how fresh is 'doorstep milk'?

tandraig

I only ask because - my milkman delivered saturdays two pints on friday evening. great.
then on saturday he delivered three pints to cover monday tues and wed.
I only get deliveries on sat, mon and thurs.
in the summer i threw away many pints of milk which had gone off - blaming my elderly fridge or my oh for not bringing it in when he goes to work!
now I am wondering - just how fresh is it? there is no use by date on it.
my Oh has been on at me for ages to cancel the milk order but i like knowing the milk is delivered three days a week. (by the way - I dont drink milk at all - I get one pint a day for OH).
my Oh says its cheaper to get the milk from supermarket but i have resisted that feeling that i should support the local milkman.
what do you all think? should i keep on supporting milkman or get milk from supermarket (and i was a bit naffed off not to get a calendar this year!).

Psykicpup

yes there is a date on it its embosed into the lid! but you will need to have better eyesight than me (these days) to be able to read it!

zenmaster

We get 3 deliveries a week and, like you, ended up throwing loads away in the summer. It's fine in this weather though. We use a lot of milk so I top up between deliveries from the corner shop. An unopened pint should easily last 3 days.

Sadly we are about to "sack" our milkman after 25 years (not the same man) as I am not working at the moment and it is just too expensive. I feel bad about it as it is passing the misfortune on but it can't be helped.

tandraig

I just got out magnifying glass - use by is 17th Jan... its the 12th, so last saturday was 9th.
hmmm I dont buy from supermarkets so is this about normal ?

wornoutmumoftwo

In the summer I ask the milkman to put our milk in our tin and glass bin round the side. Other wise it gets all the morning sunshine on it

Penny-Pincher!!

If the milk spoils before the date embossed, then just let your milkman know and they will either replace or credit your account.

PP
xx

kippers

I didn't want to stop my milk man delivering milk but also had a DH who stated that supermarket milk is alot cheaper. When our milkman retired i did stop having milk delivered. The main reason for me was the milk wasn't delivered until 10.30-11.00am every morning and i didn't like it left out all day in the summer. But yes i do have to admit milk is cheaper from the supermarket

taplady

Hi! I usually jump in when milkmen are mentioned as my DH is one!:D

Lots of people do depend on this service especially in the countryside and it would be impossible to get everyones milk delivered by breakfast time.
It is hard in the summer but a lot of people put out containers for the milk to go into such as old coolboxes if they are not there to take it in but I understand that in the towns that might not be possible. DH also puts in it outhouses etc if requested.
As has already been stated the date is on the lid if you've got good eyesight:D My DH also delivers milk in cartons too plus newspapers, bread, veggies, eggs, fruit juice, yoghurts, butter - the list goes on!:D

I understand that financially it is cheaper to get it from the supermarket but I bet a lot of people are glad of their delivery in this current weather!:T

another plus for milkmen is that for some of the old people on DHs rounds he is the only person they might see or talk to in a day and he likes to make sure they are all ok.

anyway enough from me on the virtues of milkmen;):D

ubamother

I'm very lucky as our milkman delivers between 4 and 5 am each morning. In the really bad snows he was disgracefully late - 6 am! Yes, he is more expensive than buying big cartons from the supermarkets, but I love the fact I wake up to cold fresh milk on my doorstep (yes it's different from cold fresh milk in the fridge - in my head anyway), and that he uses an electric cart that whines gently as it wanders around. I don't know if it's a service unique to GB, but I don't know of any other countries that do it - it's a tradition I'm happy to pay for.

boredjellybean

another thumbs up for milkmen here - we use one & have never had any problems with it not being fresh & 99% of the time ours is here by breakfast & yes it was a life saver when we had the bad weather (ours soldiered through each day)

BJB

Zazen999

We were happily having our milk delivered, 3 times a week and all was well. Then, without telling us, they sold the round to a private milkman. No problems so far. Until he stopped coming before 8, then before 9, and was leaving the milk at 10. So, on a Monday we had no milk to start the week off; as all 3 pints were gone by the Sunday night. Also, on hot days, because they weren't brought in before we left the house, they would often be left in the sun all day.

So begrudgingly, we had to stop taking our milk from a milkman.