Food Storage Friday: Powdered Milk

First I must say I that I am pretty picky about my milk. I only drink skim milk and I only drink it from certain stores. So the thought of drinking reconstituted non-fat dry powdered milk <shudder>, not going to happen, it smells too weird to me. However, I feel that storing powdered milk is an important part of emergency preparedness, so I store it, and I even use and rotate it. I try to consistently have some made up in my fridge and use it in recipes that involve cooking milk. I generally can't taste a difference. I have also used it many times when I am out of evaporated or sweetened condensed milk.

Types of Powdered Milk

 This is pasteurized skim milk reduced to a powdered concentrate. It can be found in two forms, regular and instant. They are both  made from milk in a spray-drying process, but the instant variety has been given further processing to make it more easily soluble in water than regular dry milk. Both types have the same nutrient composition.

Regular Powdered Milk

•  More compact and requires less storage space than the instant variety.

• To make; mix your milk with warm water using a wire whip, then chill. Before serving, give it another quick stir and serve. This will give the milk better flavor.
• Need 4-#10 cans per adult = 1 c. per day. You'll need more for children.

Whey Based Milk (Morning Moo, Swiss Maid, Mountain Mills, etc.)

• Most of the milk protein has been removed: Morning Moo, Swiss Maid, etc.
• Does NOT meet protein needs of growing children.
• Best tasting of the milks
• Will NOT make yogurt or cheese because the milk solids have been removed. Whey is what’s left over after making cheese or yogurt.

Instant Powdered Milk

Instant milk is made by taking regular powder and making it a little flakier.

• Most common variety found in grocery stores.
• Dissolves instantly in cold water (will lump up in warm water)
• Need 5 - #10 cans per person = 1 c. per day, more for children.

Flavored Nonfat Dry Milk
This may be found packaged in a variety of forms from a low calorie diet
drink made with artificial sweetener to cocoa mix or malted milk. The key
ingredient is the dry milk so buy and store these products accordingly. They
have less calcium than plain milks.

Dry Whole Milk
This dry milk has a higher fat content and therefore a shorter shelf life than nonfat. Other than that, it can be used in exactly the same way. Dry whole milk is difficult to find, but can sometimes be found where camping supplies are sold and from a few online providers, or in the Mexican food aisle of the grocery store under the brand name of Nido by Nestle.

Buttermilk Powder

Dry buttermilk is for use in recipes calling for buttermilk. Since it has a slightly higher fat content than nonfat dry milk, it generally does not keep as long. The acid in buttermilk reacts with baking soda or baking powder in your recipes to make batters rise a bit. This is what gives you puffy pancakes and batter breads.

Advantages to Using Powdered Milk

• It needs no refrigeration (until reconstituted)
• It is easy to store for long periods of time
• By making just what you need there is less waste
• It is fast and easy to measure and mix
• Adding 1 T. dry milk to 1 c. fresh milk increases: protein, B vitamins, calcium and minerals.

Here are a few recipes that I use powdered milk in on a regular basis.

Noodles & Company- A copy-cat of the restaurant's creamy macaroni and cheese from I Dare You To Eat It.com

Apple Wheat and Buttermilk Pancakes- My own crowd-pleasing creation, that's easy to make and uses most food storage ingredients.

Pumpkin Apple Oatmeal Muffins- I've been making these for decades now and I still love them so much. Actually I use powdered milk in almost all muffins.

Now here  is the most important reason I think that people should store powdered milk. You can use it to make baby formula. I have personally never tried this. My kids refused to drink formula, period. (Which is ironic because for whatever reason formula companies still send me samples and coupons. At least my local food pantry got something out of it.) If there was some kind of crisis and I have a neighbor with a baby, I want to be in a position to help out. So here are a couple of baby formula recipes. Now this won't work if the baby has a milk allergy, and it doesn't have the extra vitamins and additives that commercial formulas do, but in a bind, it will do.

Baby Formula
⅓ c + 2t. instant powdered milk
1 ⅓ c boiling water
Mix together completely. Add:
1 Tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons sugar

Baby Formula 2
1- 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/3 Tbsp sugar
Boil water for 5 minutes, add milk and sugar. Pour into prepared bottles and cover.
Ready to use. Refrigerate unused portion. (DO NOT use Karo syrup or honey for sugar)