For those who don’t know: when milk is milked out of the cow it goes through some processing, like pasteurization and separation. When milk separates the fat floates to the top and it is “skimmed” off. You can have ‘whole’ fat in your milk, as in they only take off the very top part of cream on top. Then you can have your ‘skim’ milk with no fat. Then you can add back in a percentage of the fat. This is where the most common 1% and 2% come in. In theory you can make whatever percentage milk you want. This is also where something like half and half comes in, half cream added back to half milk for a 50% ish mix.
For reference, “whole milk” is about 3.5%.
You’d think whole would be more than half and half.
I believe the reason for this (at least what I’ve been told in a dairy-heavy area) is that nobody calls half and half “milk”. They literally ask for cream, creamer, or half and half when that’s what they are looking for, because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk, and has different properties. And it’s sort of always been this way because the cream floats and they’d skim it off, so the composition of the remaining fluid portion is probably not that different.
So basically it’s not included for the naming scheme because it’s a wholly unrelated product despite having all the same ingredients in different ratios. It’s on the milk spectrum, just like heavy whipping cream, but isn’t what most people would classify as milk.
because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk,
Nope, I definitely do not have two half gallon cartons of half and half in my fridge right now that will be consumed by the glass… that would be… weird… or whatever…
Nothing wrong with that, if your diet allows for the higher fat content and it makes you happy. I’m certainly not going to judge when I have bought heavy whipping cream on multiple occasions for likely the same hedonistic, vaguely taboo, reason.
However, despite having advanced tastes, we are well in the minority. Most people find the mouthfeel alone (by alone I mean without enhancing the flavor) to be… mildly unpleasant. And I sort of get that; we don’t have many super creamy drinks, and the ones we do have are wicked rich/sweet. Whipping cream doesn’t taste like much, in the traditional sense, it’s just more expensive and a higher calorie load, and gives you more phlegm, so most people aren’t going to want it outside of cooking where the lack makes a notable difference. Same with half and half; it’s an ingredient and not a food itself.
If you get something out of the mouthfeel and richer flavor that makes it worth it for you, though, you do you. I totally get it. The richness combined with lactose, instead of sucrose or fructose which are harder on my gut bacteria, is deeply satisfying to me, and always has been.
Maybe, but no one should be drinking a glass of half and half.
Why not?
Thank you! This is a question I’ve pondered my entire life but never actually took the time to look up.
Its on the jug, or at least the milk I buy. Which is only 3.25%. I wish it was 5%.
I want 98% fat with 2% milk.
Butter?
Bro, you know me so well, bro. <3
So you want butter
Found the guy doing keto ∆∆∆
I don’t understand skim milk; it’s just white water. If you want milk, drink milk. That stuff is just a cruel joke.
It’s water that’s lying about being milk
It’s not just white water, it’s white sugar water. They replace the fat with sugar, which is considerably worse for your health.
That isn’t true. In fact, whole milk has ~0.5g more sugar per 100ml.
Also, less fat means more sugar.
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Sounds complicated. I get my milk straight from the producer. Don’t want any additives that mess up the taste.
I don’t know if you’re serious, but if you are be careful with avian flu. Raw milk from a cow has a decent chance of being infected right now.
Actually paying attention to that RN. No cases in my country yet.
it’s 2% milk, 98% mystery fun
Don’t worry about it. Just keep drinking.
I mean… I guess anything can be a mystery if you don’t want to learn about it. So, yes!
The top comment here in this thread was excellent at giving a quick overview, for those interested.
I agree on both points!
I like to try to add a little more levity around here, especially when it’s in the spirit of the original post!
That’s why I leave cottage cheese out for racoons. 98% milkfat babe.
Looks like 20/0 milk, thus infinite.
Just do the math
Is it really called 2% milk? That seems inverted tbh since it’s obviously 98% milk and 2% fat. Here (NZ) we call it something like “trim” or “skim” or “98% fat free”
It’s milk that the company has extracted all the nutrients from,
and replaced them with sugar. Now you get expensive sugar water, and they can sell the good stuff in other products such as whipped cream, heavy cream, and butter.Edit: apparently the higher sugar content in skim and nonfat milk is because the removal of fat concentrates the remaining lactose. They don’t add additional sugar. The original point still remains though, that it’s mostly just milk flavored sugar water.
The answer above that called the other 98% “mystery fun” was far more informative than this fabrication.
Pasteurization is a very, very important process for keeping humans safe. Nobody should be framing it as “extracting the nutrients”. This is especially true right now in the US, since dairy cows in multiple states have tested positive for bird flu. Their milk has been confirmed to have the virus in it, but it’s dead virus thanks to Pasteurization.
The fat content of milk has absolutely nothing to do with pasteurization, genius.
I’m not talking about pasteurization. Whole, skim, and nonfat milk can all be pasteurized. I’m talking about them taking all of the nutritious natural fats out of the milk and replacing it with sugar to make skim and nonfat milk.
But 2% is not skim…
Bad troll is bad
Go compare the sugar content of whole milk to skim milk. You don’t need to take my word for it, it’s written right on the label.
I don’t disagree with your conclusion, but I don’t think they replace anything with sugar. Milk is just high in sugars, because it’s supposed to give energy and nutrients to a growing calf. If you remove the fats then the sugar content is higher as a percentage.
Milk isn’t all that healthy in general though. It’s liquid for a calf to grow. It’s much better to drink something made for human consumption and dietary needs.
Ah, you are correct. I just checked. I always thought that they added extra sugar so that it doesn’t taste terrible. I know they do that with some other non-fat foods. The higher sugar content in skim and nonfat milk is because the removal of fat concentrates the remaining lactose, like you said. Thanks for correcting me!
Good on you for being graceful about it.
Unethical. Drink plant milk
Even if you don’t care about the ethics, plant milk is getting cheap (oat milk is cheaper than cows milk where i live), tastes good, has a longer shelf life and has thus far worked perfectly as a replacement in baking and such
How do you get over the nutty aftertaste? Every milk derivative I have tried, always tasted really really bad compared to regular milk. Trust me, I want to go plant milk, but goodness the taste is awful for me.
Which ones have you tried? Some soy milk has a pretty strong flavor, some doesn’t. Oat doesn’t have an aftertaste like that imo, or pea milk
Of course almond milk, and that was the first one I tried. I hated that one because I don’t like almonds, so I didn’t want to give up there. When I tried oat milk, I liked it a little at first, but it started to have a play-doh taste like a day or two after opening it, and I did not buy another to see if it was a bad batch.
Can you recommend some oat milk that will taste good, and not break the bank so to speak? :)
Planet oat and chobani taste the best, if you can find it make sure to get the extra creamy/barista versions
I see my local mart sells the Chobani kind, so I will give that one a try. Thank you!
NextMilk! My partner is a picky eater but miraculously will consume NextMilk with cereal. It also works great for baking and cooking. We’ve stopped buying cow milk completely.
The first time I tried oat milk (during early covid and literally didn’t have any other choices left for milk or milk alternatives) I didn’t like it. Every time after that I’ve actually thought it was pretty good. By far it’s the best thing to put in coffee or tea, but I don’t drink those often anymore and typically I drink them black anyway. I can’t recommend brands, but I’d just say to experiment. Write down which you like. I’m sure some people like all of them, because they made it to market and I’m sure we’re tested for preference.
Tbh I’m a soy milk fan, oat isn’t really my thing either. But, I know lots of people love it which is why I recommend it. I like silk soy milk the most, I usually go for unsweetend vanilla but it doesn’t have the super strong soy flavor like other brands
Nutty milk is the best milk. So I’ve heard.
Is it 3x cheaper? Because cow’s milk contains 3x the protein of oat milk per cup (250ml). If you’re drinking milk as a source of protein then oat milk isn’t going to be a good substitute.
Filtered milk is what I buy and it has a shelf life of about a month. That’s plenty for me since I go through a 4L bag in less than a week anyway.
I… Have never heard of anyone drinking milk for the protein content, why would you do that?
Milk has like 35g of protein per liter, so 4 liters is 140g of proteins a week… There are more cost effective and pleasant ways of getting that protein you know
EDIT: i googled what “filtered milk” is, i can guarantee you that it is more than 3x as expensive as oat milk where i live since i’ve never heard of it and would probably have to go to a specialty store or something to get it
Well where I live 4L of fine-filtered milk costs about the same as a single 946mL carton of oat milk.
Perhaps you haven’t spent much time around body builders or weight lifters in general. They tend to consume large amounts of milk and/or whey protein as well as eggs.
All the bodybuilders I know avoid dairy because of the estrogen
All of the body builders you know are weak bitches if they are afraid of a hormone their body already creates anyways.
Or if you ethically prioritize “the environment” over the individual victims of the industry, plant milk has a way smaller footprint. Even the worst one (almond milk, iirc) is way better than milk from animals
Summary is that due to the amount of added sugar to the unsweetened versions, dairy milk will still be better for your health.
"And then there are added sugars. Unflavored white dairy milk and unsweetened soy and almond milk contain no added sugars. " lol