Milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy foods: composition, varieties, processing, storage and quality.
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Protein pudding is not a standardized recipe. It is usually a thick dairy dessert made with milk plus added or concentrated milk proteins. Current 200 g products commonly provide about 20 g of protein per cup, or roughly 10 g per 100 g, but sugar, sweeteners, fat, and serving size vary by brand.
A plant-based yogurt alternative is not nutritionally equivalent to dairy yogurt by default. Market studies find that soy products usually come closest in protein, while coconut, oat, and almond versions can provide substantially less. Dairy yogurt naturally contains calcium; plant alternatives often depend on fortification. Sugar varies enough that natural lactose and added sugars need to be separated.
Quark is a fresh, mainly acid-set cheese with a smooth texture and mild tang. Protein varies by formulation: studies of quark-type cheeses place many versions around 10–13 g per 100 g. It can resemble skyr in thickness and protein density, but it is not the same product; compared with cottage cheese, quark is much smoother and lacks visible curds.
Large ice crystals usually mean the ice cream warmed and refroze or was stored with temperature fluctuations, causing quality loss; soft or melted ice cream after a power failure should be discarded.
A little separated whey can be normal in ricotta, but strong sour odor, slime, mold, package swelling, or poor refrigeration are reasons to discard it.
A little liquid can come from foam collapse, but sour odor, slime, mold, or poor refrigeration are reasons to discard whipped cream.
Opening milk starts a new storage clock. Post-opening directions and continuous refrigeration matter more than a date designed for the sealed carton.
Butter is more tolerant of brief room-temperature storage than many dairy foods, but refrigeration is the most predictable default, especially in a warm kitchen.
Milk can be frozen, but thawing may leave it separated or slightly grainy. Freeze it fresh, leave expansion space and thaw it in the refrigerator.
Both products remove substantial water from milk, but sweetened condensed milk adds enough sugar to become a different ingredient. That one change drives huge differences in sweetness, viscosity, calories and how each behaves in recipes.
Heavy whipping cream contains at least 36% milk fat in the U.S., while lighter cooking-style creams may be around 18–30%. More fat means more calories, but it is also what lets cream whip and gives sauces more body.
Pasteurized milk is heat-treated for safety but remains perishable and refrigerated. Ultra-pasteurized milk receives a higher heat treatment that extends life; truly shelf-stable UHT milk also relies on aseptic processing and packaging while the container remains unopened.