powdered milk

[Michelle]

I have a lot in my pantry that I never use. I am very interested in trying the molasses drink (for the kids) because Kathryn has anemia, and there's a lot of iron in molasses.

I don't know why I never thought to use it as anything but milk to drink, but I'm going to start using it in different ways

[brainyblonde]

I always keep powdered milk on hand and use it in recipes. I will stretch regular skim milk by mixing up a quart or two of dry milk and adding it to the gallon.

[Pepper]

I had never thought of using it until coming here to the village. I have bought some and have used it for cooking. I don't think I could drink it.

[Kimberlina]

This bumped thread got me thinking about powdered milk and I pulled up some info I have had for years.

This is adapted from info given to me by someone who took a class about powdered milk.






Instand dried milk versus powdered dry milk
There are two different kinds of dried milk: instant milk (I laughed the first time I noticed this on the box) and non-instant powdered milk. It takes TWICE as much instant milk as powdered milk to make the same amount of liquid milk. In other words, if you use 1/2 cup powdered milk to make liquid, then you have to use 1 full cup of instant milk to make the same amount. Since instant and powdered are often sold in the same sized container and priced alike, this is a big difference. Plus, you have to keep this in mind when using dry milk in recipes.


There are other types of dry milk other than non-fat. It's more difficult to find but they do sell whole dry milk (with 26% fat), etc.

How do you tell a good powdered milk? The finer the powder, the better (better price, too as there is less air in the package.)

To cut the after taste of powdered milk, add a little bit of vanilla (like a tablespoon or less to a gallon.)

You can make all sorts of milk based products with dry milk: ice cream, sherbert, chocolate fudge sauce, cocoa mix, whipped topping, sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, cream cheese (non-fat!), ranch dressing, and CHEESE (cottage cheese, ricotta, and cheddar cheese.)

Since dry milk can be so much less expensive than store bought milk (and you can make it so much faster and in smaller quantities), homemade cheese really is a possibility (lower fat and no preservatives!).


Some recipes:



Instant Cocoa Mix

4 cups instant non-fat dry milk

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

Mix together and store. Makes 1 gallon hot chocolate.





Evaporated Milk Substitute

(a little richer than just using 1/2 the water)

1 cup hot water

1/2 teaspoon oil

1/2 cup dry milk powder

1/4 teaspoon honey

Blend all ingredients well. If thicker milk is desired, add 1 1/2 teaspoon Quick Thick (a tapioca starch) and blend an additional 30 seconds. Keeps up to 1 week.





Whipped Topping

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup dry milk powder

(or instead of the above, use 1/2 cup evaporated milk substitute)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

Chill the beater and water until ice crystals form. Gradually beat in sugar. Add milk, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat until stiff. Yields 2 cups. Instead of cream of tartar, you can try using a 'gel' additive. It's sold at many bulk supply stores.





Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

2 cups dry milk powder

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Add butter and blend in a blender until smooth. Slowly add the milk powder. Refrigerate.





Yogurt

2 cups 115 degree water

3 tablespoons yogurt or yogurt start (only use yogurt with active cultures and NO gelatin. Organic yogurts are usually the only ones that qualify.

Yoplait now has gelatin. Gelatin will prevent the yogurt from setting up.)

1 1/2 cups dry milk powder

Put water in a blender, pour milk powder in slowly and blend until smooth.

Add yogurt. Immediately pour yogurt into mason jars (leave lots of room, don't fill them full.) Screw lids on tight.



To process without electricity: Put jars into a small ice chest. Cover with hot water (115 to 140 degrees) until about 1 inch above the level of the yogurt in the jars. Close the lid and let set for 8 hours, changing the water every 2 hours to keep the temperature up.



To process with electricity: You can use a yogurt maker or put the jars in an oven set at the lowest temperature.





Cream Cheese

1 quart yogurt

Put the yogurt in a strainer (a clean knee-high stocking works well). Let it drip for up to 8 hours. You'll then have yogurt cheese or cream cheese.

Season accordingly (a pinch of salt and a little vanilla with sugar will make it taste more like store bought cream cheese.) Makes 8 ounces.





Cottage Cheese (which is the basis for other cheeses)

1 1/2 cups dry milk powder

2 cups water

3 tablespoons white vinegar

Bring the water and the milk to a boil in a sauce pan. Shut off the stove.

Pour the vinegar around the inside edge of the pan. Stir in from the edges until you see the curds form and the liquid turn yellow (that's whey). Pour into a colander and rinse with hot water, then cold water. Crumble while rinsing. You can add a little yogurt to the curds to make it taste more like store-bought cottage cheese. The curds on their own, would be wonderful in lasagna in place of the ricotta.





Ranch dressing

Whip together:

1/3 teaspoon MSG (or add more salt)

1/8 teaspoon onion salt

dash garlic powder

1/3 teaspoon dry parsley

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup butter milk (which is 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup water)





Ice Cream

4 eggs (optional. For a real smooth texture and a great scoopable consistency, use 1/2 cup cold water and 4 tablespoons unflavored gelatin, instead. You can also use 1/2 cup of a product called Ultra-gel.)

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups evaporated milk

6 cups reconstituted milk powder

2 tablespoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend together and place in an ice cream freezer. Churn according to directions specific to your ice cream maker. If adding fruit, experiment with using flavored gelatins instead of the unflavored gelatin (be sure to add more of the flavored stuff because there are sugars and fillers along with the gelatin in those packages.) Most other flavors of ice cream, still should have the vanilla added to cut the 'dry milk flavor’.




Homemade Creamer
Refrigerated creamers taste great, but they have no nutritional value. And adding them to your coffee every morning gets costly. Enter homemade creamer. It is less expensive per serving and gives you vitamins, minerals and protein. The key to this concoction is sweetened condensed milk. Into a three-cup (or larger) container, add the 14-ounce can of condensed milk, 1 and 1/2 cups of skim milk, and your flavorings of choice. (Sample flavorings: 1-Tbsp cocoa, 1-tsp almond extract=Chocolate Almond. 2-tsp vanilla extract=Vanilla. 1-tsp almond extract, 1/2 tsp orange extract=Cappuccino.) Blend with a hand mixer or seal container and shake vigorously. Keeps refrigerated for two weeks -- if you don't enjoy it all first



Sweetened Condensed Milk
This recipe is a great substitute for Eagle Brand Milk. Saves money, too. 1 cup powdered milk, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup boiling water, 3 tbsp. melted butter or oleo. Combine all ingredients in electric blender and process until smooth. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Yields 1-1/4 cups or same as 1 can Eagle Brand Milk.



Evaporated milk is milk with half the water taken out of it. You'll never have to buy cans of evaporated milk again. You mix powdered milk with half the water.

[Kimberlina]

Oops- forgot to link the bumped thread:

http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/...=powdered+milk

[halloweenfreak]

i have been using alot of powdered milk in baking here lately so i thought i would see about stocking up on it. well one website sells Instant Nonfat Dry Milk Powder, 1 lb for 5.27. another site has Instant Milk Substitute, 4.25 lb for 6.59. what is the difference between the two?

[Kimberlina]

Well, since it says substitue, I would wonder if it actually is dairy milk??? I would write to the company and ask for an ingredient list so you know for sure what it is....

[halloweenfreak]

here is what the website says: Mountain Mills Milk Substitute is a whey based beverage formulated to provide all the nutritional qualities of milk with added calcium and vitamins. Mountain Mills Milk Substitute tastes just like milk.

Ingredients: Sweet dairy whey, non-fat dry milk solids, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: coconut oil and /or soya oil), corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, lecithin, carrageenan, vitamin A, vitamin D3.

[halloweenfreak]

so, do you think its the same thing that comes in a box at walmart that you can cook with? if so, it sure is a heck of alot cheaper.

[Kimberlina]

Sounds like it uses dairy by-product (whey) in a much larger proportion than milk- so it has fewer milk solids than regular powdered milk. Do they list nutritional content?

It sounds like they have added back the calcium and other nutrients, but my concern with it would be the partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats.) Those are now being found to be big no-nos, but if used in moderation, it might be a good product to have on hand. Wonder if it tastes the same....

[halloweenfreak]

no, no nutritional values are listed. hmmmm i'll do some more researching before i decide to buy it or not.

[halloweenfreak]

well i received an email from the company that says it can be used just the same as powdered milk, but has a better taste. wow, as cheap as it is i guess i'll try it out.

[suzysaver]

O.k. I bought some Instant powdered milk in the bulk section. It had no directions on how much water and powder. I added 2/3 c. of powder to 2 cups water and hid it way in the back of fridge, if my husband finds it....he'll now what I'm up to.

[dltquilter]

We don't like the kind in the grocery store, but I heard about a brand that was supposed to taste just like regular milk...It is called Country Cream. I ordered a can of regular and chocolate. Cost is about $2/gallon. It was actually less than our area stores, even with shipping. It was WONDERFUL!! I think I might order a case on payday. I seriously thought it tasted great--best chilled for several hours, and I could not tell a difference...tasted FRESH! I am going to start introducing it slowly to my family--I got it from grandma's country foods. www.grandmascountry.com

It took a while to get here, but I had ordered several things, and something was on back order. They shipped really fast when I called to find out what was up. They sell lots of bulk type foods as well...I tried the powdered cheese--works just like mac and cheese powder--handy to have. I did not care for the scone mix, ordered the wheat bread mix, but have not opened it yet...

Anyway, I really recommend the milk!

[suzysaver]

Well, I chilled it for about 4 hours.
I'm drinking some right now.


WOW ! It's a little thicker then the skim we normally drink, but a little more water will take care of that. I could drink this, no problem. Would work for cooking. I think if I start gradually putting some in the milk jug, I could sneak it in on my husband. After a while I think he would get used to it, and not notice...I just can't get to greedy (LOL).

I'm shocked...the more I drink it, the better it tastes to me.