Milk and Milk Storage

• Milk and dairy products are foods that have a very short shelf life and are very prone to spoilage. For this reason, after milking, the processes should be carried out much faster and the product should be left in the cold storage as soon as possible.
• Various microorganisms that contaminate milk from outside cause deterioration by disrupting the natural structure of milk or cause various difficulties in processing into products such as cheese and yoghurt. Since it is not possible to prevent the contamination of dairy products with microorganisms from outside, these products should be processed and stored as soon as possible.
• Milk should be kept as short as possible immediately after milking and its interaction with the outside environment should be stopped. The best possible storage conditions are to drop below 10°C as soon as possible after milking. Thus, the activities of bacteria in milk are reduced to a minimum.
• Storing sterilized milk (drinking milk) at 4-10°C extends its life considerably. The storage life of milk stored in cold storage at 15-20 °C varies between 1.5 and 3 months.
• Yoghurt has different storage conditions and storage life. Yoghurt; It can be stored for approximately 1 week at 7-10°C, 1-2 weeks at 5-7°C and 3-6 weeks at 0-1°C.
• Condensed milk products can be stored up to 2-3 years in cold storage at 15°C and below. If the product is stored at temperatures above 15°C, gelation and agglomeration are observed.