So I was researching how I could possibly make cream cheese from food storage items. I've already made a couple of nasty things that failed to pass as cream cheese. I was trying to figure out ways to make it work when I happened upon some suggestions for making nonfat powdered milk taste like whole milk. Oh, yeah, this is something I think a lot of us could get behind.
I previously presented suggestions for adding vanilla extract and sugar to dry milk powder to improve the taste. And it really works for a lot of people. However, the suggestions below take powdered milk to a whole new level. And we're going to boost the bioavailability of the vitamins at the same time. Cool, huh?
What's missing from nonfat milk is the fat, right? Fat and oil are pretty close chemically, and it is oil that we're going to add to the reconstituted powdered milk to increase the fat in the milk, improve the mouth feel, and increase the bioavailability of the vitamins. However, as everyone is thinking right now, oil and water(y milk) don't mix. Which is absolutely true. If we added oil to our milk and shook it up, the oil and milk would separate almost immediately.
The workaround here is to make an emulsion. Eggs are a common emulsifying agent, letting us combine ingredients that normally do not mix. In this case, the emulsifying agent is letting us add some richness back into substantially lacking nonfat milk.
Eggs are usually cooked with whatever they are emulsifying, so there is no concern about salmonella poisoning. However, we're not cooking the milk and eggs here. Fortunately, we can use powdered eggs. (Be sure that your powdered eggs are pasteurized. Not all powdered eggs are.)
What if you don't have powdered eggs, or your powdered eggs aren't pasteurized? Never fear. Soy lecithin substitutes very well for the egg in a 1:1 ratio. Oh, you don't have that, either? You're not out of luck yet. Honey also works, and some say it tastes a little better, too. The quantities of each ingredient to produce milk with the desired fat content are in the table below. Remember, you are using only egg powder or honey, not both. As for the oil, canola and safflower and sunflower are often used. I used liquid coconut oil this morning, because that's what I had on hand. Basically, you want as neutral-tasting an oil as possible. (Regular coconut oil won't work here, unless you are using the milk warmed or cooked. It solidifies at 76 degrees Fahrenheit, making little oil lumps in the milk. Not tasty.) The directions for mixing it up will follow the table.
Fat
Content
|
Milk quantity desired/amount of water to use
|
Egg
Powder
|
Honey
|
Dry milk powder
|
Oil
|
1%
|
Cup
|
1/16
teaspoon
|
1/4
teaspoon
|
1/4-1/3
cup
|
1/2
teaspoon
|
Quart
|
1/4
teaspoon
|
1 teaspoon
|
1 –
1 1/3 cups
|
2
teaspoons
|
|
Gallon
|
1
teaspoon
|
4
teaspoons
|
4 –
5 1/3 cups
|
2
tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
|
|
2%
|
Cup
|
1/8
teaspoon
|
1/2
teaspoon
|
1/4-1/3
cup
|
1
teaspoon
|
Quart
|
1/2
teaspoon
|
2
teaspoons
|
1 –
1 1/3 cups
|
4
teaspoons
|
|
Gallon
|
2
teaspoons
|
2
tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
|
4 –
5 1/3 cups
|
1/3
cup
|
|
Whole
(3.5-4%)
|
Cup
|
1/4
teaspoon
|
1
teaspoon
|
1/4-1/3
cup
|
2
teaspoons
|
Quart
|
1
teaspoon
|
4
teaspoons
|
1 –
1 1/3 cups
|
2
tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
|
|
Gallon
|
4
teaspoons
|
1/3
cup
|
4 –
5 1/3 cups
|
2/3
cup
|
In your bottle or shaker or blender, whatever you're using to mix your milk, pour in your reconstituted milk and then add the egg powder OR honey, not both. Blend or shake until well dissolved. Then add in the oil and shake/blend vigorously for 3 minutes. Like cream in unhomogenized milk, the fats in the milk will eventually rise to the top. Just give your milk a quick shake before you pour. The more thoroughly mixed, the slower the milk and oil will be to separate.
I tested six different combinations on the hubby and kids this weekend.
I tested six different combinations on the hubby and kids this weekend.
A. Provident Pantry (Emergency Essentials), instant nonfat milk powder, about 12 years old now
B. Home Storage Center (HSC), non-instant nonfat milk powder, about 2 years old
(All of the following were made with the same HSC milk powder used in B above.)
C. Eggs and coconut oil
D. Honey and coconut oil
E. Extra milk powder (25% more)
F. Sugar and almond extract (1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon extract per quart)
The clear loser this time was the Provident Pantry milk, which really surprised me. It placed much higher in previous tests with the family and others, but those were a few years back now, and the milk is apparently getting older. Anyway, that's my best guess for why it didn't fare so well.
The rest of the results showed a wide range of preferences. Seven people participated in this taste test and the milk samples were ranked from 0 to 4. The kids all said that whole milk from the store was the gold standard and would rate a 5. Nothing merited a 5 according to them. Jared, who drinks at least a gallon of whole milk per week now that he's married (it was at least two gallons at home before marriage--Belle put him on a diet), said nothing merited even a 4. The rest of the family is less discriminating.
Here are the numbers:
A. Provident Pantry 2
B. Home Storage Center 13
C. Eggs and coconut oil 19
D. Honey and coconut oil 14
E. Extra milk powder 22
F. Sugar and almond extract 17
When the dust all settled and the results were tallied, the winner was adding 25% more milk powder to the milk. It's definitely the easiest way to go.
However, I really recommend doing a taste test of your own. Jared, who spent a few years only being able to drink almond milk, preferred the sugar and almond extract option. I should add that a few people thought there was too much almond extract and that amount could probably be cut in half. My husband really liked the honey option, which scored pretty low with everyone else. He has a serious sweet tooth. My favorite was the egg powder option. I mean, it really tasted like whole milk to me, and I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be making in the future for me--because I really didn't like Aaron's favorite with honey.
If your family balks at this milk, and especially if you have young children, I would keep trying, by very gradually increasing the amounts of your chosen oil and emulsifier. Fat is essential for the body to fully assimilate the vitamins in the milk. The other foods we are eating at the time normally have some fat in them, so having fat in the milk isn't essential. But if the other items on the menu are lowfat or nonfat, then adding fat to the milk is a good idea.
If your family balks at this milk, and especially if you have young children, I would keep trying, by very gradually increasing the amounts of your chosen oil and emulsifier. Fat is essential for the body to fully assimilate the vitamins in the milk. The other foods we are eating at the time normally have some fat in them, so having fat in the milk isn't essential. But if the other items on the menu are lowfat or nonfat, then adding fat to the milk is a good idea.
Links to related posts:
For further reading:
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/76665/combine-skim-milk-and-cream-to-substitute-for-whole
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1611&context=extension_histall
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information-center/all-about/all-about-dehydrated-dairy/turning-your-non-fat-powdered-milk-into-whole-reconstituted-milk
https://womensconference.ce.byu.edu/sites/womensconference.ce.byu.edu/files/make_the_most_of_powdered_milk.pdf
https://cookingtipoftheday.blogspot.com/2010/04/milk-and-cream-substitution.html
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/whole-milk-from-skim-milk-and-cream-52684831
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Dry-Milk-Taste-Like-Fresh-Milk
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