I like the “malty” description **KarlGrenze** gave. In Israel, mostly we drink “normal” pasteurized milk, but UHT is quite common in office environments, and is almost universal as a back-up in case one runs out of “fresh.” Sort of in the middle between the “UHT almost exclusively” mindset of much of Europe and the “Pasteurized almost exclusively” mindset in the US (And Canada? I think?) Seems to be a theme in all things consumer-ish here, BTW – we almost always seem to borrow from both spheres… ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/38 "2010-12-02T14:00:51Z")
My mother-in-law lives in a rural area in VA where it isn’t convenient for her to get to the grocery. She keeps the UHT milk for the convenience. My wife has taken the small boxes of UHT on trips along with individual cereal boxes to save breakfast costs. I’d rate it between the “normal” milk from the dairy aisle and the powdered stuff - and much closer to the normal than to the powder. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/39 "2010-12-02T14:06:36Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I’d rate it between the “normal” milk from the dairy aisle and the powdered stuff - and much closer to the normal than to the powder. Hell, yeah! Powdered “milk” is an abomination before Og and Man! And don’t even get me started on “non-dairy creamers…” Powder **or** liquid (being in Israel, with all the hoops people and places go through to cater to the Kosher crowd, I see way more than my fair share of **that** crap…) ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334/40 "2010-12-02T14:29:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes, it’s real milk, packages in a manner that does not require refrigeration. Apparently, it’s been common in Europe and some other places for some time. I lived in France from 1974 to 1979, and it was widely available then. At the time, I found the taste to be off and didn’t like it. I don’t know if they’ve gotten better at it since then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-really-is-this-milk/562334.md?page=3)