The Mystery of Spoilt Milk

The Mystery of Spoilt Milk

In the village there were no fridges then. We used to get milk directly from buffaloes or cows; the milkmaid would pour half seer (1/2 liter) of milk into our brass or stainless steel vessel. Mother used to boil the entire stock (of milk) and apportion it for tea and curd (yogurt). Most of it got used up by the evening. And the routine would repeat day after day. Those were very frugal days and every drop of milk was precious in the house. Many times milk used to go bad – it would break up into lumps and water. Such spoilt milk (poor quality whey) would stress the entire day for mother. Parents had to go without the daily morning tea or resort to alternate sources (going to the dairy farmer with a pail). Father had to walk to the nearby restaurant and sometimes return with a small glass of tea for mother. These days with proper care, cleanliness, and a bit of modern technology, any society can have reasonable supply of fresh milk for a modest price. Of course, right now we have a fierce race between the price of milk and gas. The former is running around $ 3.20 while the fossil fuel is going for $ 3. 80! Both are priced per gallon (= 3.78 liter).

When we moved to the coastal town milk was a little more in supply. But still I had to run to the main road to catch the guy with big white aluminum can on bicycle. His big customers were the coffee hotels and we were the little fish. Still the quality was uneven; you got to have your own lactometer to check the fat content. Or, dip the finger and see if any thing sticks. The milk troubles did not ease even in the nation’s capital city. Without a fridge we used to cope up with all sorts of ingenuity – wrap the milk container with wet towel in summer for evening tea, etc. At the slightest sign of contamination (unclean vessel, oily residue, poorly washed container) milk would go bad and the whole day was a mess. This essential nutrient food item used to strain housewives for no fault of theirs.

After coming to the overseas, suddenly milk problems are gone, just vanished. You can get the 4% fat milk or 2% or skim milk. In the fridge it would stay fresh for almost twelve or fourteen days at a stretch. This is the homogenized, fortified (with vitamins A and D), and pasteurized variety. Milk going bad is a rare phenomenon in these modern times; occasionally it would go bad before the stamped date. Here, all the shops would give credit for bad milk or replace it with a jug of fresh milk. But then suddenly out of blue our milk started going bad for no apparent reason. The refrigerator is working all right, all the vegetables, fruits, and pickles are staying fresh. We could not figure the problem. This new irritant started recently, about two months back. We keep the (plastic) milk jugs in the door shelf. Butter and juice also have their niche shelves in the door. Everything is ok except milk. It used to stay fresh for the first five or six days and then suddenly without any warning it would curdle. The whole morning routine would become topsy-turvy and I had to rush to the grocery store for a new milk jug. 

Steeped in the tradition of “annam-parabrahma” (అన్నం పరబ్రహ్మ) we had to resort to making panner पनीर or milk kova out of the spoilt milk. Or just enjoy the sour whey with sugar. Several times I broached the troubling issue with the grocer; but these days who has the time? Even our friend could not understand our predicament. Why is the milk going bad? Who is the culprit? Why is it happening now during these cold wintry days? Normally we pick up (purchase) the groceries and milk and drive straight home. Promptly we place the milk in the refrigerator. Sure the fridge is old but it is functioning fine. All the other food in the fridge is staying fresh without any problem.

After lot of head scratching, one day I looked at the adjustable vent control in the refrigerator’s left wall. This “little slotted dial” (little devil of North Pole) adjusts the cool air draft for beverages in the door. I must have closed it fully last summer. Back then we found a bit of ice formation in the milk jug. Or, things were getting too cold. Mistakenly I dialed it back – and that stopped the chilled air coming into the milk compartment. (The North Pole Snow Man stopped blowing cold air into the refrigerator side!). The dairy folks suggest storing milk at 38 – 40 deg F. So, that’s it adjusting the vent for chilled air solved the problem. No more unnecessary trips to the supermarket. And no more spoiled milk, no more whey byproducts! Copyright 2022 by the author