Sour Milk?

[Woodstock]

I have made a fishy starter for Christmas day made of mixed fish covered in a cheese sauce. I only found out after I had made the sauce and poured it on the fish, that the milk I used in the sauce had turned sour, despite being a fresh bottle! The sauce tasted ok to me, but is this 'sour milk sauce' likely to make anyone ill?

[douglas9401]

Tell your guests it's poisson au yaourt from an old Breton recipe and it'll all be fine.

[pixie374]

Unlikely, but it is possible.

[hellywelly4]

I wouldn't think it would upset anyone - isn't yoghurt sour milk?

[pixie374]

If it's been pasteurised and cooked, it should be ok- but anything with "use by" instead of "best before" can potentially make you ill. They aren't allowed to use those words otherwise.

[Woodstock]

Thanks for your responses - I was thinking along the yogurt idea myself, and the 'old Breton recipe' made me smile!

[Woodstock]

Interestingly, (to my mind any way) the milk I used was B.O.B milk- the yellow topped plastic bottles (the fat content of skimmed but tastes like semi-skimmed) which I really like, but this is the third time I've had a bottle turn sour long before the use by date. On this occasion I opened a new bottle on 21/12 and the use by date was 30/12, so didn't think to sniff the bottle. It was only after I made the sauce then made a cup of coffee I found the milk was sour. I'm going to stop buying it now. I've tried to ring them on the number on the bottle - no reply!

[Maydup]

Sour milk on fish? Made 2 days ahead? Doesn't sound like a happy Christmas to me...

[Zacs-Master]

Anything cooked to a core temp of 76 Deg will kill all bacteria. As for the taste.......

[Khandro]

I don't drink milk even when it's fresh. Do you not have a cat?

[KARL]

Wow, sour milk. I have not had milk go sour in the UK for (I think) decades, but it has gone properly off to become bitter (not sour). I wrote to ask the Dairy Council (that is what I think they are called) to discover why this happens with UK milk but not foreign milk, but I never received a reply. Sour milk and cream are fine for cooking but the bitter stuff is utterly useless.

[Woodstock]

Just t let you know.....I served up the starters, didn't say a word, it tasted fine, everyone loved it and no one has been ill. Result!!

[Mamyalynne]

Good news.

[jno]

phew, I thought you were posting the dates of the funerals.

[Jackdaw33]

Years ago a bottle of milk would go off within a day or two, even when kept in the fridge. On 21st December I bought two pints of fresh milk. The best before date is 3rd January. That's nearly a fortnight. Why does milk keep so much longer these days?

[Woodstock]

Lol Jno - I waited until today to post just to be sure!!
Jackdaw33 - a few years ago I used to buy regular glass bottled milk from a small local supplier. However, I cancelled their delivery as they would only deliver on alternate days and not weekends so would usually be left with 16 pints on a Friday - all with the same use by date!! When I cancelled my order and told the milkman I was going to buy supermarket milk that had a longer shelf life than his milk, he intimated that supermarket milk was chemically treated to give it a longer shelf life. He also said that his unsold milk was disposed of, but unsold supermarket milk was sold to chocolate manufacturers for manufacturing use!! Not sure if there is any truth in this or not??!!

[ummmm]

I freeze any extra milk.