For those who don’t know: when milk is milked out of the cow it goes through some processing, like pasteurization and separation. When milk separates the fat floates to the top and it is “skimmed” off. You can have ‘whole’ fat in your milk, as in they only take off the very top part of cream on top. Then you can have your ‘skim’ milk with no fat. Then you can add back in a percentage of the fat. This is where the most common 1% and 2% come in. In theory you can make whatever percentage milk you want. This is also where something like half and half comes in, half cream added back to half milk for a 50% ish mix.
I believe the reason for this (at least what I’ve been told in a dairy-heavy area) is that nobody calls half and half “milk”. They literally ask for cream, creamer, or half and half when that’s what they are looking for, because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk, and has different properties. And it’s sort of always been this way because the cream floats and they’d skim it off, so the composition of the remaining fluid portion is probably not that different.
So basically it’s not included for the naming scheme because it’s a wholly unrelated product despite having all the same ingredients in different ratios. It’s on the milk spectrum, just like heavy whipping cream, but isn’t what most people would classify as milk.
because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk,
Nope, I definitely do not have two half gallon cartons of half and half in my fridge right now that will be consumed by the glass… that would be… weird… or whatever…
Nothing wrong with that, if your diet allows for the higher fat content and it makes you happy. I’m certainly not going to judge when I have bought heavy whipping cream on multiple occasions for likely the same hedonistic, vaguely taboo, reason.
However, despite having advanced tastes, we are well in the minority. Most people find the mouthfeel alone (by alone I mean without enhancing the flavor) to be… mildly unpleasant. And I sort of get that; we don’t have many super creamy drinks, and the ones we do have are wicked rich/sweet. Whipping cream doesn’t taste like much, in the traditional sense, it’s just more expensive and a higher calorie load, and gives you more phlegm, so most people aren’t going to want it outside of cooking where the lack makes a notable difference. Same with half and half; it’s an ingredient and not a food itself.
If you get something out of the mouthfeel and richer flavor that makes it worth it for you, though, you do you. I totally get it. The richness combined with lactose, instead of sucrose or fructose which are harder on my gut bacteria, is deeply satisfying to me, and always has been.
For those who don’t know: when milk is milked out of the cow it goes through some processing, like pasteurization and separation. When milk separates the fat floates to the top and it is “skimmed” off. You can have ‘whole’ fat in your milk, as in they only take off the very top part of cream on top. Then you can have your ‘skim’ milk with no fat. Then you can add back in a percentage of the fat. This is where the most common 1% and 2% come in. In theory you can make whatever percentage milk you want. This is also where something like half and half comes in, half cream added back to half milk for a 50% ish mix.
For reference, “whole milk” is about 3.5%.
You’d think whole would be more than half and half.
I believe the reason for this (at least what I’ve been told in a dairy-heavy area) is that nobody calls half and half “milk”. They literally ask for cream, creamer, or half and half when that’s what they are looking for, because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk, and has different properties. And it’s sort of always been this way because the cream floats and they’d skim it off, so the composition of the remaining fluid portion is probably not that different.
So basically it’s not included for the naming scheme because it’s a wholly unrelated product despite having all the same ingredients in different ratios. It’s on the milk spectrum, just like heavy whipping cream, but isn’t what most people would classify as milk.
Nope, I definitely do not have two half gallon cartons of half and half in my fridge right now that will be consumed by the glass… that would be… weird… or whatever…
Nothing wrong with that, if your diet allows for the higher fat content and it makes you happy. I’m certainly not going to judge when I have bought heavy whipping cream on multiple occasions for likely the same hedonistic, vaguely taboo, reason.
However, despite having advanced tastes, we are well in the minority. Most people find the mouthfeel alone (by alone I mean without enhancing the flavor) to be… mildly unpleasant. And I sort of get that; we don’t have many super creamy drinks, and the ones we do have are wicked rich/sweet. Whipping cream doesn’t taste like much, in the traditional sense, it’s just more expensive and a higher calorie load, and gives you more phlegm, so most people aren’t going to want it outside of cooking where the lack makes a notable difference. Same with half and half; it’s an ingredient and not a food itself.
If you get something out of the mouthfeel and richer flavor that makes it worth it for you, though, you do you. I totally get it. The richness combined with lactose, instead of sucrose or fructose which are harder on my gut bacteria, is deeply satisfying to me, and always has been.
Maybe, but no one should be drinking a glass of half and half.
Why not?
Thank you! This is a question I’ve pondered my entire life but never actually took the time to look up.
Its on the jug, or at least the milk I buy. Which is only 3.25%. I wish it was 5%.
I want 98% fat with 2% milk.
Butter?
Bro, you know me so well, bro. <3
So you want butter
Found the guy doing keto ∆∆∆
I don’t understand skim milk; it’s just white water. If you want milk, drink milk. That stuff is just a cruel joke.
It’s water that’s lying about being milk
It’s not just white water, it’s white sugar water. They replace the fat with sugar, which is considerably worse for your health.
That isn’t true. In fact, whole milk has ~0.5g more sugar per 100ml.
Also, less fat means more sugar.
Sounds complicated. I get my milk straight from the producer. Don’t want any additives that mess up the taste.
I don’t know if you’re serious, but if you are be careful with avian flu. Raw milk from a cow has a decent chance of being infected right now.
Actually paying attention to that RN. No cases in my country yet.
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