Mini fridge - milk turned to cream

Useless Lump · 20-02-2022 11:37pm #1

I have a mini fridge in my room. I’ve never taken notice of the temperature inside - only that it keeps drinks and snacks at a decent temperature (nowhere near as good as a fridge though - I don’t know if it a supposed to be as good as that).

and it can keep milk fresh for two to three days.

however the little carton of milk I put it last night has gone off - turned to manky cream

I thought at the time that I felt heat coming from the cooler but I got called away. I checked before starting this post and the inside feels cold - but I don’t know if it as cold as it should be

does anyone know why the milk got spoiled? How cold should a mini fridge be?

Atlantic Dawn · 20-02-2022 11:41pm

Have you controls on it to make it cooler or is it one setting?

Akrasia · 20-02-2022 11:42pm

A fridge should be between 2c and 5c

Anything higher will see food spoil within days

A mini fridge also would warm up quicker whenever the door is opened so if it's already at 5 or 6c and you let warm air in, it could take time to bring the fridge back to under 5c, and putting anything warm into the fridge would raise the temperature of the whole fridge until everything equalises

Mini fridges are for keeping long shelf life drinks cool, not for keeping food fresh

looksee · 20-02-2022 11:43pm

Where a proper fridge gives you the temperature you ask for, a mini fridge will only give you about 9 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature.

I have a mini fridge that I just use to keep milk cool in and generally it works fine. However when I went to buy it I said something in passing about putting milk in it and the assistant immediately said, oh I can't sell it to you for milk, it does not guarantee to keep cool enough for milk, its just designed for drinks. I bought one anyway and considered myself warned, but in fact it has been fine.

It could be that the milk had not been kept in great conditions before you bought it, but they are not intended for milk.

Useless Lump · 21-02-2022 2:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118665605#Comment_118665605

No controls on it

Useless Lump · 21-02-2022 2:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118665611#Comment_118665611

I have been very careful about making sure the door is closed after I take something out or put something in

Well it keeps food food cool enough that it hey stay fresh

Useless Lump · 21-02-2022 2:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118665616#Comment_118665616

The milk was fine after I took it out of the proper fridge.

The mini fridge must have heated up

yes A mini fridge doesn’t make milk for drinking or cereal cold but I use it for mild MJ for a cup of tea

Useless Lump · 23-02-2022 5:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118665605#Comment_118665605

At the of the mini fridge is a power button and a bout to. To choose between ECO and NORMAL.

It was set to ECO (I’ve never touched it) so I’ve changed to NORMAL to see if it makes a difference

Useless Lump · 25-02-2022 10:19pm

I think what is happening to the milk is called curdling.

And there isn’t a sour smell so it it is curdling before it turns sour.

I poured some milk into a stainless steel travel mug that is supposed to either keep a drink warm or cold, depending on what you put in. And I had it in my desk.

I have found that the mug doesn’t keep tea warm as long as manufacturer claimed and even less so with keeping something cold - but it does work for an hour or so.

So I had expected the milk in the travel mug to either room temperature or sour when I checked it. At the very least I thought it would have the bits in that appear when the milk is starting to go off.

However, the milk had curdled/turned to cream and there was no gone off smell. And it poured out in a soft lump. There is no source of heat in the room.

There is some cheese and sliced ham (in opened packs) in the cooler for the same length of time as the milk and both smell and taste just fine. There is also some chocolate that I put in earlier which shows no sign that I was under heat in the mini fridge.

So it doesn’t seem like the mini fridge is heating up inside like I thought.

mondeoman72 · 25-02-2022 10:24pm

If the chill chain was broken at any stage, it will accelerate the spoiling of the milk. It can happen on the truck, in the shop, in the boot of your car, or even leaving it out on a worktop. You will have no way of knowing why. Try and get a thermometer and test it.

Useless Lump · 25-02-2022 11:06pm

It would be some coincidence though if I was getting this bad milk on each trip to the shop.

looksee · 26-02-2022 3:12pm

A few years ago we found milk from our local convenience store went off very quickly. Eventually we discovered that for some reason relating to delivery a van was going to various small shops and ending up at this one, where he parked overnight and the milk was taken in the following day. A ridiculous system well after refrigerated vehicles and rules about storage were in place. It did get sorted but for a while there was rubbish milk in the local shop. As Mondeoman says, add that kind of break in the chain to inadequate chilling in the fridge and you won't be long getting curdled milk.

Useless Lump · 26-02-2022 3:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118697266#Comment_118697266

I assume in that situation it didn’t matter that you had the milk in a proper fridge ?

How come the milk is going sour first?

I think you guys are right because there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the mini fridge.

looksee · 26-02-2022 7:40pm

Yes it was in a kitchen fridge. I mostly bought supermarket milk which lasted fine, it was just the milk from the shop that would go off quickly.

Not clear what you are asking about the souring. If the milk is discoloured or lumpy or mouldy it is probably spoiled, but otherwise no matter how it changes it is soured, up to a point you can use sour milk for cooking - that's how cheese starts for example, and you use it in scones and brown bread. You would need to be able to recognise the difference between spoiled and sour milk.

Have a look at the instruction book (or find it on line) to see how your fridge works, what temperature it claims to achieve.

.red. · 26-02-2022 7:51pm

Buy 4/6 pints of milk or bottles of coke and fill them almost to the top with water and freeze.

Put half into the mini fridge and swap them out in the evenings and morning. Bit of a pain in the arse but it works. We've an electric cool box for camping and it works fine but on a warm day the tent gets hot and it doesn't cool as well. A few well placed ice packs really makes a difference.

Useless Lump · 27-02-2022 1:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118698940#Comment_118698940

Great idea

Useless Lump · 27-02-2022 1:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118698886#Comment_118698886

There is no sour smell, or discolouring, or lumpiness. No “bits” when you pour it into tea.

That is the sour milk I’m familiar with.

This is just turning into cream, an easy pour cream. Even the milk I had in a travel mug in my desk. Last time I did that and it spoiled it was still milk but had the sour milk smell and left “bits” in my tea. This time it just turned creamy.

Esel · 28-02-2022 6:31am

^ Sounds like you accidentally made yoghurt.

Useless Lump · 28-02-2022 8:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118706775#Comment_118706775

I never thought of it before but it is more like yoghurt than cream.

macvin · 18-03-2022 10:35pm

A mini fridge that takes about 6 cans or a tabletop fridge that would take a few drinks in the door and fit about 15 cans of beer in the main part

We have the latter in the office.

If we only put milk in it, the milk goes off quickly as temp tends not to drop. If we leave 2/3 cans in it, the temperature stays cooler.

Possibly something to do with density of the different liquid.

Our solution was to get 3 cans of cream soda and leave them in the fridge so that it stays cold. (we got a 4 can pack and had people experience how **** it tastes so that the 3 cans would not be used)

Dunno why it works, but it does.

Useless Lump · 19-03-2022 12:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118803778#Comment_118803778

Do you mean you put cans (Fanta, coke, etc) in with the milk and this makes the milk last longer?

I haven’t had the milk turn to goop in a while. I had sometimes been leaving milk on the door shelf but since only keeping in the main part the milk seems to last longer. Except for yesterday - a half pint that good until the 23rd went off after only a few hours. It didn’t turn to yoghurt and looked fine but when I poured it in my tea it it was mostly “bits’.