Is It Safe to Drink Milk Left Out for 3 Hours?

  • Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
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In summary: I left milk out all night and still drank it after it was cool again.If it still felt chilled, and you're going to drink it tonight, it's probably okay, at least if it started out fairly fresh (if it's already close to the expiration date, I'd just dump it, because it might have already been starting some bacterial growth). A half gallon is a large enough volume, it probably wouldn't cool too quickly (maybe you should give the carton dimensions, refrigerator temperature and room temperature to the physics/math folks around here and let them calculate the time it reached that "danger zone" HRW mentioned and how long it was at that temperature...the milk in the middle is probably just fine :
  • #71
Yeah of course it is in your head. But me too. :biggrin:
 
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  • #72
franznietzsche said:
Personally I wouldn't drink it. I'm really finicky about my milk. I can taste the difference after a few minutes. It may just be in my head, but if it doesn't taste just right, I won't drink it at all.

I'm like that too. I like my milk ice-cold from the fridge. If it sits out just a few minutes and starts to get warm, it doesn't taste the same to me and I don't like it. But, the funny thing is, if I heat it on the stove, then I like warm milk. So, I'm not sure what it is about the more tepid milk that I don't like. But it's still okay in coffee.
 
  • #73
Moonbear said:
I'm like that too. I like my milk ice-cold from the fridge. If it sits out just a few minutes and starts to get warm, it doesn't taste the same to me and I don't like it. But, the funny thing is, if I heat it on the stove, then I like warm milk. So, I'm not sure what it is about the more tepid milk that I don't like. But it's still okay in coffee.

Exactly. Once it warms up at all it tastes different.
 
  • #74
The right time to drink milk is after it's been kept out just long enough that the CO2 produced by the bacteria causes the jug to inflate like a balloon. :biggrin:
 
  • #75
Perhaps colder means less evaporation so you don't 'taste' (smell) it as much. If that were true, then I imagine you guys wouldn't swish the milk around in your mouth. True or false?

Of course, even if you don't swish it, I'm not sure how to explain your liking warm/hot milk. Maybe it's just some inbetween taste that you don't like. Hm.

It might also be disgust, which is presumably (over)protecting you from spoiled milk. http://www.people.virginia.edu/~jdh6n/disgustscale.html links to some interesting articles on disgust, which propose that disgust began as revulsion at the prospect of oral incorporation of an offensive object. I like this explanation better. Do you guys feel disgust?
 
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  • #76
Greg Bernhardt said:
I left 1/2 gallon of 1% milk out for nearly three hours. Still felt chilled. Think I should drink it? I really don't want to go out to the store tonight!
Geez, it's been sitting out for over two months now! Just drink it and get it over with!

Uh, :rolleyes: , you might need to drink it with a fork.
 
  • #77
mmmmm.. save me a slice of milk!
 
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