skim milk

food

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Last updated

July 13, 2026

Quick Summary

Skim milk is milk from which the cream has been removed. This process is achieved using a high-speed centrifuge, a type of separator, that utilizes the difference in density between cream (butterfat) and skim milk to separate them. Skim milk has a specific gravity of 1.0358, while heavy cream is 1.0083.12

The resulting skim milk has a very low fat content, typically less than 0.5 percent, and often less than 0.01 percent. Because most of the milk fat is removed, skim milk is significantly lower in cholesterol than whole milk. Milk itself is considered a food, containing between 12 and 13 percent total solids, which include water, fat, protein, carbohydrate (lactose), and minerals.23

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dairy product
Buttermilk
…starting ingredient for buttermilk is skim or low-fat milk. The milk is pasteurized at 82 to 88 °C (180 to 190 °F) for 30 minutes, or at 90 °C (195 °F) for two to three minutes. This heating process is done to destroy all naturally occurring bacteria and to denature…
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…starting ingredient for buttermilk is skim or low-fat milk. The milk is pasteurized at 82 to 88 °C (180 to 190 °F) for 30 minutes, or at 90 °C (195 °F) for two to three minutes. This heating process is done to destroy all naturally occurring bacteria and to denature…
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dairy product
Fat
Therefore, skim milk, which has more than 99.5 percent of the milk fat removed, is significantly lower in cholesterol than whole milk (2 milligrams per 100 grams of milk, compared with 14 milligrams for whole milk) and must be fortified with vitamin A.
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Therefore, skim milk, which has more than 99.5 percent of the milk fat removed, is significantly lower in cholesterol than whole milk (2 milligrams per 100 grams of milk, compared with 14 milligrams for whole milk) and must be fortified with vitamin A.
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casein
Manufacture
Casein is usually made from skim milk (rarely from buttermilk), by one of three methods: (1) naturally soured casein curdles when enough lactic acid develops from fermentation of milk sugar by the ever present bacterium Streptococcus lactisi; (2) acid casein is precipitated by adding dilute hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid;…
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Casein is usually made from skim milk (rarely from buttermilk), by one of three methods: (1) naturally soured casein curdles when enough lactic acid develops from fermentation of milk sugar by the ever present bacterium Streptococcus lactisi; (2) acid casein is precipitated by adding dilute hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid;…
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