The Lemon Fool

Apologies. Yes, I know milk is a drink and not a food, so this should be on the Drinks board, but I'm not completely sure that this stuff qualifies as a drinkable. Tesco, in its unbounded wisdom, has sent me four litres of filtered full-fat milk, instead of the organic full-fat that I ordered. And I have no idea what I'm going to do with the stuff?

I'd been forewarned that filtered milk doesn't taste the same, because it has had all the lactose sugars removed from it. (That apparently makes it OK for people with lactose intolerance.) And it also makes the milk last longer, because the bugs that normally make the milk go off have also been filtered out.

But surely it's supposed to taste of something? Okay, I'll try. (Bungee takes another sip.) Err, heavily diluted emulsion paint, perhaps? White flour and water? Wet plaster of Paris, in the final minutes before it sets? (Okay, maybe I just imagined that one.) Anyway, it's given me the most insipid coffee I've ever tasted. And my wife tried a spoonful with her breakfast cereal and then sent me out to get some proper stuff, pronto.

So, to the point. I'm sure there must be some lactose intolerants on this board. Does the taste get better with practice? And if not, is there any cooking use where it's better than the usual product?

Serious question. Thanks!

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:Apologies. Yes, I know milk is a drink and not a food, so this should be on the Drinks board, but I'm not completely sure that this stuff qualifies as a drinkable. Tesco, in its unbounded wisdom, has sent me four litres of filtered full-fat milk, instead of the organic full-fat that I ordered. And I have no idea what I'm going to do with the stuff?

I'd been forewarned that filtered milk doesn't taste the same, because it has had all the lactose sugars removed from it. (That apparently makes it OK for people with lactose intolerance.) And it also makes the milk last longer, because the bugs that normally make the milk go off have also been filtered out.

But surely it's supposed to taste of something? Okay, I'll try. (Bungee takes another sip.) Err, heavily diluted emulsion paint, perhaps? White flour and water? Wet plaster of Paris, in the final minutes before it sets? (Okay, maybe I just imagined that one.) Anyway, it's given me the most insipid coffee I've ever tasted. And my wife tried a spoonful with her breakfast cereal and then sent me out to get some proper stuff, pronto.

So, to the point. I'm sure there must be some lactose intolerants on this board. Does the taste get better with practice? And if not, is there any cooking use where it's better than the usual product?

Serious question. Thanks!

BJ

I have semi skimmed lactose free milk from Arla ... tastes like milk ... can't speak for Tesco's, sorry.

AiY

bungeejumper wrote:Apologies. Yes, I know milk is a drink and not a food, so this should be on the Drinks board, but I'm not completely sure that this stuff qualifies as a drinkable. Tesco, in its unbounded wisdom, has sent me four litres of filtered full-fat milk, instead of the organic full-fat that I ordered. And I have no idea what I'm going to do with the stuff?

I'd been forewarned that filtered milk doesn't taste the same, because it has had all the lactose sugars removed from it. (That apparently makes it OK for people with lactose intolerance.) And it also makes the milk last longer, because the bugs that normally make the milk go off have also been filtered out.

But surely it's supposed to taste of something? Okay, I'll try. (Bungee takes another sip.) Err, heavily diluted emulsion paint, perhaps? White flour and water? Wet plaster of Paris, in the final minutes before it sets? (Okay, maybe I just imagined that one.) Anyway, it's given me the most insipid coffee I've ever tasted. And my wife tried a spoonful with her breakfast cereal and then sent me out to get some proper stuff, pronto.

So, to the point. I'm sure there must be some lactose intolerants on this board. Does the taste get better with practice? And if not, is there any cooking use where it's better than the usual product?

Serious question. Thanks!

BJ

Can't help, really. I wonder if non-dairy milks would be a comparison?

Just some thoughts on finding uses for it. What about recipes that could blend it with something stronger? Mix with cheese in a gratin? Use a little with butter in mashed spuds?

Or if you're into soups, milk sometimes works in place of water. Seasonally speaking, it works better than water in an artichoke soup. No idea if that thought helps, but (like using tofu in soup) it should lose its ugly identity and take on the flavours of the nice ingredients.

As somebody who switched from full fat to semi-skimmed a long time ago, I've learned to like the "new" flavour, although full fat is still a treat on cereal. For tea, full fat now tastes wrong, so I guess it's just a matter of getting used to these things.

Mrs VRD used to use UHT milk when we first started dating, as her usage was quite low and regular milk would spoil before she finished it. Likewise, it was just a case of adjusting to the flavour over time until it became normal again.

Recently, I've tried oat milk but rejected it as insipid in tea and cereal. I suspect I'd get used to that too, given time, but might have to get to it via a switch to skimmed from the current semi-skimmed first!

VRD

FWIW we drink 'normal' milk, but the carers used to get filtered full fat for mum as it kept longer.

Having used it in tea, coffee, cereal, and porridge, AFAICT the only difference is about 10p/litre.

Perhaps you should do some blind taste tests when you have got both together - I didn't bother, but then again I didn't notice a difference in the first place. One local corner shop gets milk from a variety of suppliers, several times I thought it was going off before date, but then worked out one brand just tastes a lot moree "cowy" than the others.

OTSO alternatives, a friend uses an oat milk for his coffee as he reckons it makes it tase creamier. MrsF agrees. I think it makes it tase like you're used 'off' milk, so each to their own.

Paul

Brilliant comments so far. Thanks to all for some really good thoughts. Yes, I reckon I'd do well to try a few brands before I write off this episode to experience. Maybe this one sample was the dishonourable exception?

Thanks also for the recommendations about soups, etc. I'm not a born soup chef - I don't have the patience, usually, and I don't own a Nutribullet - but will give it a go.

Cheers again!

BJ

PS: What do they do with the lactose that they've filtered out? Use it in confectionery?

bungeejumper wrote: And if not, is there any cooking use where it's better than the usual product?

I'm pretty sure a chum of mine who was keen on homemade everything said that filtered milk makes better youghurt as it ups the protein percentage.
Generally I only use full fat milk, SO prefered semi skinned, aged P skimmed. Semi skinned in tea is OK, I just prefer full fat but I can't get on with skimmed in tea but if I had to I'm sure I could.
SO has been experiementing with oat milk in coffee and is now converted, it took about 3 litres, I could taste the porridge in it when I tried it in tea but it's OK just for drinking, if we do try diary free as threatened I'll persevere and perhaps try some other plant milks in tea.

Anyhow with a glut of milk, if you don't fancy youghurt farming how about batter for yorkshires, toad in the hole and pancakes and lashings of custard.

Hi y’all, I’m from across the pond living in Loosiana. I confess that at 79 years of age I no longer drink milk, me. My normal drink of choice comes in 12-ounce brown bottles from assorted states and even from other countries. About the only milk product that I drink is “half & half” (what y’all calls “light cream”) in my 2 cups of morning coffee.

That being said I may have a suggestion for you. If you are into eating yoghurt, allow the milk to come up to warm room temperature (axe-u-lee blood temperature would be better/faster) and mix in some organic yoghurt with all the live bacteria, cover it (to keep out the cat, rats, bugs and/or other assorted critters like we gots around here) and let stand overnight. The next day, it should have separated into curds and a clear liquid. Strain it through cheese cloth to recover the solids, which are yoghurt. Letting it drain even more gives one “Greek Yoghurt” or even cottage cheese, which can be eaten as is or used in recipes.

Hint, when cooking using yoghurt, don’t allow it to boil in soups, etc. or it may curdle/separate from the bulk of the liquid. It is still eatable but looks unattractive.


C.J.V. - figures that milk is for babies & children and I no longer qualifies, no

bungeejumper wrote:And I have no idea what I'm going to do with the stuff?

BJ

One idea: Milk is the stuff to spray on all your freshly built brick walls at Bungee Towers, in order to make them weather more quickly and look 'old'. Apparently.

Hope that helps...

Mike4 wrote:One idea: Milk is the stuff to spray on all your freshly built brick walls at Bungee Towers, in order to make them weather more quickly and look 'old'. Apparently.

Hope that helps...

Always a good idea. We do it already with live yoghurt on our stone walls (this is conservation area Cotswolds, ya know ). It encourages the growth of lichen, which does wonders for the scenic bucolic charm.

Only problem with filtered milk would be that it's had all the lovely biotic bugs taken out of it, so it presumably wouldn't degrade on the walls in the same way. Drat. Never mind, we could always use a few diluted cowpats to keep the lichen growing, and the scenic bucolic flies arriving.

Just wanted to add that I've had some really nice PMs from this board's members about how I can find some better filtered milk providers than Tesco. And to say thank you to everybody for being so nice after my slightly incendiary opening post. We really do have some very nice people here.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:Only problem with filtered milk would be that

... If you filter it enough it's water?

I've never tried filtered milk and not sure what the advantage is between that and pasteurised. We generally have semi-skimmed but the 'boss' insists on her &%#!! cappuccino so we have to keep a small amount of full-cream milk to make the froth, or I make a mess in the kitchen with the coffee machine!

Oh for the days of simple instant and UHT!


Steve

stevensfo wrote:I've never tried filtered milk and not sure what the advantage is between that and pasteurised.

I always buy Cravendale
To me it taste pretty much the same as normal milk but it keeps for much longer
I was always wasting the end of a "bottle" before I discovered it
https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/brands/arla-cravendale/

bungeejumper wrote:...PS: What do they do with the lactose that they've filtered out? Use it in confectionery?

I'm not sure filtering removes lactose?

Says here, about 4% sugar which is same as unfiltered: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/253732988

NotSure wrote:Says here, about 4% sugar which is same as unfiltered: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/253732988

4% ??
it says 11%
or have I got that wrong

pje16 wrote:

NotSure wrote:Says here, about 4% sugar which is same as unfiltered: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/253732988

4% ??
it says 11%
or have I got that wrong

Well it's about 5.5% - figures quoted are for 200 ml, not the usual 100 g.

It's a percentage
not an absolute amount

bungeejumper wrote:And if not, is there any cooking use where it's better than the usual product?

Serious question. Thanks!

BJ

It’s ok, sort of. I wouldn’t want to drink it on its own or have it on cereal but it is just about ok in tea and coffee (although not as good if you are making frothed milk for coffee).

I only buy it before I go on holiday and then leave it unopened in the fridge so it is there and useable for a coffee when I return in several weeks time.

pje16 wrote:It's a percentage
not an absolute amount

The percentage is of your daily allowance (no eye roll).

Scott.

pje16 wrote:It's a percentage
not an absolute amount

My apologies, in grams, it's 9.6/200, so finally, ~4.8% w/w, typical for milk (as pointed out, the %age I wrongly used is of RDA)

I've seen 'super-filtered' milk that has no lactose, but I think filtered milk just has reduced bacteria so lasts longer.