Is there any practical use for sour milk?
 

As the only person in my house, I rarely use all the milk in the carton (I usually buy the quart or 1/2 gallon size) before it goes bad. I was just wondering since I seem to waste about 25%-50% of the carton. On rare instances I will use the entire carton before the "use by" date.

I use a local brand of milk in the cardboard carton vs the plastic carton (I was told that milk spoils faster in the store if it is in a plastic carton because of the lights in the milk case). I always look for the cartons with a date farthest in the future.

I was just wondering if soured milk has any cooking (or other practical) use or do I just continue to pour it down the drain after it expires or turns sour.

British scones (which I believe are different to whatever it is that North Americans call scones)

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sou...&client=safari

make cheese.

If it hasn't curdled, I use it for pancakes, baking and crepes.

In South Africa soured milk is used to make what I know as maas or amasi. Kind yogurty, bitter stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasi
http://www.ubisimail.co.za/pdf_files...omeculture.pdf

Transfer half the milk to another recipient and freeze it before it sours.

When you open the carton, you can immediately transfer half of it to another bottle and freeze it, and then move it back to the fridge the day before you are ready to use it.

Or you can just make yogurt. Super easy to do (PM me if you want my method) and you can do it just before the milk is about to spoil and then the yogurt will last for another week or so.

But if you are regularly wasting up to half the carton, then it may be better for you to just buy a pint at a time instead.

This is what I do, but it can be difficult to find pints.

Just to warn, there is a difference between sour milk and intentionally soured milk such as buttermilk, etc. With milk that has just gone sour because it has been sitting around too long, you don't know what bacteria has gone into making it sour. It may be fine, but it could be toxic. I don't know that this would result in any problem in a baked good that is cooked, but I wouldn't consume it uncooked.

Split it when you buy it and freeze portions of it. If you use it for coffee or tea, freeze it in ice cube trays.

Pints are easily available at convenience stores (not usually grocery stores) but on a per ounce basis will cost considerably more. Well maybe a wash if you are tossing half of it away on a regular basis anyways.

There is a very thin line between sour milk and sour milk that is harmful to you because of the bacteria. I would not mess with trying to figure out where that line is.

It's time to get yourself a cat.

But it's a sell by date, isn't it?

There's no standard rule on a use by date. Your nose and/or a harmless taste test will tell you if it is still drinkable.

I decided to make cheddar cheese biscuits ("scratch-made") last night to discover that the end of a gallon container of 1% had "gone off". Worked fine. Good biscuits. I suspect that sour milk (at least before curdling) works well for most baking. Extra leavening?

Mrs DD swears by sour milk when baking. Cornbread works well. Pancakes aren't too bad, either.

Doesn't sour milk means it has gone bad?

Sour isn't the same as spoiled (i.e. gone bad). It's used in many food products.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soured_milk