This is an article that I posted in February and then promptly destroyed my blog site! My daughters could use these tips so I will be adding them over the next few days. Do I have the cutest little mother-in-law or what. The picture is my oldest daughter, Mariah, and Grandma Jeanne at a family reunion celebrating Grandma's 80th birthday. We should all look so good, huh?
The Secrets of Powdered Milk
It's finally time to start sharing some of my favorites using powdered milk. As I have told many who have asked, "Powdered milk is not just for gagging on"!Let's start with a little secret my cute little mother-in-law taught me a long time ago. I was about to make some glaze for some really yummy, drippy cinnamin rolls. She made them better. She had me heat the milk, very warm but not scald before I mixed the powdered sugar with it. I couldn't believe the difference! It no longer had a "raw" taste. I didn't even know it had a raw taste! that got me thinking and so I did some hunting around and found this great little article on the internet I'd like to share with you. These tips really make a difference. Give it a thorough read, you'll learn a lot of whys even if you knew what to do!
Scalding Milk
Q: I have heard that it isn't really necessary to scald milk, even though the recipe may tell you to. Is this right?
Milk is scalded by heating it to 180°F (82°C). Visually, at sea level, this is the point at which tiny bubbles begin to form. Because water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, this visual clue may be inaccurate (see High Altitude Cooking).
Scalding serves three purposes: it kills harmful bacteria that may spoil the food being prepared, it destroys enzymes that may affect the way the milk performs in the recipe, and it raises the temperature of the milk to speed up results. With modern pasteurization, the bacteria and enzymes are already destroyed, so scalding is no longer necessary to accomplish those goals, although heating the milk may help to encourage the growth of yeast in breads, to better dissolve other ingredients, or to promote desirable bacteria growth for recipes such as making yogurt.
In the case of raising the temperature to speed results, the milk only needs to be heated to the optimal temperature, not necessary all the way to a scald. Temperatures might be in the range of 110°F (43°C) for making bread or yogurt. Always check the recipe to be sure.
The one exception to note is that, according to Shirley O. Corriher in her book Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, there may be some evidence that certain proteins in milk may affect the rise of breads. For this reason, she continues to scald milk used in bread baking, as a precaution.
Of course, if you are using raw, unpasteurized milk, then you need to scald it since the bacteria and enzymes have not been destroyed through pasteurization.
Addendum: Thanks to Alton Brown in his recently aired Good Eats episode "Churn Baby Churn 2" for reminding me that there is a fourth purpose in scalding milk, that being that heat increases the amount of flavor that is extracted from some ingredients, such as vanilla beans, for those recipes where other ingredients may be added to the milk while it is being heated.
Hi,
Your article wrongly states that " With modern pasteurization, the bacteria and enzymes are already destroyed, ......". Pasteurization only reduces the amount of bacteria and enzymes to acceptable level.
Posted by: Nishant Mar 12, 2007 at 10:18 AM
Scalding the milk gives a certain good flavor to some recipes. Recipes for vanilla ice cream and custard and many other things. Check it out. My grandmother used to make ice cream to die for. I could not seem to duplicate it using her recipe. The difference turned out to be the scalded milk she used.
Posted by: Julia Jones Jul 12, 2008 at 01:30 PM
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