Every once in a while I open a gallon jug of skim milk and find that it is extremely white and opaque rather the slightly translucent bluish cast that it normally has. It also has a somewhat strange taste that I can’t quite place, but it doesn’t seem to be mislabeled whole milk. Anyone seen this? What the heck causes it?
They add carrageenan, a seaweed extract.
Wow… I need to see if my 2% milk down here had that added! I’ve been wondering why the low-fat milk here is so much like homo milk. I kind of prefer the thinness of 2%, and feel kind of turned off by the similarity to the homo.
Homo’s the only way to go. In the US, is it called whole milk, or is that something else entirely?
You guys know what it sounds like, right? I mean, seriously. 
homo milk.
Oh, yeah, mostly. I grew up with it in Michigan, though, so it’s not an completely US thing. Homo’s too creamy, though, and has too much fat. I like the 2%, but the 2% here in Mexico is all thick and creamy like “whole milk” (for you homo-phobics).
Well, it’s my regular brand (the cheap stuff), and it’s only the very rare jug that’s white like this. I checked the ingredients and there is nothing listed that would seem to be carrageenan, or any other emulsifier/thickener. It does have that appearance though.
By the way, where can you find carrageenan at retail? I want to make frappachinos at home with my leftover morning coffee. Without an emulsifier, all I get is watery coffee with a thick layer of slush on top. How is it that doesn’t happen with my frozen margaritas? Does the alcohol emulsify?
I’ve also had this a couple of times in the last couple of years - it’s labelled as regular skim, not the ‘ultra-skim’ of the same brand, (the one with carrageenen), but it’s more opaque than skim and tastes fattier. I’ve always figured that they put whole milk in there by accident.
I’ve never heard of homo milk, FWIW. (I’m in New York.) In all the parts of the US where I’ve shopped for milk (up and down the East Coast, plus occasional trips out west), milk with all of the fat in it is referred to as ‘whole milk.’ I’m assuming homo stands for homogenized, but isn’t 1% or 2% milk (aka part skim) homogenized also?
All major bottlers of cow milk–unless otherwise specified on their label, which is unlikely–is homogenized. Homogenization does not refer to the fat content: 0, 1, 2 or 4 percent.
[quote]
Originally posted by flex727
I checked the ingredients and there is nothing listed that would seem to be carrageenan, or any other emulsifier/thickener. It does have that appearance though.[/quote
How about milk solids?