Keep milk by storing it in the original, sealed container.
While some households use 1 gallon or more of milk in one week, some families drink only small amounts of milk each week. Don't think that you need to buy the more expensive 1/2 gallon of milk to keep it from going bad in the refrigerator before you have a chance to finish it. Keeping milk at the optimum temperature ensures that it will stay fresher longer and may even extend the quality of the milk past the printed date on the package. There also are a few other steps you can take to maintain milk's freshness.
Instructions
1. Buy milk with the latest expiration or "best by" date on the package in the store.
2. Put the milk in your cart at the end of your shopping trip. If it will be more than 30 minutes between removing it from the cooler and putting it in your home refrigerator, place the milk in an insulated cooler with ice to keep it cold, the Association of Saskatchewan Home Economists suggests.
3. Store milk in the coldest part of your refrigerator, normally the back part of the refrigerator. Although the door is a convenient place to store the milk, it's also a warmer area since it's exposed to higher temperatures throughout the day. Low temperatures slow or prevent the growth of bacteria, notes the Cornell University Department of Food Science.
4. Adjust the temperature of your refrigerator to a lower setting. Your refrigerator temperature should always register below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, although milk does best between 34 degrees to 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Keep clean and odor-free. Scents from other things stored in the refrigerator can absorb into the milk and make it taste unusual.
6. Limit the amount of light your milk is exposed to. Strong sunlight or florescent lighting destroys vitamins and can produce unusual flavors in the milk.
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