Bad milk, good recipe?

On the sniff-test: I find it helps to pour out a small glass to smell, rather than trying to smell it in the jug. Our milkman once told me that sometimes just enough gets spilled around the lip of the bottle, and sometimes people think they're smelling bad milk, but that it can be just the splashes around the outside of the bottle. Anecdotally anyway, it seems to help us get a better read on the milk.

I have read that you can 'repair' cracked ceramics by boiling them in it. Never did try it though – sounded kinda cracked.

Yes, throw it out *if* it has gone bad. Most milk is stamped with a "Sell By" date and should be good for at least a week thereafter, assuming proper refrigeration.

The industry standard is 21 days from production but some jurisdictions require as few as 12 days. Bad for the retailers but that would give you an additional 9 days of useful life at home.

I read somewhere recently that the average American household throws away $600 worth of groceries every year -- much of it based on fear rather than actual safety issues.

Maedl's 100% correct - pitch it.. It's not soured, it's off.

My test is how it reacts in tea. If the milk separates on contact, it's spoiled.

The Use by Date is just a guide. If the milk tastes and smells fine, then it has not gone bad yet, though it's probably close.

You can go a non-food route and make a foot bath out of it. It's there's enough of it left (~1c or so), warm it and pour into a foot bath with warm/hot water, add a dollop of honey (nothing expensive). Soak your feet for a few minutes, then exfoliate with a pumice stone or loofah. Rinse and pat dry. Apply lotion. The lactic acid in the milk softens your skin and especially, callouses. The honey is anti-microbial and a good cleansing agent. My nail place uses this milk bath in their spa pedicure routine (though they use dry milk powder).

If the milk tastes off, throw it out. Sour milk is not the same as spoiled milk. Sour milk is the result of raw milk that has been kept at room temperature and was fermented by bacteria. Pasturized milk doesn't sour; it spoils.

I usually use it for pancakes or quick breads.