Cream and Milk

Cream and Milk

To Make Sweet Cream Sour add 2 tsp lemon juice or 1 tsp vinegar to each cup of cream.

To Make Sweet Milk Sour add 2 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar to each cup of sweet milk.

To Whip Cream Readily add a few drops of lemon juice and chill thoroughly before whipping.

To Keep Scalding Milk From Scorching rinse pan with hot water before using.

To Whip Evaporated Milk place a can of milk in freezer until partially frozen. Pour contents into a very cold bowl, add 1 tbsp lemon juice to 2/3 cup milk and whip as cream.

Hello…I only drink skim milk, and try to cook with it too. Most of the time it works well, but I do have a question about using it when I make some sauces. It seems to curdle when I add it to a hot pan with some meat or veggie “drippings”. Is this normal?

Thank you!

Susan

Preferably use whole milk in cooking. It contains about 3.5 % milk fat. Whole milk can be replaced with low-fat milk (see below). Especially in making milk-based porridges, béchamel sauces etc whole milk gives much better tasting and creamier result than low-fat milk. It also stands up to heating better than low-fat milks because of its higher fat content.

Low-fat milk contains about 1.5 % milk fat. It can be used in all cooking and baking instead of whole milk when you want to lower the fat content of foods.

Nonfat or skim milk is not recommended to be used in cooking. It burns easily to the bottom when heated. It is best used in hot or cold drinks like coffee, cappuccino, low-fat hot chocolate, milk shakes etc.

When cooking with milk, be careful not to boil it, as this will cause a tough scum to form on the surface. Even when milk does not boil, it may scorch. For best results, heat milk over low heat and whisk or stir it frequently.

Cooking milk and other dairy products with acid ingredients, salty foods, and certain vegetables may cause the milk to curdle. To help prevent this, use gentle heat and avoid overcooking. Evaporated milk, because it has already been heated in processing, also makes curdling less likely.

Heavy or whipping cream has a milk fat content of about 36 to 40 %. It can’t be replaced with light or single cream (see below), at least in recipes where cream needs to be whipped or cooked for a long time.

Light or single cream has a milk fat content of about 10 to 20 %. Light cream can’t be whipped. It is best used in drinks like coffee or creamy cocktails. In cooking, it is best to add light cream to foods or sauces towards the end of cooking to prevent curdling.

Note: real cream never contains any additives, like preservatives, colours or emulsifying agents!