Properties: Milk
Milk is sold with different fat contents. The lowest fat content at 0.3 percent is found in sterilized milk, followed by low-fat milk with 1.5 percent and then whole milk with 3.5 percent fat. If it's fresh milk, it can sometimes be sold with a fat content of up to 3.8 percent. Milk contains lactose, the so-called milk sugar. Some people have lactose intolerance. Although there are medications that allow for the absorption of lactose, there is also the option to buy lactose-free milk. Lactose-free milk and dairy products such as cream, yogurt, and quark without lactose are almost everywhere available today. Lactose-free milk tastes slightly sweeter than regular milk and is not quite as white. The most shelf-stable variants of milk are condensed milk and powdered milk. Condensed milk is sold in cans and is mostly used for coffee. Powdered milk is rarely found in retail stores.
Origin: Milk
First, milk from cows of various breeds is usually used. However, there is also goat and sheep's milk, and increasingly buffalo milk products are becoming known, such as buffalo mozzarella.
On the shelves of stores stand not only domestic milk products but those from all over the EU and also from non-EU countries. Packages with milk from the EU are marked. In a horizontal oval at the top is the abbreviation for the country (DE), below that for the federal state and the veterinary control number (BW 000) and under this EG for European Community.
Uses: Milk
The use of milk in any form is almost inexhaustible. Whether fresh from cow, goat or sheep, or as cream, cheese, yogurt and quark and cooked for cocoa or in coffee, not to forget various chocolate and baking specialties… the list could go on at great length. Milk is hardly conceivable without in our lives. Only vegans abstain from animal milk, but even they need milk and resort to plant-based milk products.
Storage: Milk
Milk products should always be stored chilled since they are fresh products and once opened must be used quickly. Only long-aged cheese products like Parmesan can be kept for longer periods without cooling. It is still recommended to store them chilled so that their flavor remains intact. In contrast to fresh milk, shelf-stable milk can be stored unrefrigerated for at least two months. To prevent loss of flavor, it should be stored as dark and not too warm as possible. Some manufacturers even guarantee storage of three to four months. The exact shelf life is recognizable by the best-before date. An opened H-milk package, however, should be kept in the refrigerator and consumed within a few days. The longer the storage, the more the H-milk tends to change slightly in flavor.
Health: Milk
Who does not know the hot milk with honey to sleep better. For sore throats, cream cheese wraps around the neck help, as do cream cheese spreads on inflamed mosquito bites.
Milk and dairy products can also be used for skincare.
The possible applications are probably as diverse as in the kitchen.
Season of Milk: Milk is available year-round.
Milk taste: light, refreshing, soft, creamy
In this process, the milk is heated to very high temperatures very quickly and then cooled down just as rapidly. This destroys all unwanted bacteria in the milk. Milk today is available on the market as so-called H-milk or fresh milk. H-milk is always offered in Tetrapaks, while fresh milk is sold in bottles or Tetrapaks depending on the dairy.
In very rare cases, milk is still sold directly from farmers in rural areas. If one has the opportunity to acquire this milk, it should be tried at least once. It offers a completely different taste experience. Fresh milk that has not yet been processed at the dairy tastes very creamy. When this milk is poured into bottles and placed in the refrigerator, one often sees the next day that cream settles on top. The fat content varies throughout the year. In summer it is higher because then cows eat good nutritious feed, namely fresh grass, which shows in the quality of the milk.
What does homogenization mean?
Milk may only be sold in a preserved state to ensure no disease-causing bacteria can be present. With H-milk 3.5%, ultra-high temperature treatment is used as a preservation method, meaning the milk is heated to at least 135 to 150 °C for one second. This is followed by homogenization. During this process, the milk is pressed through narrow nozzles under high pressure, breaking down fat particles and distributing them evenly throughout the milk. This procedure is used so that a cream layer does not form on H-milk 3.5% during longer storage periods. The finer distribution of fats also improves the digestibility of the milk. The processed milk is usually packed in carton packaging ("Tetra Packs") and offered for sale as H-milk 3.5%.