Fresh milk and opened canned milk: what two charts print
Updated
Both charts’ milk lines mark the freezer as not recommended, and for opened canned milk they print the same refrigerator time. The one difference is fresh milk in the refrigerator, where Clemson gives a range and Pacific Northwest Extension gives a single figure.
Clemson’s line says fresh milk; the matching Pacific Northwest Extension line names whole milk and one other type of milk. Clemson’s canned milk line does not say evaporated or sweetened condensed, and Pacific Northwest Extension prints those two separately with the same figures, so both of its lines count toward the one canned row.
| Food | Refrigerator | Freezer |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh milk | 5–7 days Clemson HGIC1 week PNW 612 | Not recommended |
| Canned milk, opened | 3–5 days | Not recommended |
✓ 2 sources checked per row A single figure means both charts print the same time. Red cells show each chart’s figure where they differ; we do not average them.
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, Food Storage: Refrigerator & Freezer (HGIC 3522) (revised March 31, 2020) — verified 2026-09-27
- Pacific Northwest Extension (University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Washington State University), Storing Food for Safety and Quality (PNW 612) (revised March 2023), Table 2, p. 13 — verified 2026-09-27
Good to know
- Pacific Northwest Extension’s evaporated milk line does not say whether the can is opened; its condensed milk line does. Clemson’s line says opened. Matching them is our reading, and the page marks every source.
- Pacific Northwest Extension also has a line for reconstituted nonfat dry milk. Clemson has no matching line, so it is left off.
- One sentence about freezing milk sits in the comments column of Pacific Northwest Extension’s margarine line on page 12 (“Milk can be frozen, but curds may form after thawing”), while its milk lines on page 13 say not recommended. We follow the table cells and note the sentence instead of resolving it.
- Clemson reads its asterisk as storage not recommended for safety or quality reasons. Neither milk line says whether the time starts at purchase, at opening or at the date on the carton.
Short on milk for a recipe? What can stand in for whole milk.
Both charts give these times for best quality and call them guidelines, not hard limits. How the rows are matched: our method. Spotted a row that does not match its chart? Tell us and we will recheck the original.