Okay, sure, they skim it. But your original comment was worded a bit badly, the way I read it implied that whole milk contains 3.25% of all the fat that it should if it was truly whole, rather than that it contains 3.25% whereas true whole milk is just slightly more. Some people do believe that whole milk is actually 100% fat which is why I thought it best to correct you.
I do wonder why they have such a precise requirement for whole milk in the US. Where I live, most whole milk sold is roughly 3.5 to 3.8 percent, and often they actually give a range instead of an exact value on the package. I could buy a carton of milk that says “3.8% to 4.4%” if I wanted to. My personal preference is “whatever’s cheaper, but if whole milk isn’t much more expensive, go for whole”. Usually I use it in food rather than drinking it straight so the flavor doesn’t matter as much to me.
“whole milk” is often skimmed, or occasionally, added to to make it fit in a certain legally defined bandwidth of fat content. It’s not unmodified.
Also, homogenization absolutely changes the texture of the milk. That is in fact part of the point, making sure nobody gets the crappy milk. Some people prefer it, some don’t, it’s a personal taste thing.
True, but generally they ALSO skim the fat right before/during. You don’t have to though
Have you ever heard of “whole milk”?
Whole milk doesn’t mean “all of the milk fat”. I believe it’s something like 3.25%.
Are you thinking of heavy cream?
Fat content depends on the cow milked. Jersey cows can have up to 4% fat
Right, and at least in the US, I believe “whole milk” is a very specific definition, so the fat content has to be altered to match that.
That percentage value is the total fat content of the milk, not relative to unmodified milk. No cow puts out pure fat.
Yes, but “whole milk” (at least in the US) has to fit a specific definition re: fat contents. So they do have to skim it.
Okay, sure, they skim it. But your original comment was worded a bit badly, the way I read it implied that whole milk contains 3.25% of all the fat that it should if it was truly whole, rather than that it contains 3.25% whereas true whole milk is just slightly more. Some people do believe that whole milk is actually 100% fat which is why I thought it best to correct you.
I do wonder why they have such a precise requirement for whole milk in the US. Where I live, most whole milk sold is roughly 3.5 to 3.8 percent, and often they actually give a range instead of an exact value on the package. I could buy a carton of milk that says “3.8% to 4.4%” if I wanted to. My personal preference is “whatever’s cheaper, but if whole milk isn’t much more expensive, go for whole”. Usually I use it in food rather than drinking it straight so the flavor doesn’t matter as much to me.
“whole milk” is often skimmed, or occasionally, added to to make it fit in a certain legally defined bandwidth of fat content. It’s not unmodified.
Also, homogenization absolutely changes the texture of the milk. That is in fact part of the point, making sure nobody gets the crappy milk. Some people prefer it, some don’t, it’s a personal taste thing.