Milk Mystery Solved

I've always wondered why the milk in Europe doesn't need to be refrigerated. The first time I shopped for milk in London, I must have walked around the store three times before finally discovering the milk was not in the dairy section where I thought it belonged but in an isle near the drinks. Of course the thought that the milk could have been sitting on a shelf for a month didn't seem quite right. I figured there had to be something different about this milk so I decided toast was a better plan for breakfast rather than cereal.

In Europe, shelf stable milk is the norm. Coming from the US it is hard to wrap your brain around the concept that milk doesn't need to be refrigerated. However, I've come to appreciate milk than can be stored in a cupboard rather than my small fridge. Plus the thought of lugging home gallons of milk while on foot isn't very appealing.

I decided to do a little research to find out what the difference is between the American milk and the Deutsche milch. It comes down to the temperature that the milk is heated during the pasteurization process. In UHT (ultra high temperature) pasteurization, the milk is heated to 282 degrees for 2 seconds. In HTST (high temperature / short time) pasteurization done in the US, the milk is heated to 161 degrees for at least 15 seconds. The UHT milk requires special packaging but then has a shelf life of up to 6 months.

Sorry to get Nancy Drew on you, but it was something I've often wondered about.