Re: Raw milk, how long is it good for

Wow some crazy posts up there! :-)

First of all, I hope the cows that are in your dairy are loved, happy pets with acres of rolling green pasture. Milk and egg factory farms and the immoral abuse and torture of the animals will bring certain karmic destruction on those that support it.

I digress.

Pasteurized or "dead" milk putrifies, raw milk cultures.

Meaning that after so many times of opening the jug the inevitable bacteria, mold, or fungi from the air will overgrow and it spoils. This can kill you to drink. Raw milk on the other hand, has beneficial bacteria, and will basically turn into a sort of sour buttermilk and then separate into curd. It is safe to drink if it tastes good to you (like buttermilk). If it does not pass the smell or taste test then it may have a contaminating strain in there and is not safe. Our smell and taste are God-given common sense indicators of when something is spoiled (rotten, not cultured).

It sounds like you have taken measures to ensure that your supplier is following all the safety protocol (if you are in the U.S. and they are licensed then the health department also holds them to an extremely strict safety code - much more strict than factory farmed horrific "dairies"). The small, pasture raw milk dairy I buy from does it's own independent safety tests with each milking batch before selling.

My milk tends to last about a week before it starts to get tangy, though if I keep my fridge on the super cold setting it will last almost 2 weeks. Also, you can freeze milk and it will retain alot - if not all - of it's beneficial probiotic bacteria (don't deep freeze). Human breastmilk can be frozen up to 3 months I think? I would assume frozen cow milk will last at least a month. Tweet