Wednesday 3 August 2022

Half Milk and Half Water - How it Works for me

 A couple of people have asked how or why one of my money savers is mixing whole milk half and half with water.

The Why is easy as I get 4 pints for the price of two.

The How goes like this.................

I buy whole milk in  2 pint plastic bottles and put them in the freezer. Take a bottle out and put in the fridge just before I get to the end of the previous bottle. 

Put half a pint of milk in a jug and make up to one pint with water. Get the jug and the bottle back in the fridge as quick as possible. When I've used up the jug full then do the same again and then again and when I get to the last half pint add the water directly to the bottle. 

Its a surprise that the bottle of  milk keeps long enough to do this (more than 14 days I think) but it does. Perhaps because the top only comes off the bottle briefly? Perhaps because it's come out of the freezer so is really cold and often still has a core of ice when I open it for the first half pint. Of course all milk now is homogenized so there is no discernible cream to go 'off'.

I suppose you could do this with semi skimmed and end up with very watery skimmed milk, but I'm not planning to try it!

I only use milk in coffee, on cereal/porridge or if making a sauce and the last two I've  always mixed half and half even before doing it all the time. There's no noticeable difference to using semi skimmed. A while ago, I worked out that that half and half has less calories than semi-skimmed but also less calcium so not recommended if you need more calcium in your diet. I eat lots of cheese so make up for it there.

Just in case you were wondering.............Yes, the empty plastic bottle goes in the recycling. Yes, a milkman does come to the village, twice a week at 1 a.m in the morning but I can't keep glass bottles in the freezer and don't want to be woken up at that time - as I already get woken by my neighbour going to work at 3 or 4 am four times a week. Plus when the milkman called on me to see if I wanted milk from him he was so rude when I said "No Thank you" that I wouldn't buy from him anyway!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

24 comments:

  1. I freeze my milk too as I only use semi-skimmed in coffee and I only have one per day. I use skimmed in tea (as that's my preference) but I would never buy a 2 pint bottle. At Tesco, where I shop, the two pints cost £1.15 and the 4 pints cost £1.45. I don't bother with diluting, I just buy it skimmed or semi-skimmed and pour it into litre bottles before freezing it.

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    1. I like to keep several bottles of milk in the freezer - they work like ice packs to keep it cold too

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  2. I never think of freezing milk! In this hot weather that's a great idea.

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    1. I like to keep some in the freezer just in case

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    2. We use powdered skim milk in tea and UHT for cereal. Can't taste the difference between that and fresh. I couldn't imagine wasting freezer space on milk.

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  3. My mother always did the same with milk, my brother worked on a dairy farm and he brought home fresh milk, in those days mum would separate the cream and remove it, she would then water down the milk to ensure we had enough. We are going back to whole milk for a while and youngest grand daughter drinks milk, but I will water down what we use.

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    1. We had nearly 20 years keeping goats and it was lovely - fresh every day!

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  4. DH has diabetes so it’s full cream milk for him as advised by the practice nurse. He has also been trying oat milk as we can buy long life in bulk with our supermarket order This was something he read on a diabetic advice page. I take very little milk so use semi skimmed and have frozen it ever since I read about freezing milk on your page. Always enjoy trying the tips I find on blogs. Catriona

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    1. It's handy to keep some milk in the freezer in case I can't get out for any reason

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  5. It seems you way really suits you and that's what matters isn't it.

    I did support the local milkman when we lived in Berkshire, he was a really nice man and it was handy for the odd extra loaf or other bit that I had forgotten off my shopping as we lived away from the shops, but it was a more expensive way to get milk and it wasn't even in glass bottles which I was a bit annoyed about at first.

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    1. One of my small penny savers that works for me.

      This milkman was so rude and pushy I felt I was being bullied on my own doorstep!

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  6. It's always useful reading about different ways of managing things - especially at the moment when economy is at the forefront of everything.
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. A small penny saver for me - might work for others - or not!

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  7. It is a great way to make it last by keeping it in the freezer.
    Cathy

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    1. It's handy to have a back up of bottles in the freezer - just in case

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  8. That is an interesting tip. It would have never occured to me. My mother used to freeze milk, but it never tasted right. I'm tempted to give htis a try.

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  9. Currently, I like almond milk and keep a small store of whole milk for guests. I did not know it was possible to freeze milk as you do. Children love their milk and it would be wise for me to use your milk recipe to supplement my stores. I've had guests complain about whole milk stating they prefer reduced 2% milk. Some people are spoiled and never pleased.

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  10. I like to freeze a half pint container of milk before I go off on a long trip. That way I will have enough milk for my first morning coffee and cereal after retuning and will not have to dash off to the store to buy milk first thing.

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  11. I rarely use milk, but it is an interesting method. Having a milkman sounds delightful [not your guy tho], I am sure thoe services no longer exist in the US, tho we did have a seltzer man in Brooklyn.

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  12. I do the opposite - I buy skim milk (0% fat) and once a week mix some half and half with 5% cream for my morning porridge. I guess that works out to 2.5%. I am quite used to the skim milk for drinking and other uses. I even make my Instapot yogurt using skim with a good result.

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  13. Now I understand. I do not drink milk for any reason, but I did use it for cooking, and that certainly could be diluted.

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  14. I use milk in my cereal for breakfast. Almond milk for my tea. My husband is the only one who drinks milk. For a few weeks milk was on sale especially the half gallon ones which were cheaper than the gallon jug. I buy 2% milk 🐄

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  15. That would be a great way to save.

    God bless.

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  16. Very interesting. I sometimes do something similar. I take Evaporated Canned Milk and reconstitute it with water when I need milk for cooking. My husband drinks milk. I do not. He prefers regular milk but for cooking, I find reconstituted milk works just fine. I am from the US so I am not sure what they call Evaporated Canned Milk in the UK.

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