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I won't purchase anything made with UHT milk. It ruins the flavor and function of milk. The milk tastes nasty. The cream is unusuable. Gross gross stuff.

I don't like the flavor, but I do sometimes buy UHT half & half because it lasts so long. Mostly I avoid it, though.

I buy UHT 1/2 & 1/2 but that's it; the regular organic milk I buy lasts just fine. In coffee I don't mind it.

I recently figured out that I am not lactose intolerant but am instead reacting to pasteurization. I did some research and now only eat raw cheese (mostly goat and sheep) and have switched to rice or almond milk. If you are lactose intolerant too-try switching!-fyi-lactose free milk is still pasteurized.

This article is not entirely correct because it implies there are only 2 levels of pasteurization (I think the author read the Wikipedia article and didn't do any further fact-checking). There are 3 levels of pasteurization:

- batch pasteurization which the milk is slowly heated to 145 F for 30-35 minutes; on a food label in the US this is typically called "pasteurized"; most milk in the grocery store goes through this method

- high-temp, short time (HTST) pasteurization where the milk is heated to 162 F for 15 seconds and then quickly cooled; on a food label in the US this is called "ultrapasteurized"; most organic milk and most cream goes through this process. It actually takes more energy than regular pasteurization, but allows a much longer shelf-life (6 to 8 weeks rather than 1 to 2 weeks)

- ultra-high temp (UHT) pasteurization where the milk is heated to 265-300 F for 1-3 seconds and then rapidly cooled; when packaged in aseptic packaging, this milk doesn't need to be refrigerated and can be found on the grocery store shelves. Parmalat is a familiar brand of UHT milk and I believe is much more common in Europe than the US. UHT milk is shelf stable for many months.

Source:
"On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee
"Foods: Experimental Perspectives, 5th Ed." by Margaret McWilliams

If you're worried about microorganisms and are afraid of raw milk, than any of these is sufficient (although, there have more more cases of food borne illness attributed to pasteurized milk than raw milk [source: CDC]). The higher heat temperatures simply give it a longer shelf life before spoiling. This is why pricey organic milk is ultrapasteurized -- at $8/gal, the store and producers want to minimize the amount that is discarded.

As a consumer, I purchase organic milk for many, may reasons. ostly humane and environmental reasons, but the fact that it's been ultrapasteurized is a very practical reason. Since I don't drink milk, I purchase it for occasional use (recipes, baking, etc) and the long shelf life means less waste. I simply cannot get through a quart of milk in a week.

Interesting taracakes. I've never heard of a reaction to pasteurization in dairy. Is this a new scientific discovery?

Ultra past. cream will not whip well.

I'm not a fan of UHT milk and cream but I can see where it could be very convenient for people have cottages or who live in remote places like the arctic.

For the most part, I agree, that the benefits are more for the producer than for the consumer in this case. Especially when you're a consumer who has high milk consumption members: my 12 year old son often drinks more than a quart of milk a day!

@art and @taracakes -- cow's milk contains a very high percentage of casein protein which is irritating to the immune system of many (most?) people. I have yet to see someone who isn't sensitive to it. Pasteurization alters this protein (denatures) and causes it to change shape and size, so it's absorbed and recognized by the body differently.

Raw milk contains lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Pasteurization destroys this enzyme. So, some people who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk OK.

With regard to cheese, the bacteria that turn milk into cheese eat the lactose. Generally speaking, harder cheeses (cheddar, etc) have little to no lactose present. The bacteria also produce acids which denature the casein protein (in a different way than heat does), so many people who are allergic to milk can eat cheese OK.

As stated, cow's milk is very high in casein protein. Human milk and goat milk are very low in casein. People who have a problem with cow's milk can usually have goat's milk OK. Sheep milk, btw, it also high in casein (but as stated, cheese is usually OK).

@art -- nearly all cream sold in the US is ultra pasteurized (I'm talking grocery store brands like Hood, Organic Valley, etc). It will whip fine. It's homogenization that causes it not to whip. Homogenizing damages the fat globules so they can't stick together happily which is required for whipping.

thanks ilovebutter. maybe time to switch to raw milk.

FYI you can't use Ultra-Pasturized milk for cheese making!

I didn't realize that this is what UHT milk was. I drank UHT milk when I was on a school exchange to Italy because it was what the residence provided, and especially as a skim milk drinker, I thought it was pretty gross for everything except adding to tea or coffee. There was one guy though, who loved the stuff! He drank glasses of it straight, without even refrigerating it first sometimes!

Which is why I eat or drink no dairy product ever. I love your forward thinking here! Even a vegan foodie can enjoy this site!!

I, too, ran into the boxed milk as an exchange student, to Germany in the early 90s. Since I was there for a year, I got used to the taste of it. To this day, I'll drink it in a pinch, and still think it tastes better than powdered milk (blechh.) When I lived alone, and therefore went through milk veeeerrry slowly, I would buy it on purpose, even.

That said, I've never tried to use it for anything other than drinking and mac-and-cheese (verdict: if this is the only dairy avialable, use boxed chicken stock instead, it tastes a million times better.) Generally, when I have had to rely on boxed milk, I've also forgone the things I would normally use milk for...

I won't buy ultra pasteurized milk, mainly because I can't use it for making yogurt or cheese. (The ultra high temps kill the bacteria that causes the milk to do whatever it does to become yogurt/mozzarella. Fail.)

that explains why my paneer didn't work...makes me feel better that I didn't do anything wrong!

I looked at the grocery store today, and it seems like everything is ultra-pasteurized. boo.

I think nearly all milk in Japan has been ultra pasteurized, and that is why it all tastes so strange.

ditto everyone else for hating the UHT milk.
I've recently switched from skim dairy milk to almond milk (and occasionally soy milk) and love it.

In most countries in Europe (not in the UK) UHT milk is 95% of the milk sold in stores. We have been drinking it for ages and no one has died yet. Oh, and just like many people in the US has gotten used to pasteurized milk, we have gotten used to UHT. And NONE of them tastes like fresh milk out of the cow. Is just a matter of getting used to the flavour.

Oh, and FYI, we whip cream :D

And yes, skimmed milk tastes gross. But "fresher" skimmed milk tastes gross too.

UHT products taste weird. I'd much rather go for fresh, normally pasteurised dairy.