Raw milk question.?

Question

Anybody here know how to tell if my raw milk gone bad or stale?

It expire on Jun 12. It always been kept in the fridge except the brief moment of pouring a cup or two.

I know how pasterized stale milk smell like. But my raw milk doesn't smell like that.

Is it still safe to drink? Or are the bacteria multipling in the milk? It just doesn't smell as fresh.

Answer 1

I have kept a couple of Jersey cows and of course the milk was fresh and totally untouched by commercial dairy methods. I can assure you if the milk is off then it will smell sour and taste sour. However, if you are using shop milk, you just can't trust that use-by date. I have had products which have been 'off' days before the use-by date even though they have been kept in the fridge. If your milk is off it will also show up in tea or coffee as nasty little white globules. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It is quite safe to drink still as yogurt and cheese and feta are all made from raw milk which had "gone bad"...

As long as the cream and the water has not separated, it is fit to drink.

The smell that you smell is because the cows were fed on lucern instead of the regular mixture of grass and other feeds that they usually have.

At this time of year the milk production in cows drop dramatically and for the milk producer that is bad news, so for a week or two he feeds them on an extra portion of lucern in order to help them pick up on production.

Answer 3

Raw milk will become thicker and more pungent when it's turning. The true test is tasting it.

Answer 4

When you buy raw milk, you should date it right away.  Raw milk should be good for 7 - 14 days, but if you notice any kind of off smell, it would be best not to drink it.  One way to avoid wasting the milk is to freeze a portion of it and thaw it out when you are ready to use it.

Answer 5

That's the downside to raw milk (especially if you've been used to pasteurized and aren't going to know the difference in smell. It would be a much safer choice to chuck it as milk sickness is not pleasant and can even result in death (pretty rare this days albeit).....

edit: like the top posters said, it should have a definite difference in taste once its gone off.

Answer 6

In raw, unpasteurized milk, the fat rises to the top, and creates a lid, which actually helps keep bacteria away from the more vulnerable parts of the milk.

A good thing about milk (well, all kinds really) is, that you will not have a shred of doubt, if it's gone bad, when it hits your mouth!! :)