# Milk in a box - stored on a shelf



## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

There was a thread in the last week or two about milk in a box. I can't find the thread so I started this new one for those interested. I was at Wally World over the weekend and on the shelf there (I forget which aisle) is milk in a quart sized square box by the name 'Parmalat'. The milk is hermetically sealed in the box. It comes in whole milk and 2%. It was on the shelf and did not require refrigeration until opened. For those looking to have some milk on hand, and want an alternative to canned milk or powdered milk, this might be worth looking into. It was more expensive that refrigerator milk btw .... It was $2.88 for the box. It might be worth the cost just to have a couple on hand for emergencies.
Ohio Rusty ><>


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Check the dollar store that has a green sign (Dollar Tree, maybe)....they sell is for $1 a box. 

That is the only kind of milk we drank in Europe, it does taste a bit different then the "fresh" milk in the plastic jugs but we like it. I keep a few boxes for just the reason you mentioned. Also when you run out of milk in the middle of cooking it's nice to be able to grab a box out of the pantry verses stopping everything and running to the store.


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

I buy the Dollar Tree milk in a box. It tastes like canned milk but for a buck I will keep buying it. It lasts a long time on the shelf.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

Why not a powdered milk in #10 cans from Honeyville.com or beprepared.com...beprepared has the real milk powder....I bought the substitue from honeyville...havent tried it yet but it worked out to under$2 a gallon by the case


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## Guest (Oct 10, 2011)

Just keep in mind the shelf life of the UHT (box milk) is in the six to nine month range so be prepared to use it and replace it on occasion.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

i bought a couple cases of it when it came available here a couple years back, just to see how it would hold up, and the one year suggested expiration date passed and it was still decent, at 2 years it had started to gel a film on it but had not discolored or changed flavor, and i have cooked with it, drank it [well used it for adding to coffee] and the kids drank it with chocolate added to it and on thier cereal.... they complained about the chunks of cream like or yogurt like substance that wouldnt break up, but even that tasted fine and no one of us got sick.... ive got a few boxes that are puching the 2.5 year mark and are 1.5 after expiration date, so i can see what they are like at 3 years and 4 years and so on til they are gone..... The cases right now are on the basement at about 65 degrees, but have been warmer when i first got them due to having to put them on the secondlevel of the last house due to the way it was laid out..... so i fgger they got to the around 80-85 degree stage a few months....

William
Idaho


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## psk1 (Sep 17, 2011)

I found at wally-world in the Mexican food aisle dried whole milk with 18 month expiration date. cost about 4.00 a gal.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

A.T. Hagan said:


> Just keep in mind the shelf life of the UHT (box milk) is in the six to nine month range so be prepared to use it and replace it on occasion.


I don't get that. The UHT milk is Europe had a 2 yr shelf life. Do you know if there is a difference with how it is made in the US compared to there?? Or is it just another one of those arbitrary date they put on food?


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I visited some in-laws in Europe 25 year ago. They had this milk in their pantry then. This product has been around a long long time.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I bought it a few times when I lived in MN and that was 25 years ago.
It's been around quite a while, just never got too popular in the States.


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## theant00 (Jun 18, 2002)

After 1 year mine looked like cottage cheese. There are other boxed milks available, but not in the grocery, saving on freight makes it nice to buy and have on hand. I read an article the the higher the fat in milk the longer it last, so I would go with whole milk over 2%. Horizon milk makes individual servings for lunch boxes. Every so ofter Amazon will put it on sale and I buy that. One box is just right to make cornbread, bowl of ceral or cakes.


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## Rusty'sDog (Oct 14, 2010)

I've used UHT milk often through the years. It all has a slightly different taste than fresh milk. To reduce/eliminate the taste difference, pour it into a large pitcher, then back and forth a couple times into another pitcher. The aeriation of pouring it a few times seems to improve the flavor.


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## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

mpillow said:


> Why not a powdered milk in #10 cans from Honeyville.com or beprepared.com...beprepared has the real milk powder....I bought the substitue from honeyville...havent tried it yet but it worked out to under$2 a gallon by the case


We have purchased the Honeyville substitute and really like it. It's tasty, smooth, and works well as a drink or for cooking and baking.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2011)

Blu3duk said:


> i bought a couple cases of it when it came available here a couple years back, just to see how it would hold up, and the one year suggested expiration date passed and it was still decent, at 2 years it had started to gel a film on it but had not discolored or changed flavor, and i have cooked with it, drank it [well used it for adding to coffee] and the kids drank it with chocolate added to it and on thier cereal.... they complained about the chunks of cream like or yogurt like substance that wouldnt break up, but even that tasted fine and no one of us got sick.... ive got a few boxes that are puching the 2.5 year mark and are 1.5 after expiration date, so i can see what they are like at 3 years and 4 years and so on til they are gone..... The cases right now are on the basement at about 65 degrees, but have been warmer when i first got them due to having to put them on the secondlevel of the last house due to the way it was laid out..... so i fgger they got to the around 80-85 degree stage a few months....
> 
> William
> Idaho





Ohio dreamer said:


> I don't get that. The UHT milk is Europe had a 2 yr shelf life. Do you know if there is a difference with how it is made in the US compared to there?? Or is it just another one of those arbitrary date they put on food?





theant00 said:


> After 1 year mine looked like cottage cheese. There are other boxed milks available, but not in the grocery, saving on freight makes it nice to buy and have on hand. I read an article the the higher the fat in milk the longer it last, so I would go with whole milk over 2%. Horizon milk makes individual servings for lunch boxes. Every so ofter Amazon will put it on sale and I buy that. One box is just right to make cornbread, bowl of ceral or cakes.


 The deal with "use by" dates, especially on short-term storage foods such as UHT milks, are that they are based on what the producing company feels is an acceptable product. At what point does the taste, color, texture, etc. change so much that a customer will find the product unappealing when they finally get around to opening it?

And THAT is based largely on the storage temperature. Idaho and most of Europe has a much cooler "room temperature" than does Florida for all or most of the year. The lower the temperature the slower any negative changes will occur so that you can store a given item longer in a northern basement than a storage cabinet in a Florida home.

There is also that what some folks will find to still be acceptable other folks will pitch it in the trash if they are not forced to consume it from dire necessity. When I open a box of milk it had better not be "chunky." Others will find it to be acceptable.

Unless the packaging has lost seal integrity, been stored at high heat for long periods, or has gone many years past it's "use by" date then chances are the contents will still be _*safe*_ to consume even if it might be unappealing. Except for the most perishable of vitamins it will even retain most of its nutrition. It just may be unpalatable to eat and unappealing to look at.

I used to keep about five gallons of the Parmalat UHT milk upon a time. I'm not a big milk drinker myself, but it was useful in cooking and I could always get my brother to drink it if I had some that was going past the line. It got to be a hassle after a while to find it reliably so I went over to dry milk except for a few cans of condensed. 

Our experience with the UHT milks stored in a Florida home where the room temperature was usually in the eighties for much of the year was that at about six months we could begin to tell it was starting to age, but was still quite usable. At a year it had begun to become chunky. Could still cook with it if you whipped it well to break up the solids, but it wasn't something you want to put on your cereal or in your coffee. By eighteen months we chose discretion over culinary adventure and it hit the trash.

Cooler storage temperatures would have improved that as it would for most any food.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

> By eighteen months we chose discretion over culinary adventure and it hit the trash.


ROFL now that made me smile, "I understand the difference, and i believe that my experience with the "chunks" was due to having to store ours in a place where it was warmer than it is where its stored now.... the rise and fall and non constant temperature surely shortens the nice looking product everyone desires...... ive tossed a few things over taking that culinary adventure yer talking about, but my wife woulda tossed some things afore i did.... guess i have a "cheap" side of me, not just frugal.

Since i have it, i am determined to open the rest of the boxes on a schedule and notate what is there...... whether or not it is palatable may be a whole nother story.... but a few folks have expressed wanting to know, and i am in for the penny, might as well be in for the pound, just wish i could have been able to do a proper test in a stable heat controlled environment for it.

William
IDaho


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Our household doesn't drink milk. We have digestion issues. However, we do keep cheap powdered milk on hand for cooking/baking & canned for other purposes. I bought a few of the shelf-stable 2% cartons at Dollar Tree for when the grandkids come over. I figure it is good to have a few different options.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I keep a few cartons of the shelf stable milk on hand. I opened one this week that was 8 months past the "use by" date, and other than a bit of a skim on the top, was fine. I always whizz it in the blender for a minute to help aerate, which helps a lot with the flavour, and homogenizes any chunks that might be there.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

This kind of milk was all that is available in Mexico. The other alternative is some hawking milk door to door out of a plastic jug......no thanks!

The easiest way to store milk is in the cow or goat  

Even easier is to store brown rice and make your own rice milk...which is what I do for everyday use now. With a splash of real Mexican vanilla....delicious!


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

psk1 said:


> I found at wally-world in the Mexican food aisle dried whole milk with 18 month expiration date. cost about 4.00 a gal.


Are you talking about "Nido" from Nestle? That is what I and some others here in the forum use and I really like it. I buy it a bit cheaper at Save-A-Lot. I also stock canned milk and buy fresh milk too. I have kept Nido well past the expiration date with no changes in the flavor, texture or appearance.

I have served the Nido to friends who said they would NEVER drink powered milk and they didn't even notice, in fact, they asked for seconds on a couple of occasions, lol.


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## Maggie (May 12, 2002)

I really need to look for & buy some Nido.


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## Ode (Sep 20, 2006)

We buy the UHT milk occasionally, but mainly we drink Almond milk now. That also comes in shelf stable boxes, along with hemp milk, soy milk, rice milk, etc.


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

Maggie said:


> I really need to look for & buy some Nido.


Walmart, Save-A-Lot and Winn Dixie all have it but WD is expensive! I don't know if Sam's or one of those other warehouse stores carry it or not.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

TxMex said:


> Even easier is to store brown rice and make your own rice milk...which is what I do for everyday use now. With a splash of real Mexican vanilla....delicious!


How do you make rice milk?


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Yeesh, is this FINALLY here?? It always drove me crazy I could find it in Europe but not here!!! Thanks for letting me know to look for it -- at last!!


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