raw milk going sour?

[barcelona]

am i doing something wrong, is my fridge wonky, or is it me?

i buy raw milk...and the expiration date is usually for about six days after i buy it. but almost always, on the third day that i have it, it starts to taste sour/bad. what gives? or, is this normal, and we're supposed to get used to the sour taste?

help!

thanks!

[wannabe]

I thought the expiration date was for unopened bottles?

[Metasequoia]

I'd question the market where you buy it - or the farmer. Raw milk should last *much* longer than that. When I buy mine straight from the farmer, it'll last a good 12 days *unopened*. Once we open it, we drink it within 2-3 days,. but even after 12 days of sitting in the fridge (again, unopened) it's fine.

I think there must be some lag time between when teh farmer milks the cows to when it gets to the store. Even when I buy it from the store, and like you said, it'll usually have a "sell by date" stamped on the side for about a week later, it always lasts at least a week or so. I do find that it starts to turn around the date stamped on the container, but it rarely lasts that long around here.

[tayndrewsmama]

A friend and I buy directly from the farm and have been having this problem lately too. We bring our own bottles and it comes right out of the bulk tank, so it's not like it's been sitting long or anything. I have never had this happen before either. I keep forgetting to ask about it at the farm too.

[MaMaLi]

I've had this happen too. I found that I had to lower the temp in my fridge and once I did that the milk lasted much longer.

You can stick a thermometer in there to see what temp it is and adjust it down from there.

Also keeping it glass helps it stay fresher.

[paquerette]

It could be sort of random. DH watched the milk get bottled on Friday. By Sunday it tasted a little sour. It's still not curdling in my tea, though.

[barcelona]

thanks everyone! it helps.
it turned sour, by the way, after it was opened.
i am going to buy smaller quantities, so i can hopefully avoid this (it is the third time this has happened). and i buy glass bottles!

[tabitha]

chiming in late,

do you touch anything to the jar? i know some people like to spoon cream for example. you might try dipping the spoon in boiling water first. sometimes when i pull cream, if i am not careful, i'll have a jar sour in the next day or two. generally to avoid this i boil the ladle or use the skimmed milk the same day.