Milk - How Long To Keep?

Thanks for the replies.  So maybe I am being slightly overcautious.

I currently buy one pinters for the little guy and 2 pinters for me as I have cereal every day so I don't think I could buy much smaller quantities.  It's the baby's milk I most worry about.  He only has an ounce or two a day so I quite often wind up throwing away what's left after 5 days or so.

I don't really pay attention to the 'use by' date because I am more worried about how long the milk has been open. It never makes it to that date anyway. But okay, maybe I should use those dates more often.  Thanks again.

My guess is that you will not feel like you are wasting milk for long.  Babies increase the amount the eat fairly rapidly and within a month or so he will have more ounces a day and will finish a pint easily.  My toddler finishes more than a pint a day but I do remember when we were just making cereals buying whole milk for her seemed wasteful.  Know that it is only a few months.   

On the date, I would go by the smell/ taste test for me but for a small baby I would probably just to be cautious only keep it 3-4 days after opening it.

Up here in Sheffield we get milk delivered everyday so we get a few new pints in the morning and I am far less worried about it going bad.

I was raised on skim milk and we always had it until the use by date and even many times continued to use it after.  We would do a taste test and found that skim milk last a rather long time, that is a different case for full fat.  Like others, I would just do a quick taste test. :-)

Why do I always seem to smell the milk AFTER I've put some in my coffee?

It should be good until the sell by date at least if kept in the fridge.

If it does turn sour, then use it for pancakes, biscuits (American), scones, etc.

Doug

First of all, the milk doesn't "sour" as it would as if it weren't pasteurized; it actually spoils.  Lactobacillus bacteria are responsible for souring, which is a controlled fermentation, but they are killed off during pasteurization.  Milk left in the fridge goes bad and can be potentially harmful, even in baked goods.  You'd never let meat spoil and then try to cook with it!

However I will say, that I am the one in my relationship who will use milk until it runs out, even if that's a day or two past the use-by date, though it's rare that happens. 

If you have a piece of crap fridge like we do, your milk may go off BEFORE the sell by date. Highly annoying!    In the summer I always have to smell my milk. In the winter this isn't a problem. If we had a normal fridge I'd keep drinking it until it went off, even if it's a bit after the sell by date. I'm that way with eggs too.

I always taste it but have had a mouthful of sour milk a fair few times. Bleh.

I mentioned this in another thread but I noticed that in the US, organic milk will last for weeks whereas in the UK it only lasts a few days.

So either my milkman is giving us milk that's been sat around for a few weeks or the US milk isn't as organic as it advertises.

Why do I always seem to smell the milk AFTER I've put some in my coffee?

LOL. I've done that a few times. I've also poured the milk and then noticed that it wasn't spreading but clumping and I have to throw it all out. Ew.