Was up at CostCo the other day and saw this:
This is simply tetra-packed UHT milk. And…you can find UHT milk in the cooler at pretty much any supermarket. So, really, this isn’t necessarily a real find.
I have a love-hate relationship with milk – I hate it and love drinking anything else. Also, there are some questions I have about drinking cow milk. First off, I’m a human, not a cow. Would it not make more sense for me to drink the milk of my own species, which is by its nature, specifically designed for my particular organic makeup? And even then, once humans get past a certain age, milk doesnt provide the same benefits than what it provides when the human is newly minted and still developing. In short, I’m not a cow…how is drinking cow milk a good idea?
However….nothing is better on a bowl of cornflakes. Problem is, if I open a quart of milk there is no way I wind up using it all up before it goes bad. So, for me, the small bottles of UHT milk that last about six months in the fridge, unopened, make more sense.
Anyway, if you hate running out of milk, this is a possible way around that…buy a case, stick it in the fridge (or on a shelf) and youre covered. But…you could also just stroll down to WinCo, find the smaller bottles of UHT milk, stuff ’em in the back of your fridge, and have the same result as this stuff at CostCo.
But, still, its nice to see at CostCo.
I drink cow milk rather than human milk for the same reason I eat cow meat rather than human meat. That said, if things get really bad, I’m willing to be very flexible in my food choices.
Fairlife milk is a happy medium if you’ve seen that. Will last several weeks longer in the fridge than regular milk. Not as long as uht though.
Commander zero- so if I’m following your logic we should not eat cows but humans?
No, thats not an apples to apples comparison. My argument is that milk from cows is designed to meet the nutritional needs of calves, not people. The meat from cows is not designed to meet the nutritional needs of cows, thus comparison that meat from humans is best for humans is incorrect.
Milk has a complete profile of the amino acids humans can’t produce, so if you want to build or maintain muscle mass, it’s useful. Same goes for sheep, pig, and goat milk. How that happened in nature is beyond me. There is a subset of bodybuilders who buy and drink human milk using the logic you have, so there’s that.
You’re storing liquid. Liquid is heavy, consumes space, has special storage requirements.
Powdered milk is now very equal in price to regular milk. If put off by the taste, blend in with regular milk, or mashed garbanzo* beans.
*Depression era recipes used garbanzo in place of eggs or milk if need be.
I’ve never been much for drinking milk, probably due to an early (and thankfully outgrown) milk protean allergy. I do cook with it though so I wonder how UHT milk is for that, I figure for something it should be fine (chowder, sauce, etc.) though I do know it can’t be used for making cheese or other milk products.
The “new” aspect is that Costco is now carrying UHT WHOLE milk. They used to only offer chocolate, vanilla, and sometimes plain LOWFAT milk.
The big box size is a great backup to have on the shelf or in the fridge. The smaller boxes are good for putting in coffee over the weekend at the BOL, or a single bowl of cereal.
It is just one more tool in the toolbox, with alternatives, but it’s a welcome one.
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BTW, my experience for unrefrigerated UHT milk is that it’s good for about 6 months past the Best By date. Beyond that it gets little tapioca like balls and more of the ‘caramel’ tastes. I didn’t have any ill effects from tasting some, but I consider it an expendable with a short rotation time. Refrigeration does seem to extend the usable storage time.
I wonder if it can be frozen? Would that make it last longer?
It can but you can also free\e fresh milk so why use UHT?
I’ve found that UHT milk is not eternal milk….even kept unopened in the refrigerator, after several months it went bad – unless you were making cottage cheese
The two years we lived in Asia the only milk we could get (and felt safe to use) was the UHT milk shipped in from Australia. Never seemed to harm or bother my older son who drank it once he was weaned. I’ve never liked milk, but both my kids drank tons of it. Now, my husband and I use a minimal amount so I buy the UHT quarts from the Dollar Tree (closest Costco or Sams Club are a couple of hours away, and I won’t pay membership fees). It used to be Gossner’s from Utah but is now Marcel’s from Louisiana. It claims almost a year’s unopened shelf life, and I have used plenty of it that is 6 months old and it was fine – just bought some last week that has a ‘use by’ date of Feb 2026. I just keep it away from excessive heat and light, same as all my other pantry food.
I do have some of the powdered stuff in my genuine emergency long-term storage, but that’s for an emergency – not now. And from all I’ve read, only the fat-free truly lasts for ages. Many suggest the Nestle’s Nido. I’ve also bought whole powdered goat milk and Anthony’s powdered cream from Amazon. And when I go back to visit the city, I stop at the AWFL’s favorite store (Trader Joe’s) and buy the long life boxes of whipping cream – comes out like a blob, but tastes and whips up great. I have read it is now only available Sep-Dec; don’t know for certain.
I have tried the Nido and its very rich..like drinking melted ice cream. Its fat content is way past what normal whole milk. Not necessarily a bad thing, just means you might need to jiggle with the powder/water ratio to get something more approximate to what youre used to from whole milk.
Nido is the preferred dried milk for me.
I only buy the UHT milk since we use milk so rarely.
The Costco milk was over $7 per gallon at three gallons for $22. I pay $1.25 per quart package ($5 per gallon) at Dollar Tree for UHT. They have whole, 2%, and 1%.
i buy the kirkland brand of the juice box size milks…they taste pretty good and store for almost a year…easy to take to work…
Yeah..I got some of those. Theyre just about the right size for a bowl of cereal or a recipe that calls for a small (8 oz~) amount of milk.
I’ve started keeping cans of Evaporated Milk and not UHT milk. It’s just milk with 60% of the water removed through heating. With the water added back it’s just UHT milk but lasts a lot longer.
Amazon has the UTH whipping cream – made in the US, 8 oz – only ingredients are cream and carrageenan – identical to Trader Joe’s version but half the price (case of 27 for $59.99). Buy a case to share and split the cost. Have you seen the price of grocery-store whipping creaam? My sole concern when ordering these online is that I can’t see/specify expiration date. I still think I’m going to get some. They have the same item in 32 oz containers but I wouldn’t use that much at one time. You can also find Gossners brand online, same product in 32 oz containers – but shipping costs are high. I hate Bezos but find Amazon prime highly convenient considering the limited shopping where we live, so that’s what I use.
Old sailboat cruiser hack. If powdered milk is too watery, add a can of evaporated milk. Makes it just like whole milk.