Feeling too lazy to drive to the shops, and in the mood for experimenting, I made my own evaporated milk. I used fresh milk as I was not sure how UHT milk would work.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Evaporated Milk ♥
Evaporated milk
Evaporated milk is so easy to make at home, and of course, easier to buy from the supermarket. This shelf stable product does not use sugar as a preservative. To make this, about 60% of the water is removed from fresh cow’s milk. If made commercially, homogenised milk is heated to remove the water, and then chilled. Evaporation is done at a high temperature and the Maillard reaction results in a colour change. The result is darker than fresh milk, and it also has a slight caramel flavour. Once chilled, the milk is stabilised, sterilised for 15 minutes at a temperature of around 115° Celsius and canned. The canned product has a concentration of nutrients and calories, when compared to fresh milk. To reconstitute this, you can mix it at a ratio of 1:1¼ parts water.
Making my own
The commercial product contains disodium phosphate to prevent it from coagulating, and carrageenan to prevent the solids from settling. Further, it is fortified with Vitamins C and D. This does not bother me, as I buy very few processed foods. But, there is a move at present for people to cut down on food stuffs made in factories. However, this was not the reason why I chose to make evaporated milk at home. It was really down to pure laziness on my behalf. I wanted to make a recipe which called for evaporated milk, and I did not feel like walking or driving to the shops! My laziness paid off, as the result was amazing. And I would make this again in a heartbeat. I feel that one could experiment with other milks so that people who are allergic to cow’s milk could still enjoy this product.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Evaporated Milk ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Evaporated Milk
Ingredients
- 500 mls fresh milk
Method
- Place the milk into a saucepan and allow to simmer over a low temperature until reduced by half, stirring occasionally *
- Strain and place into sterilized glass jars
- Allow to cool before refrigerating
- Use as needed
Notes
See this post on how I sterilize my glass jars.
See the links below for blog posts I published on February 11:
- 2024: 12 Months To Live
- 2022: Baked Chocolate Mousse
- 2019: Green Olive Tapenade
- 2016: Asparagus Soup With Poached Egg
- 2015: Wagon Trail At Anura
- 2013: Seed And Oat Daily Loaf
- 2012: Food Quiz Number 9 For A Friday
- 2011: Brioche
Tandy what a great idea. I will try this. Thanks for the inspiration with this one.
Hope it works out for you!
I don’t think I have had the need to use evaporated milk since I was grateful to the Americans in post-WWII Germany for providing the stuff to us refugee children! What a thing to remember 🙂 ! Anyways – how fascinating that you knew how to when you needed it and it worked!!! And yours would be SO much better for you and probably taste better and be cheaper! Kudos!
thanks Eha, that must have been a life saver, literally!
what a fabulous idea Tandy. I had never thought to make my own tho i do make things like my own Worcestershire sauce etc. So satisfying to DIY isn’t it? 🙂
sherry
I have your Worcestershire sauce recipe on hand to make the next time I need some 🙂
I need to remember this one next time when I need evaporated milk for baking.
Let me know once you have tried this 🙂
Not something I’ve ever made
It is so easy to buy which is why I never made it before this 🙂
Well of course that’s how you make evaporated milk! It’s a reduction! Thanks!
My pleasure 🙂
Good to know. thanks for sharing. 🙂
my pleasure Jeanne 🙂
I think it’s really adventurous to try making evaporated milk – but I bet it’s so much better than any store-bought!
I was too lazy to go out otherwise I would never have tried 🙂
I started using evaporated milk when changing my diet. Good to know you can DIY it.
Sherry
Please let me know if you try this 🙂
I make evaporated milk at home for Indian desserts but I never tried to preserve by canning. It definitely is so much better than any store bought. What are you making with it?
I made a soufflé 🙂
Awesome Recipe
Thanks so much!
This sounds like a good idea to make your own.
The evaporated milks that I see on the shelf in the supermarkets are very full of sugar.
Maybe you can try making your own?
Nice recipe
Thank you!