About the Cream at the Top of Non-Homogenized Milk

Last week in our post about Straus Family Creamery, a reader commented:

ok, i recently purchased the straus milk and was wondering what you're suppose to do with the cream top? do you put it over something, throw it out or leave it in there?

When milk is not homogenized, the cream in it rises to the top. This is a natural occurrence, and was more common in the old days. Homogenizing milk isn't done for health reasons; it's simply a process that shrinks the cream globules and makes them blend in the milk. Some people prefer their milk to have an even texture; it's a personal preference. Other people believe non-homogenized milk tastes better and like the cream top.

The cream at the top can be mixed in with the milk - poke it with the end of a spoon handle to push it in the bottle, and then give the bottle a good shake. Or you can scoop the cream out and just eat it. It's pretty delicious, especially with a little sugar sprinkled on top of it. It can also be spread on baked goods with a little jam and used in place of English clotted cream. Give it a try!

Comments (21)

There have been studies done over the years about whether homogenized milk is actually bad for you--contributing to heart disease.

Oh my goodness, my heart just fell when I read that someone might actually throw it away! The cream is the BEST part - please don't throw it away!

I grew up on a Jersey farm where we got our milk directly from the cooler (after it'd gone through a filter but before it was pasteurized). Every morning grabbing the milk from the fridge involved a rigourous shaking of the pitcher - delish!

Back in the days before homogenization, people used neat little spoons to scoop the cream out of the bottle before pouring the milk.

It's so yummy when stirred into your cereal :o)

this makes my stomach turn, although I am sure it is delicious

We buy raw milk from a local dairy and it has several inches of lovely, delicious cream on top each gallon. I like to use it in my coffee and to dip fresh berries in. Sometimes, I just shove it down into the gallon and shake it very well. The cream is what makes the milk tastes more like milk instead of just thick water. Since that is where most of the fat is, that is also where most of the flavor is, in my opinion.

When my grandfather was young (late teens, early 1920s) they had milk delivered in glass bottles. The milkman would leave it on the porch and in cold weather the cream would float to the top and freeze, forcing the cap loose. My grandfather would wake up early and break off the frozen cream (which by that point had risen a couple inches above the bottle) and eat it. 70 years later, my great aunt was still annoyed at him for doing that because the rest of them were left with what basically amounted to skim milk.

What on earth are these people thinking?...Throw away the cream.
And what is this person talking about non-homogenized milk being bad for you?
Come on people!! Are we THAT disconnected with whole, real foods, that we don't even know real milk when we see it?
I can assure you that raw milk, or even just non-homogenized milk is NOT bad for you in any way, shape or form...
As for the cream on top- shake it up!
I get raw milk, and the cream top isn't as dense looking as that, so it may be slightly different...but, I just shake the cream into the milk, and pour myself a tall glass.
If you like your milk skim (which, god help you, if you do)...pour the cream off, and save it for later.

yay happybaker! I grew up on a holstein farm, and we all drank whole, raw, non-homogenized milk from our happy cows, and you always stirred or shook the pitcher to mix in the cream. I haven't had milk like that in a while, but my husband makes fun of me because I still give our plastic jug a shake or two when I get it out of the frig.

We have a raw dairy here in town (they were here first so they are grandfathered in!) and it always has cream on top I sometimes need milk and have to go to a regular market to grab some and hubby always laughs because I always shake it because it is such a habit.

Shake it up or you lose tons of flavor. My dairy sells cream seperate too for baking and ice cream etc.

makeamess - I said that homogenized milk may be bad for you.

Total non sequitur, I thought we were drinking "good" milk when I switched to organic, but oh mama! When we bought our first gallon of non-homogenized milk, I swear it was as though I was drinking milk for the first time. It was just so fresh, and the color was so different from anything else; creamy, a bit yellow. Delicious!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I just shake the jug to reblend.

Before I saw this article I didn't know such a thing existed. I don't know where I can get non-homogenized milk, but if I were to buy it I would most likely put the cream aside for later use.

((shrug)) I tend to use soymilk when I need milk, and outside of cereal that's basically never.

I grew up on a farm and as a child there was nothing better than scooping fresh sweat cream off the top of milk
and pouring it over the top of fresh picked sweat berries from the garden!! adding a little makes it even better!!, if you never had this you wouldn't believe what you are missing...one of the sweater things in life!!

above comment should say"adding a little sugar makes it enen better"

even better

We had 10 in the family the milk never sat long enough for the cream to settle on top...LOL

They say it's bad for you? but none of my parents 8 children or all the grandchildren ever got sick from it!!!

It does have high fat content and I was a chuby little kid, it's like any other fat content, depends on how much of it you intake.

Don't ever through it away, look at the price of it in the dairy case and you won't through it away!!