So, apparently, after all these years, I have been keeping milk in the wrong place. You think, being alive as long as I have been, I would have noticed. Spoiled milk is pretty noticeable, but according to this busybody, I may have put my health at risk with improper storage.
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I have a habit of running a sniff test on my milk before I use it anyway. I don't know where the habit started, but getting a mouthful of sour milk is easily avoided that way. Turned milk can ruin a cup of tea and really fouls up the taste of cereal. What I didn't realize, is that my storage, in the door, is maybe the culprit.
According to one contributor on Chowhound, the door slot, perfectly shaped for milk, is not the place to store it. According to them, the constant fluctuations of temperature caused by the door opening will drop it to sub-optimal temperatures.
Milk should be kept between 32 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent the growth of bacteria. Apparently, keeping it in the door isn't going to make that possible. As it bounces around the Fahrenheit, it's going to hit some temps that are less than perfect.
So Where Should You Store Your Milk?
According to the article, the best place to store cow juice is further back, on a lower shelf. This is the spot that stays most consistently cold, resulting in reliable temperatures. By keeping it there, it will remain cold, and delay spoiling.
However, I don't know if this writer has ever actually kept milk laid down on the bottom of a fridge, but it's a nightmare. I have found far too many times that the shoddy caps on the bottles are prone to leaking. There is nothing worse than spilling milk into a fridge. It's impossible to mop it all up and requires a complete clean-out.
Even then, I still find that there will be a slight odor of sour cream later. I think I'll just stick to keeping it in the door. If I have to drink it faster, then so be it. Some habits aren't going anywhere, and I'm not having some jumped-up contributor tell me where to keep my damn milk. I need it in the quickdraw spot.
