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nonfat dry milk


paulraphael

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It seems that a lot of professional ice cream recipes call for this, in order to boost milk solids percentage.

I'm hesitant, because the times I've used it it's just smelled terrible. Some web research reveals that the problem might be freshness; that the stuff oxidizes easily and can pick up bad flavors.

First, is it true that when fresh the stuff can taste and smell good (like fresh milk)?

And second, is there a way to store it to keep it fresh? I'm thinking plastic bags with the air evacuated, in the freezer ... or something to that effect.

Notes from the underbelly

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Paul, at what stage did it smell terrible to you? To me, nonfat dry milk always (no matter how fresh or how old) smells kind of nasty when I open a packet of it. And if you make milk from it you wouldn't want to drink a glass of it. But when I've incorporated it into the base for yogurt -- which I do sometimes to get a richer end product -- I don't notice any off flavors or odors in the end product. It seems that the heating or some other process neutralizes the undesirable qualities.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
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WOW! You've never smelled it at all? I have used it for years and think it just smells totally disgusting in dry form but once incorporated into other things there doesn't seem to be a smell or an off taste. Fat Guy is right though - you would only drink it if you were dying of thirst. :biggrin:

Edited to fix double negative and such.

Edited by Anna N (log)

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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so how is it that this substance that you'd only drink if you were dying of thirst is incapable of giving something else an off taste?

It's magic! Much like fish sauce which is nausea-inducing on its own but works wonders in Thai dishes. :raz:

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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WOW! You've never smelled it at all?  I have used it for years and think it just smells totally disgusting in dry form but once incorporated into other things there doesn't seem to be a smell or an off taste.  Fat Guy is right though - you would only drink it if you were dying of thirst. :biggrin:

Edited to fix double negative and such.

I've never sniffed it dry, I meant I've never detected a smell in my ice cream mix and such.

I hate milk so I don't have to worry about drinking it.

2317/5000

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WOW! You've never smelled it at all?  I have used it for years and think it just smells totally disgusting in dry form but once incorporated into other things there doesn't seem to be a smell or an off taste.  Fat Guy is right though - you would only drink it if you were dying of thirst. :biggrin:

Edited to fix double negative and such.

Maybe it's a difference in brands. I seem to recall some odd aromas from the stuff I used years ago (I can't remember the brand) but I've been getting my non-fat dry milk powder from Bob's Red Mill for the past few years and its aroma and flavor is pretty mild.

I just grabbed the container out of the pantry to evaluate it. Dry, it has a slight buttered popcorn aroma; when mixed with water the odor is reminiscent of tapioca. The flavor is fairly bland, not unlike the flavor of non-fat milk out of a carton. (As if I needed a reminder of why I don't drink non-fat milk.)

David

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It does have that buttered popcorn-ish scent!

I occasionally use whole milk powder like "KinderMilk" for my ice creams and that stuff has a bit of an odor!

Not bad, just...milky

2317/5000

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  • 2 weeks later...

I decided to try it again in spite of the bad memories ... there are lots of compelling reasons to add it to most ice cream recipes.

So I bought some Organic Valley brand, in a resealable plastic bag. Hardly any smell at all! Either when dry or when mixed. Just slightly sweet. Not at all like my previous experiences (like attempting to bake with the stuff on backpacking trips).

It will be interesting to see how long it lasts in the pantry.

Notes from the underbelly

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  • 14 years later...
On 6/30/2008 at 8:16 AM, paulraphael said:

It will be interesting to see how long it lasts in the pantry.

Any updates on how long it lasts? I'm finding myself questioning my current bag that 2+ years old. I only use it in small amounts for bread making but am consider picking up a fresh bag for ice cream purposes.

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My previous dry milk experience has mirrored Paul's and Anna's.    I remember mixing up some to give a visiting semi-feral cat who loved a bowl of warm milk.    She sniffed it, arched her back and retreated.

 

Fast forward 10 years, reading Paul's ice cream recs, I bought a bag at our village country store.   The only thing they had was IGA's house brand.    I found it's amazingly fresh tasting.    The only drawback was that this store only had a large (and expensive) bag.    I split it between town and country and keep it in the freezer to prevent degradation.    Would buy Essential Everyday Dry Milk  again.

eGullet member #80.

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Dry milk. It brings back memories. When I was a kid, we would buy a half gallon of whole milk and mix it with a half gallon of nonfat dry milk. I guess because it was a more economical option.

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Quote

 

I'm going to suggest that milk powder is the best way to add MSNF, short of reverse osmosis. The trick is to find a good brand like Now, (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) which 100% skim milk solids, and which is spray dried at low temperatures. If your goal is to concentrate milk solids while exposing them to the minimum amount of heat, you're not going to beat an industrial spray drier with your stove.

 

I've found that with the package sealed in an additional ziploc bag in the freezer, this kind of dry milk lasts months without developing off flavors.

 

 

 
 

Notes from the underbelly

 

 

 

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