In case you were wondering about powdered milk . . .
If you've decided to buy powdered milk for your food storage you may have noticed that there are different types, instant, non-instant, and milk alternative. I read an interesting post at PreparedLDSfamily reviewing a milk mixing pitcher that took me to another post at Everyday foodstorage.net about the differences. There is good information at both blogs. (If you are interested in finding out more about food storage, you might wand to look around a bit on both of these sites, they have some great ideas).
We discovered that when making recipes calling for powdered milk, it's important to use the right one. We like the milkshake recipe much better when made with non-instant powdered milk (the kind purchased from LDS home storage centers worked well.
from wikipedia
Powdered milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for economy of transportation. Powdered milk and dairy products include such items as dry whole milk, nonfat dry milk, dry buttermilk, dry whey products and dry dairy blends. Many dairy products exported conform to standards laid out in Codex Alimentarius.
Powdered milk is used for food and health (nutrition), and atypically also in biotechnology (saturating agent).
History and manufacture
While Marco Polo wrote of Mongolian Tatar troops in the time of Kublai Khan who carried sun-dried skimmed milk as "a kind of paste,"[1] the first usable commercial production process for dried milk was invented by the Russian chemist M. Dirchoff in 1832. In 1855, T.S. Grimwade took a patent on a dried milk procedure,[2] though a William Newton had patented a vacuum drying process as early as 1837.[3]
In modern times, powdered milk is usually made by spray drying[4] nonfat skim milk, whole milk, buttermilk or whey. Pasteurized milk is first concentrated in an evaporator to approximately 50% milk solids. The resulting concentrated milk is then sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving fine particles of powdered milk solids.
Alternatively, the milk can be dried by drum drying. Milk is applied as a thin film to the surface of a heated drum, and the dried milk solids are then scraped off. However, powdered milk made this way tends to have a cooked flavor, due to caramelization caused by greater heat exposure.
Another process is freeze drying, which preserves many nutrients in milk, compared to drum drying.
The drying method and the heat treatment of the milk as it is processed alters the properties of the milk powder, such as its solubility in cold water, its flavor, and its bulk density.
If you've decided to buy powdered milk for your food storage you may have noticed that there are different types, instant, non-instant, and milk alternative. I read an interesting post at PreparedLDSfamily reviewing a milk mixing pitcher that took me to another post at Everyday foodstorage.net about the differences. There is good information at both blogs. (If you are interested in finding out more about food storage, you might wand to look around a bit on both of these sites, they have some great ideas).
We discovered that when making recipes calling for powdered milk, it's important to use the right one. We like the milkshake recipe much better when made with non-instant powdered milk (the kind purchased from LDS home storage centers worked well.
WHAT IS POWDERED MILK?
Powder milk is made from fresh, pasteurized skim milk. First, the milk is concentrated in an evaporator until 50% of the milk solids remain. Next, the concentrated milk is sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving behind tiny dry milk particles.
WHY SHOULD I HAVE REAL POWDER MILK IN MY FOOD STORAGE?
Did you know that plenty of companies sell a powder milk that isn’t REAL milk? Some companies call it a “milk alternative” some don’t even try and label it anything different. So how can you know if your powdered milk is for real? Look at the ingredients.
- Powder Milk Ingredients are:
Nonfat Dry Milk, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3 - Milk Alternative Ingredients are:
Made from sweet dairy whey, non-fat dry milk solids, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following:canola oil and/or soya oil), corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, propylene glycol monostearate, mono and diglycerides, lecithin, carrageenan, Vitamin A, Vitamin D.
You’ll see the milk alternative has plenty of other ingredients including shortening and high fructose syrup. It’s like the difference between Tang and Orange Juice. One is a orange FLAVORED drink and one is the actual JUICE from an orange. The milk alternative is not as nutritious (the reason we store milk is for the great nutritional qualities of milk-not to have something that tastes good on our cereal). It also will effect your baking. It doesn’t have the vital milk caseine protein which is vital in some cooking, plus it has that extra shortening involved which may change some of what you are making.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSTANT AND NON-INSTANT POWDERED MILK?
Think of it like buying popcorn already popped (that you can eat instantly) or popcorn kernels (which require more work to get ready to eat). Instant milk IS non-instant milk that has been puffed with air which makes it mix into water easier. In fact, you could just drop it in water and it would dissolve instantly. Non-instant milk requires more stirring and chilling before it can be served as milk. Price wise, non-instant milk is a better bang for your buck because you can fit more of it in a can and use less in your cooking.
WHERE SHOULD I STORE MY POWDERED MILK?
In a cool dry area. The powder does not need to be refrigerated after the can is opened. Once you add water to it, you will need to store it in the fridge. It will store for 4-5 days in your fridge.
HOW MUCH POWDERED MILK SHOULD I HAVE IN MY ONE YEAR SUPPLY OF FOOD STORAGE?
WHERE CAN I PURCHASE POWDERED MILK
You can purchase it at any grocery store-although, if you buy it in the small boxes it will cost you a fortune! The only place to purchase the non-instant powdered milk at a decent price is from the LDS Cannery. Unfortunately, they don’t sell this online so it requires you going in and purchasing and canning yourself. (This type of milk is by far the cheapest and the type I use!)
If you don’t have access to an LDS Cannery, there are plenty of places that sell INSTANT powdered milk already canned. (If you’re in Utah you can shop at Maceys or Wal-Mart as well) This will cost a little more but also, some people like the taste better. Make sure when you are buying powdered milk online that it is REAL milk and not a milk alternative. Not all companies will label it as a milk alternative-look at the ingredients to be sure!
- Shelf Reliance (click for current pricing)
- Augason Farms (click for current pricing)
- Emergency Essentials (click for current pricing)
HOW DO I USE POWDERED MILK?
It’s simple really, you can mix it up and drink it! In your baking or cooking, you can simply add the dry milk powder with the dry ingredients and the water necessary to hydrate it in with the wet ingredients. You can download my milk conversion chart HERE it will help you do the math when using non-instant powdered milk.
- If you want a ready reference for using powdered milk your kitchen, check out my food storage conversion charts. They will help you with powdered eggs, powdered milk, and magic mix.
