Crying Over Fresh Milk

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Why can I no longer get milk to sour? I am not speaking figuratively here; I literally mean that the skim milk I buy at my local grocery store, the same brand I have bought for years, no longer turns sour. I have left milk in my refrigerator untouched for a week and returned to find the milk completely non-sour—not to say it doesn’t taste off, it generally takes on a bit of an unpleasant plastic taste, but it is definitely not sour. Ten years back my milk would sour to perfection within a week of the expiration date and even two years ago I could eventually get it to sour with a combination of a few hours on the counter followed by a week in the refrigerator.

You may think this is all sour grapes over sour milk, but in fact I need sour milk. I make outstanding oatmeal muffins. Outstanding that is if I start with naturally soured milk. I know that I can add a little vinegar to fresh milk, stir and let sit in a warm place for a bit and it will sour, but the final effect cannot be compared to using naturally soured milk. My oatmeal muffins have been slowly decreasing in quality over several years and I put the cause squarely on the unsourable milk.

Perhaps people who don’t bake with sour milk would think this inability to sour fresh milk is a benefit. However, even if my oatmeal muffins weren’t up to par, I would still find the fact that the milk doesn’t sour a bit of a concern. What could possibly be in the milk that it could stay fresh, only gaining an unpleasant plastic taste, a full month after the expiration date?

As I look over the label, the manufacturers of my milk claim the contents are Fat Free Milk with no artificial rBST growth hormone, Vitamins A, D and , what? Vitamin C? When did Vitamin C get into my milk? That definitely doesn’t sound familiar. Could Vitamin C be preserving the milk? I suppose I am unlikely to receive NIH funding or even FDA funding for a comprehensive study on the lack of souring ability in my milk. This is unfortunate as I doubt that I am the only cook lamenting the lack of suitably soured milk available. Unfortunately I won’t be crying over sour milk anytime soon, just fresh milk.