How To Keep Milk Cool on Your Doorstep In Summer

Does your milkman deliver milk in the dead of night? In winter, it’s no big deal, but in summer, it can cause milk to spoil quickly. Here’s how to keep milk cool on your doorstep in summer to help reduce food waste.

Way back in January, we switched to getting our oat milk delivered by our local milkman. And boy, has it been one of the best plastic-free switches we’ve made. We’re not discarding tetra-paks anymore. Instead, the oat milk is delivered in returnable glass bottles, and the milk itself is made by a UK-based oat milk company – Oato. In fact, I need to add the company to my guide to the best oat milk as I think it’s hands down the best milk. If you happen to be in Central Scotland, then I get mine delivered through McQueens.

We’ve had zero problems with the milk since January. However, over the last few weeks, when it’s been really warm, we’ve noticed the milk going off really quickly, and I couldn’t work out why. I had entertained the idea that perhaps the milk was going off on our doorstep, as it hasn’t been particularly cool in the mornings lately. But I thought the milkman delivered our milk at around 5 or 6 am, and that an hour or two sitting outside wouldn’t have much effect on the milk.

The Ah-Ha Moment

Then one evening, I had been beavering away working on Moral Fibres whilst the rest of my family slept. In the summertime, when my kids are off school, it’s the only time I really get to work on the site undisturbed, and I ended up working until 11:40 pm.

Whilst I was creeping through the hall, trying not to wake anyone, I heard a clanking noise outside my door. I thought someone or something had knocked over our empty milk bottles. That was until I realised it was the milkman. It turns out they deliver our milk before midnight! This means our milk is usually sitting outside on our doorstep for more than 7 hours before we get up, which isn’t particularly cool. This isn’t a problem for most of the year, but in summer it’s not ideal.

That evening, I was able to bring the milk bottles in and pop them straight into the fridge. However, I’m usually in bed way before 11:40 pm, so I started to think about how best to keep milk cool on our doorstep until morning, to stop it from going off. Here’s what I came up with.

How To Keep Milk Cool On Your Doorstep Until Morning

If your milk has been going off on your doorstep in the summer heat, then don’t worry. My best and easiest solution to keep milk bottles cool on your doorstep until morning is a simple freezer bag.

Just before I go to bed I pop an ice pack inside a freezer bag (just a standard freezer bag from the supermarket) and leave it on my doorstep. The weight of the ice pack not only prevents the bag from blowing away, and keeps the milk nice and cool on our doorstep until we wake up. No more off milk, and less food waste.

For another top tip, on the first evening, I left a note on the door for the milkman saying to pop the milk in the bag. The milkman knows the drill now.

If you don’t have a freezer bag and ice pack to hand, then there’s no need to go out and buy anything new. I’ve also heard of people leaving a shallow bucket of cold water outside their front door, for the milkman to pop the milk into. I also reckon that would work pretty well.

Any other tips or techniques you use? Do share in the comments below!