The benefits of dairy products, promoted by doctors and nutritionists, are possible only with the use of fresh, quality, nutritious products. For this reason, the proper storage of milk plays such an important role in the life of every modern person. Of course, you can just buy a drink after reading the expiration date on the package. But in this case, there is a risk that useful components will not be obtained in the right amount, and in some cases food poisoning is possible.
Even if the packaging says how much a particular product can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature, it is better to insure yourself with the help of average indicators and effective recommendations.
Milk storage terms and how to extend them
Despite the fact that today the store shelves are breaking from pasteurized beverages placed in a special package, many still prefer a home or farm product. In this case, you need to know how to store the milk properly and how much it will save its freshness.
If the household does not have a cellar or a suitable cool room, it is necessary to store the food in the refrigerator:
- 8-10ºС - raw milk must be drunk within 12 hours.
- 6-8ºС - the period is extended to 18 hours.
- 4-5ºС - no more than a day.
- 3-4 ° C - 32-36 hours.
- 1-2 ° C - two days.
If the liquid is boiled, the recommended time will increase to 4 days, but this treatment has too negative impact on the chemical composition of the drink, reducing its use to a minimum.
Tip: Only a few use freezing as a method of storing milk. But this approach allows us to extend the standard term to 1.5-2 months, practically without loss of nutritional value and useful components.
If it is a store product, then it can be stored exactly as indicated on the package, but only until it is opened. After that, milk should be drunk for two days, even if it was initially stored in a tetrapack and could stand safely at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to six months without harm.
Recommendations that will keep the freshness of purchased milk as long as possible
There are several simple and very effective tricks that allow slightly increasing the shelf life of the drink. You can start with a trip to the store:
- Milk should be the last product placed in the basket and the first, cleaned in the appropriate chamber in the refrigerator. Even such an insignificant at first glance reduction of the time of the product's stay under unfavorable conditions will add to it several hours of freshness.
- If the milk is purchased regularly and in significant quantities, it is worth considering buying a refrigerator bag. An affordable device will allow you not to rush from the store home.
In addition, it is worth making some useful changes to the habitual way of life:
- The drink should be consumed within two days after opening, even if its shelf life allows for more. In this case, the main time should be in the refrigerator, and not at room temperature. The changes in the indicators do not have a positive effect on the liquid.
- It is better to purchase several smaller packages of the product than one large( even if the family is large and the drink is consumed on time).Air in the container speeds up the process of damage to the product.
- The bottle should be closed, it should be put away from smelling products. If the milk was originally in the package, it can be poured into a sterile jar or bottle that is suitable by volume.
- For milk the coldest shelves are best suited, and not traditionally used trays in the doors.
- Contact with milk should be minimized. Ultraviolet destroys some vitamins, reducing the value of the product.
- It is strictly prohibited to pour into a container of milk a drink that has not been drunk or not used in the preparation. It is better to pour it into a clean container and put it separately.
- Powdered milk can be stored for up to six months only in a sealed form. After opening the package, the product should be used within a month. The water-diluted powder should be consumed in 2-3 days.
- Defrosting of the pre-frozen product is carried out only in the refrigerator. When there are signs of delaminating the drink, you just need to whip it with a blender. The lower the percentage of fat in milk, the lower the risk of changing its taste after freezing.
- Unsealed condensed milk should be poured into a sealed container of plastic and freeze. In this form it can remain up to 6 weeks without loss of properties and taste.
Any experiments with food can end badly. Therefore, do not try to increase the shelf life of milk in questionable ways, for example, by adding food preservatives.
