Fresh Milk

[tim armstrong]

I know that Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk, so I was intrigued yesterday when our local Big C was selling F&N (Fraser and Neave) pasteurized FRESH MILK. It certainly tastes fresher than the others, but I'm wondering is it just more of the same. Has anybody seen this product ?

[ToddWeston]

Haven't tried that brand, but we like Dairy Home 1200ml for 70 baht @ Tesco, it's fresh milk and doesn't have the after taste the others have, great in tea. It's getting to the point I may buy a cow with the amount of milk my gang drinks

Is it true the others are not fresh ? I don't like the taste of them so we moved on quickly to Dairy Home.

Thanks for the tip, I will try some this week end.

[masuk]

I read on this site a while back that all UHT milk and possible other milk has had some cream extracted and is 6% fat.

Not skim milk, but as I buy full cream pastuerised milk from the Thai-Danish dairy (Chiang Mai) for making yoghurt and day to day use, you can see the difference when having to use the packet variety.

[mrjohn]

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

Edited February 6, 2014 by mrjohn

[quidnunc]

I read on this site a while back that all UHT milk and possible other milk has had some cream extracted and is 6% fat.

Not skim milk, but as I buy full cream pastuerised milk from the Thai-Danish dairy (Chiang Mai) for making yoghurt and day to day use, you can see the difference when having to use the packet variety.

First, off, milk's richness is measured in butterfat, not in cream since cream has no set percentage of fat. . If UHT milk had 6 percent butterfat it would be very rich indeed. Most whole milk that's sold has a butterfat content of around 3.25-3.5 percent. Meiji sells Meiji Gold which has a higher percentage of butterfat and Foremost now sells a milk (or is it half and half?) that is very very rich. For me, the richness of it more than compensates for the slightly scalded flavor. I suspect that scalded flavor occurs because it's UHT pasteurized.

[masuk]

I read on this site a while back that all UHT milk and possible other milk has had some cream extracted and is 6% fat.

Not skim milk, but as I buy full cream pastuerised milk from the Thai-Danish dairy (Chiang Mai) for making yoghurt and day to day use, you can see the difference when having to use the packet variety.

First, off, milk's richness is measured in butterfat, not in cream since cream has no set percentage of fat. . If UHT milk had 6 percent butterfat it would be very rich indeed. Most whole milk that's sold has a butterfat content of around 3.25-3.5 percent. Meiji sells Meiji Gold which has a higher percentage of butterfat and Foremost now sells a milk (or is it half and half?) that is very very rich. For me, the richness of it more than compensates for the slightly scalded flavor. I suspect that scalded flavor occurs because it's UHT pasteurized.

Thanks for the corrections. I rather like the plain pastuerised milk, and as I said, make a nice yoghurt.

[quidnunc]

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

I second mrjohn. Meiji and other international companies aren't going to risk the bad publicity that would certainly come if it were to be made public that they were adulterating their milk. Actually. I think the quality of milk in thailand is very high. And the cream being pasteurized but not ultra pasteurized is far superior to the cream you can get in most western countries.

In Chiang Mai we are lucky to have Dacheeso milk which is not only low temperature pasteurized but is also unhomogenized. Tastes very close to raw milk.

[ToddWeston]

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

I second mrjohn. Meiji and other international companies aren't going to risk the bad publicity that would certainly come if it were to be made public that they were adulterating their milk. Actually. I think the quality of milk in thailand is very high. And the cream being pasteurized but not ultra pasteurized is far superior to the cream you can get in most western countries.

In Chiang Mai we are lucky to have Dacheeso milk which is not only low temperature pasteurized but is also unhomogenized. Tastes very close to raw milk.

We make our own butter and I have to agree the cream is excellent. There is one brand that doesn't contain carrageenan (thickener) and I don't recall the name & haven't seen it at Foodland for awhile.

[quidnunc]

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

I second mrjohn. Meiji and other international companies aren't going to risk the bad publicity that would certainly come if it were to be made public that they were adulterating their milk. Actually. I think the quality of milk in thailand is very high. And the cream being pasteurized but not ultra pasteurized is far superior to the cream you can get in most western countries.

In Chiang Mai we are lucky to have Dacheeso milk which is not only low temperature pasteurized but is also unhomogenized. Tastes very close to raw milk.

We make our own butter and I have to agree the cream is excellent. There is one brand that doesn't contain carrageenan (thickener) and I don't recall the name & haven't seen it at Foodland for awhile.

I looked at the ingredients listed for Foremost and Meiji and both claimed that their cream was derived only from milk. Nothing else.If cream is not ultrapasteurized - and generally speaking in thailand it is not ultrapasteurized - it will naturally thicken over time thanks to the effects of naturally occurring lactobacillus bacteria.

[ToddWeston]

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

I second mrjohn. Meiji and other international companies aren't going to risk the bad publicity that would certainly come if it were to be made public that they were adulterating their milk. Actually. I think the quality of milk in thailand is very high. And the cream being pasteurized but not ultra pasteurized is far superior to the cream you can get in most western countries.

In Chiang Mai we are lucky to have Dacheeso milk which is not only low temperature pasteurized but is also unhomogenized. Tastes very close to raw milk.

We make our own butter and I have to agree the cream is excellent. There is one brand that doesn't contain carrageenan (thickener) and I don't recall the name & haven't seen it at Foodland for awhile.

I looked at the ingredients listed for Foremost and Meiji and both claimed that their cream was derived only from milk. Nothing else.If cream is not ultrapasteurized - and generally speaking in thailand it is not ultrapasteurized - it will naturally thicken over time thanks to the effects of naturally occurring lactobacillus bacteria.

They do add carrangeenan to the cream with some brands as a thickener, it's on the label it's prevelent in the west as well. I don't find it makes much of a difference with my butter, all good stuff & my buttermilk is fantastic.

[tim armstrong]

I stand corrected about Meiji and Dutch Mill. It shows I should check out the rumours. Meiji certainly tastes Ok. The new one I mentioned previously is marketed as Magnolia brand milk. Thanks for all the info on other brands.

[AyG]

Magnolia is a brand of the Singapore company Fraser & Neave. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (the beer Chang billionaire) acquired about 2/3 of the company last year which is probably why the brand has started to appear here. I suspect the milk is imported, but don't know for sure.

[quidnunc]

Magnolia is a brand of the Singapore company Fraser & Neave. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (the beer Chang billionaire) acquired about 2/3 of the company last year which is probably why the brand has started to appear here. I suspect the milk is imported, but don't know for sure.

Just checked the label at Makro. Not imported. Which makes sense since the milk is pasteurized and has a limited shelf life. It's cheaper than Meiji and Foremost. Not sure why. I've never tried it.

[beammeup]

I would love to make my own butter. I have never seen fresh cream anywhere in Thailand. Is it available? Can you make butter out of UHT cream? Can you use fresh milk? I definitely want to avoid carrageenan as it has been known to cause gastrointestinal inflammation.

[ToddWeston]

I would love to make my own butter. I have never seen fresh cream anywhere in Thailand. Is it available? Can you make butter out of UHT cream? Can you use fresh milk? I definitely want to avoid carrageenan as it has been known to cause gastrointestinal inflammation.

Yes it's available at Foodland, Gourmet and some Tops & Villa Soi 11. Look for "whipping cream" 35% fat. I don't believe the UHT stuff would work. There is one brand that says pure whipping cream and doesn't have carrageenan on the label, I don't recall the name but it's a red label. Milk won't work as it's only 1-3% fat you need double cream or whipping cream 30% +. One litre of cream should yield about 300 grams of butter. The Gourmet market at T21 always seems to have it in stock, some of the other places you have to keep checking.

Here's what I do, BTW almost all butter has carrageenan in it so if your not sensitive already you should be fine. That thickener is used in many foods with the main exception being baby formulas in the EU/OZ/Canada it's still used in the US.

Simple procedure - use a bowl and a hand mixer and whip the cream (room temperature cream) when you get to the whipped cream stage you're half way there you can use a food processor as well and if you've got kids fill a small jar 2/3 full and let them shake it by hand, it will take 20 minutes for the buttermilk to seperate and they'll be tired but it's fun.

Keep the mixer on high and you will start to see the butter milk seperate and the colour change from white to yellow, this is the fat. Have a knife and stop the mixer and scrap the butter bits back into the batch.

If you want, have some crushed ice on the side and when you see it's forming a butter ball and has the same texture as butter, stop mixing and add the ice, you'll then squeeze the butter to remove the excess butter milk. I don't bother I just squeeze it by hand without the ice. The reason you want to remove as much buttermilk as possible is because that will sour, if your going to use it all in a couple of weeks or with cooking/baking I don't worry that much.

Save the buttermilk for bisquits or your coffee/tea it's really really good trust me, it's not sour like store bought processed buttermilk.

After you've squeezed the excess buttermilk add salt, and mix it into the butter.

We roll our butter in wax paper and freeze it if we make a large batch.

If you don't think it's salty enough next batch add the salt to the cream before you mix and discard the buttermilk, it's trial and error to match your taste. I splurge and use Malden sea salt, no cheap here but I like the taste of salt flakes, there are some fantastic salts from Australia that are also available at gourmet.

Good luck, once you've tasted fresh butter you'll hate the store stuff

[masuk]

I started making yoghurt here in Chiang Mai, when I realised that it's difficult to buy yoghurt with acidophilus culture in it, and also sugar-free.

I bought a milk thermometer and three types of yoghurt culture on a trip back to Oz, although the cultures are easily mailed. I bought an Easi Yo yoghurt container and insulated flask.

supplier: http://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/yoghurt.html

At first the UHT or plain milk available in the stores did not work too well, but I read on these pages that Thai-Danish milk factory (opposite the Zoo) sells fresh pasteurised milk; I tried it, and it worked a treat.

Now I make a mixture of Greek yoghurt and another type, add sweetener powder as necessary, and Bob's yer uncle!

[smokie36]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ToddWeston]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I believe raw milk is now banned, will check further & report back.

Some years ago these guys used to offer it, but it isn't in their product list.

http://www.farmchokchai.com/en/index_content.php?content_id=23

I wonder if there are any "cow share" schemes here ? in Canada they've become popular for raw milk drinkers as a way to bypass the law.

[wayned]

I thought that this thread was about milking the cow and getting "fresh" milk where you can actually skim off the cream. It's avaiable where I live, directly from the dairy farmer, and not pastaurized, of course, otherwise you couldn't skim off the cream.

[AyG]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

I believe raw milk is now banned, will check further & report back.

I don't think it's raw milk that the poster is asking about. Hasn't been common in the UK for a long time. I think the change is that in the old days milk wasn't homogenised. It came with a layer of thicker cream on top (known, quite logically as "top of the milk"). Sometimes this was thick enough to stop the milk from pouring.

[quidnunc]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Well, you don't say where you live in Thailand. If you live in Chiang Mai city, it's available from Dacheeso Dairy. Unhomogenized, low temperature pasteurized milk.

[quidnunc]

I would love to make my own butter. I have never seen fresh cream anywhere in Thailand. Is it available? Can you make butter out of UHT cream? Can you use fresh milk? I definitely want to avoid carrageenan as it has been known to cause gastrointestinal inflammation.

Yes it's available at Foodland, Gourmet and some Tops & Villa Soi 11. Look for "whipping cream" 35% fat. I don't believe the UHT stuff would work. There is one brand that says pure whipping cream and doesn't have carrageenan on the label, I don't recall the name but it's a red label. Milk won't work as it's only 1-3% fat you need double cream or whipping cream 30% +. One litre of cream should yield about 300 grams of butter. The Gourmet market at T21 always seems to have it in stock, some of the other places you have to keep checking.

Here's what I do, BTW almost all butter has carrageenan in it so if your not sensitive already you should be fine. That thickener is used in many foods with the main exception being baby formulas in the EU/OZ/Canada it's still used in the US.

Simple procedure - use a bowl and a hand mixer and whip the cream (room temperature cream) when you get to the whipped cream stage you're half way there you can use a food processor as well and if you've got kids fill a small jar 2/3 full and let them shake it by hand, it will take 20 minutes for the buttermilk to seperate and they'll be tired but it's fun.

Keep the mixer on high and you will start to see the butter milk seperate and the colour change from white to yellow, this is the fat. Have a knife and stop the mixer and scrap the butter bits back into the batch.

If you want, have some crushed ice on the side and when you see it's forming a butter ball and has the same texture as butter, stop mixing and add the ice, you'll then squeeze the butter to remove the excess butter milk. I don't bother I just squeeze it by hand without the ice. The reason you want to remove as much buttermilk as possible is because that will sour, if your going to use it all in a couple of weeks or with cooking/baking I don't worry that much.

Save the buttermilk for bisquits or your coffee/tea it's really really good trust me, it's not sour like store bought processed buttermilk.

After you've squeezed the excess buttermilk add salt, and mix it into the butter.

We roll our butter in wax paper and freeze it if we make a large batch.

If you don't think it's salty enough next batch add the salt to the cream before you mix and discard the buttermilk, it's trial and error to match your taste. I splurge and use Malden sea salt, no cheap here but I like the taste of salt flakes, there are some fantastic salts from Australia that are also available at gourmet.

Good luck, once you've tasted fresh butter you'll hate the store stuff

I've checked out Meiji (red label), Foremost, and Magnolia, and none of them list carrageenan as in ingredient. Just 100% milk. If a cream is ultrapasteurized then carrageenan helps to get it whipped. But since the cream made in Thailand is just pasteurized, carrageenan isn't necessary.

[ToddWeston]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

I believe raw milk is now banned, will check further & report back.

I don't think it's raw milk that the poster is asking about. Hasn't been common in the UK for a long time. I think the change is that in the old days milk wasn't homogenised. It came with a layer of thicker cream on top (known, quite logically as "top of the milk"). Sometimes this was thick enough to stop the milk from pouring.

Apologies, I remember it well. The date rang a bell as that was the time raw milk was discontinued and I remember my some family members making a stink about it.

Has top of the milk been gone 30 years ? I feel old.

[smokie36]

Where can I get a regular supply of milk of the quality and taste similar to that delivered in the UK before 1984?.....no silly answers please....those of us old enough know what I mean.

I believe raw milk is now banned, will check further & report back.

I don't think it's raw milk that the poster is asking about. Hasn't been common in the UK for a long time. I think the change is that in the old days milk wasn't homogenised. It came with a layer of thicker cream on top (known, quite logically as "top of the milk"). Sometimes this was thick enough to stop the milk from pouring.

Apologies, I remember it well. The date rang a bell as that was the time raw milk was discontinued and I remember my some family members making a stink about it.

Has top of the milk been gone 30 years ? I feel old.

Yes I mean pasteurised and non homogenised....sorry for the confusion...much better taste.

Bangkok area please!

Edited February 10, 2014 by smokie36