Anyone know of a (cheap) resource for quart- and gallon-size plastic containers for storing goat milk? Thanks!

-- Tammy Kocurek (tammyk@argolink.net), April 24, 2001

Answers

Response to Looking for plastic milk containers

Tammy, This may not be palatable to you, so I apologize in advance if you find it offensive, but have you considered going to your local grocery stores and asking what they do with milk when it goes past the sell date? Maybe they'll let you have them, and then you can empty them and sterlize the containers. I haven't tried this (no goat yet) but it's worth a shot, I think.

-- Kristin, in La. (positivekharma@aol.com), April 24, 2001.

I use the two quart pitchers that Walmart sells for under a dollar. Works good for me.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

If you walk along the roadway you can fill numerous plastic drink and water containers. They are only a pint or so, but sure are plentiful. They are almost becoming a new roadside weed.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

Yea, but would you want to use them?

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

We bought ours in bulk from the a water company in Houston. If you are the Tammy in Alvin, TX, call Becky Fraley, call me for her number if you don't have it, her and Fairwoods farm are putting together an order for these, the more you buy the cheaper they are. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 25, 2001.

Plastic often gives a bad taste to the milk. Use glass gallon jars( from a restaurant or deli often free for the asking) or quart size canning jars. It is just about impossible to get the sour milk taste/smell out of a plastic container.

-- Chamoisee (chamoisee@yahoo.com), April 25, 2001.

I'm with Chamoisee on this one. Plastic almost always gives milk an off-flavor and is impossible to really sterilize. I have several of the one gallon milk jars myself, but my personal favorite is the "Twister" juice bottles. They measure one and a half quarts and they have a handy indentation for holding and pouring.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), April 25, 2001.

its hard to store any milk in palstic containers as the milk gets into the plastic and stays there, then when you reuse them it still smells of milk and the milks has a funny taste. Try glass, it works better anmd I use the half gallon canning jars or gallon jars pickles come in.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 25, 2001.

Back when I was a teen (not too long ago) I used to stock the dairy case of local grocery store. Expired milk- not sour milk, mind you, was dumped in a drain in the floor. The undamaged milk containers were counted and thrown away. Many times smaller jugs were more common then gallons, like quarts and half gallons. I think if you got them when they hadn't been sitting out a while and reside milk gone south, you could use them... I am forever using milk containers in gallon form for drinking water, etc, etc. Just wash them out good. Or even, put a drip of bleach and fill with water to disenfect.

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), April 27, 2001.

Another thing you might check with is ask about the water jugs. I have seen them in the stores around here, dumping the water out of jugs that the seal was broken on, then throwing the jug in the dumpster. The water would not have left a bad taste in the jug. I like the Wal-Mart cheapy 2 1/2 quart ones myself, but if I ever have enough milk to sell..I don't know that I would buy those.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), April 29, 2001.

I'm an avid fan of Gene Logsdon and was surprised when I read his critique of glass versus plastic for milk storage. I experimented and found he's right. There is a definate taste to milk stored in plastic. My family were dairy farmers when I was small, so I know the WONDERFUL taste of real milk without all the doctoring we get in the markets. Go for glass!Or the clear nonporous plastic that water comes in. It doesn't seem as bad.

-- Randle Gay (rangay@htomail.com), April 30, 2001.

I think glass is also alot better. You can sterilize it better than you can plastic. You can call the Burger Kings, McDonalds, and other restraunts, and fast food buissnesses in your area, and ask them if they have any empty 1 gal. pickle jars. They usually will. If they don't you can ask them to save them for you and once or twice a week go pick them up. This is what I have done, and the gallon jars work really well.

-- Martha Neale (mneale2@yahoo.com), May 01, 2001.

Yep everyone agrees for home storage, glass is the way to go. We were talking about selling milk, glass is impossible unless you have private sales, in which the customers bring their own glass jars. The added expense of glass cuts into the minimal profit there already is milking goats. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 01, 2001.

I just found out that a nearby Borden's dairy will sell milk jugs in case lots (about 48) for under 30 cents each. Although not free, this is not a bad price based on what I've been seeing from container companies. This may be an alternative if anyone has extra milk to sell.

-- Tammy Kocurek (tammyk@argolink.net), May 02, 2001.