Dulce de Leche

[maremosso]

I haven't a clue as to why on earth Dulce de Leche should contain baking soda.

All I know, having just spent six months in Buenos Aires, is that the local supermarkets' shelves there absolutely groan with a huge variety of brands of ready-made Dulce de Leche.

My favorite, by far, is Parmalat. And home-made doesn't taste anything like it.

But I still don't know if it contains baking soda.

[maremosso]

I should have added that I have often made it at home, just by the usual method of boiling cans of condensed milk. Up to now it's never turned grainy, and it becomes darker and fudgier the longer you boil it - anything between 2 and a half hours to 4 hours.

Still, Parmalat brand rules!

[andiesenji]

I should have added that I have often made it at home, just by the usual method of boiling cans of condensed milk. Up to now it's never turned grainy, and it becomes darker and fudgier the longer you boil it - anything between 2 and a half hours to 4 hours.

Still, Parmalat brand rules!

←

I don't think I have ever tried Parmalat. I used to buy their non-fridge, shelf-stored milk but it disappeared from stores several months back when there was a problem with a factory.

Have you ever tried Guerrero y Meza?

It is difficult to find, even here, but occasionally the carniceria near my home has it - they keep it at the checkout stand as it comes in little, easy pocketable, tins. It has a picture of a smiling goat on the label but the text is all in Spanish and I read only a little. It is made in Iguala, Mexico.

It is the best I have ever tried, except for Mrs. Obregon's.

It has so many layered flavors that one moment it tastes like caramel and the next like chocolate, there there is a slightly smokey flavor that sneaks in at the end. They had it last year about this time and I bought a box for the Hispanic kids that come around for trick or treat because they would much rather have that than candy.

Timer just went off, back to my cooking....

[tan319]

I've only used baking soda when making Cajeta, which is basically caramelized goats milk.

Not quite as thick as pure dulce de leche, and tangier.

I do my dulce de leche as I learned from my time in Latino kitchens, which was baking sweetened condensed milk in a bain marie.

Now I just boil the cans, which takes less eyeballing and has a better texture, to my eyes ans palate.

[ravum]

I made DDL without the soda.

Result- Caramelly sweetened condensed milk.It wasnt grainy at all but positively not the color GG Mora has posted here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...%20saveur&st=30

The color was the same as SCM.Definitely no chocolate notes or smokiness.Chewy and caramelly.Not overly sweet as SCM.

I will try the soda version and post the results.

Edited October 31, 2004 by ravum (log)

[Redsugar]

Are these the ingredients for the Saveur recipe?

5 cups of milk, 1½ cups of sugar, 1 vanilla bean & 1 tsp of baking soda.

Baking soda (chemical compound: NaHCO3) is an alkali; when mixed with a acid liquid (in this case, the lactic & amino acids in milk), it releases CO2 gas. In the present discussion, we have a basic emphasis: viz., the incorporation of baking soda counteracts any hyperacidity in the pan mixture because it’s a neutralizer. Consequently, alkaline bonds in the acids react with the sugar molecules to enhance the caramelization process, which might otherwise be slightly inhibited. Science broadly attributes the caramelization reaction to a range of browning reactions and flavor development. Essentially, caramelization is the application of heat to the point the sugars dehydrate, breakdown, and polymerize.

Supposedly, due to the neutralizing effect, there will be a balanced taste in the finished product.

One must be careful not to add too much baking soda to any recipe because one of its end products is salt. Originally, baking soda was referred to as saleratus – a portmanteau word based on two Latin terms: "sal" (salt) and "aeratus" (aerated.)

Edited October 31, 2004 by Redsugar (log)

[ablosh]

I use Dulce de Leche as filling for my banana breads, cakes, brownies...etc. I've also recently tried it with my basic baked cheesecake.

However, the cheesecake had a vague taste of a flan/creme caramel...not sure if that was a good thing.

[2010]

I've made dulce de leche like this (submerged in water and boiled for 2-3 hours) and it works out just fine. I was taught by an English chef that introduced me to Banoffi Pie. I've never had an explosion occur although I was skeptical about the method when I first heard about it. Just be sure to always have the cans submerged. I used to boil 4-5 cans at a time so I always had de leche ready when needed and I'd date the cans of when they were made because obviously, the labels are removed prior to boiling.

I used the de leche to make Banoffi Brulee. Mmmm, it was a staple on the dessert menu for a long while.

[A Patric]

I boiled some the other day for about 4 hours and 30 minutes after reading about the method here. It was thick and malleable. It had a carmel flavor that had an almost coffee-like note. I can vouch for it tasting good!

Alan

[ALTAF]

My first attempt for dulce de leche was succesfull using the boiled cans method, but it took me 2 houres( Of course the gas vinished ) and i used it for a banoffee pie.

ANY ONE KNOWS HOW TO SPELL: DULCE DE LECHE?

[ruthcooks]

The boil in the can method of caramelizing condensed milk is very dangerous. For years, the manufacturers have warned against it. Here is one example:

Eagle Brand Recipe

For your own and your family's safety, try one of the other methods. There is one I didn't see mentioned: remove label and can lid, cover with foil and bake in oven.

I'm not sure how long.

[MelissaH]

The "boil in can" method is only dangerous if you let the water boil away so that the can is no longer completely submerged in the water. At atmospheric pressure, the water temperature can't get above 100 degrees C, or 212 degrees F. However, steam can get much hotter than that, which is where you run into problems. I suppose it's also possible for the bottom of the pot to get hotter, which is another reason to put a dishcloth or trivet in the bottom of the pot.

If you're careful to be sure that the water level stays well over the can, just as many of the early posts in this thread say, boiling in the can shouldn't be a problem. The safety note in the link that ruthcooks points to looks like a CYA kind of link, as in "We don't recommend you do this, because it may be unsafe if you don't do it properly, and we don't want to be sued."

I like the crock pot idea. Might need to investigate that one myself.

MelissaH

[sazji]

I made a batch today from scratch. It came out quite well but could be darker; I stopped because it was beginning to stick on the bottom of the pot. I may try some of it in the oven. It certainly does foam up, doesn't it?!

I heat my house with a wood/coal stove, and keep a tall aluminum closed pitcher (called a güğüm, for anyone who cares) on the top to have hot water always ready. When the stove is cranking, the thing boils, so perhaps I'll just drop my last can (it's not available in Turkey) of sweetened condensed into it and see how it works! If it does explode, it will be well-contained.

[FoodMan]

If you are really concerned about the cans blowing up, then try this. It is a method I picked up from the "Pastry Queen" book. Basically puncture two holes in the lids and stand the cans upright, 3/4 covered with water, in a pot. Boil them till the bubbling milk from the cans (and it will bubble through the holes) is dark caramel color. Works fine but you see the downside, right? No way to store the cans in your pantry for later use...you know with holes and all. I like the boiling method much better if you have no time for the time consuming but oh so good real stuff.

[jaredrakes]

I find this last point about storing in pantry for later use intriguing...could I really do a bunch and store them at room temp?

It seems that storing boiled cans of most anything is a pretty safe idea...but then, I'm not one to AssUMe about matters of botulism et al.

If not the shelf, how about the fridge for still-sealed cans?

[PoppySeedBagel]

Banoffee Pie was invented by a restaurant called The Hungry Monk at Jevington in Sussex (SE England) in about 1970. It's been doing the rounds in UK ever since. It is horribly sickly, but in small quantities is delicious.

One other use for the dulce de leche is chocolate caramel shortbread - as it sounds - make a batch of butter shortbread, and bake in a shallow tin. Top with your caramel, and then when that's cool, with melted chocolate. It's surprisingly nice when made with really good dark chocolate.

[FoodMan]

I find this last point about storing in pantry for later use intriguing...could I really do a bunch and store them at room temp?

It seems that storing boiled cans of most anything is a pretty safe idea...but then, I'm not one to AssUMe about matters of botulism et al.

If not the shelf, how about the fridge for still-sealed cans?

←

Storing them in the pantry is no problem. Now, if one of them starts bulging or swelling for some reason, then throw it away immediatly. I have never had a problem and neither should you.

[cricklewood]

Hello I am interested in making dulce from scratch(not with condensed milk) I am planning on using goats milk and putting it in a mason jar and then in the immersion circulator for 10-12 hours or until it achieves ther right color and consistence. My question is the recipes I have seen include baking powder or soda I believe, does anyone know what this contributes to the final product?

[HQAntithesis]

I was wondering if there was perhaps a faster way to make smaller quantities of dulce de leche from condensed milk. Could you perhaps just pour it into a saucepan and heat, while stirring occasionally, then continuosly stirring as it gets closer to the desired colour/consistency? Or does it burn/scald if you do it that way?

[ablosh]

I was wondering if there was perhaps a faster way to make smaller quantities of dulce de leche from condensed milk. Could you perhaps just pour it into a saucepan and heat, while stirring occasionally, then continuosly stirring as it gets closer to the desired colour/consistency? Or does it burn/scald if you do it that way?

←

I tried that...and I personally didn't notice the difference (but I am a super sugar freak so my tastebuds might not be so reliable). The thing with using it in a saucepan is that it takes a LOOONG while of you standing by the stove and babysitting the condensed milk with frequent stirring...

I don't have that much patience.

[HQAntithesis]

I experimented today: doing it over the naked flame didn't work for me. As soon as it came to a reasonable the temperature the condensed milk in contact with the bottom of the saucepan would burn and as you kept stirring it you'd get bits of burnt condensed milk floating around in the saucepan. Not so good hehe. I also tried putting the rest of the condensed milk in a saucepan of boiling water that came up to the sides. It worked ok but the level of the water needed to be kept higher than the level of the condensed milk almost all the time, which I didn't do, resulting in the upper layer being slightly thick while the bottom was nicely caramelised.

[DiH]

I too was wary of boiling cans so what I did was to vacuum seal the contents into a boiling bag using my trusty FoodSaver. Worked great!

Di

[miladyinsanity]

Oh excellent idea Di! When I get around to trying this, that's what I'll do. And you can even poke it to test the consistency, LOL.

[NickLam]

There is a much quicker way.

Use a pressure cooker as they do in Brazil, it's called "doce de leite" in Portuguese.

Place a can of sweetened condensed milk (paper label removed) in the pressure cooker with water going halfway up the can.

Do not use the rack and avoid dented cans.

Bring up to pressure (15 lb) and depending on the desired consistency:

15 minutes is enough for a soft, spreadable consistency.

25 minutes will give you a thicker, darker product.

Any longer and you'll be able to slice it.

Slowly release the pan's pressure and just let it be.

Cool to room temperature before attempting to open the can.

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Has anyone tried the pressure cooker method yet? I just tried the boiling method on 5 cans and they bulged up slightly and though they are still taking forever to cool down in the tropical heat, they have returned to normal shape. I'm tempted to open it......but hehehe caught the BIG WARNING on the first page. Having a non-existent knowledge in physics.........how safe is pressure cooking it?

[sazji]

I made a batch from scratch, it came out wonderfully. I made a smaller batch a few days later for some friends at their restaurant, using a wide-bottomed pan, and discovered that slower is better. When I made my own, I used a tall pot, and had to boil it slower because it foams quite a bit and would overflow at higher heat. In the big pan, it got quite thick before it was too brown, so much that it stuck the teeth together of one of the guys who tried it. We added a bit more milk and brought it back to the right consistency, lowered the heat and darkened it nicely.

I tried the boiling method in a big container on my woodstove. The first time it never got to a boil, so I left it in longer and tried it the next day. Well...it doesn't have to boil. The heat close to the bottom of the pan evidently got things pretty hot, because when I opened the can, it was dark, like chocolate, and tasted pretty weird...there can definitely be too much caramelization!