For breakfast or afternoon tea, and even in our culinary preparations, milk is everywhere.

It is central to our diet but we are often unable to know the difference between pasteurized or UHT milk.

Yet it could help us become an informed consumer.

Laurent Mariotte and his columnists explain the different characteristics of milk to us in the program "La Table des bons vivants" to have control over our food. 

Do you pay attention to the origin of your eggs or your flour?

How about your milk as well as how it is made and what it involves?

Because yes, there are different categories of milk including pasteurized, UHT or raw.

Game-changing information on taste and storage in particular.

But how do you choose between all these choices?

What does this really mean?

To answer these questions, Laurent Mariotte and his columnists from La Table des bons vivants looked into the subject. 

>> Find La Table des bons vivant in podcast and in replay here 

Sterilization and preservation 

The first difference between the different kinds of milk is the sterilization stage which will allow a greater or lesser storage period thereafter.

"UHT milk is brought instantly to a very high temperature of 140 to 150 ° C for 5 seconds", explains Ophélie Neiman.

A sterilization that allows the milk to be stored for several weeks and at room temperature in a saddler or garage.

“Pasteurized milk has a slightly longer sterilization, lasting 15 seconds,” says Yves Camdeborde.

"The maximum temperature is 71.5 ° C for 15 seconds, then the milk is quickly cooled to 4 ° C, which allows storage before opening between 15 and 20 days."

A shorter shelf life than UHT.

Finally, there is also the raw milk which does not undergo any "modification" and which must be consumed within 24 hours.

Easy for large families, more complicated to manage if you are an occasional milk drinker and never finish your bottle.

But raw milk has its advantages, especially at the time of tasting.

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Love of taste 

So yes, UHT or pasteurized milk has many advantages such as long shelf life unlike raw milk, but the latter taste more bland than raw milk.

"To have taste, it's fresh milk", insists Yves Camdeborde.

"It's true that we tend to take cartons of milk that we keep stupidly. But sincerely, it is better to take fresh milk, every day and I can assure you that in terms of taste, there is no no photo. "

For a smooth transition, you can always try to buy a bottle of fresh milk during the week and if necessary, keep a stock of pasteurized or UHT milk.