The Basic Preparation Of Foods: Dairy Produce

These fairly basic tips may seem quite irrelevant to most modern householders who own a refrigerator, but modern technology do make people sloppy and so it is very worth while to know ‘why’ we ought do some things. For example, it is worth remembering these tips when your refrigerator is broken or is so small that it will not hold everything you have, such as when camping or boating or on holiday in some (parts of) countries in the world.

MILK:

Milk has been called ‘nature’s perfect food’, because no other food, consumed on its own, can support adult human life. It is of the first importance for the growth and development of adolescents, but it must be clean because bacteria also find it very nourishing and quickly grow in it. If your milk was not bought pasteurized, then it should be scalded and cooled quickly before consumption.

How To Scald Milk: Rinse out a clean saucepan with cold water, pour in the milk and apply heat until bubbles form around the side of the pan. Maintain the milk at this temperature, that is, not letting it boil, for three minutes. Do not let it overheat, as milk burns very easily. Pour immediately into a clean jug and place in a basin of cold water and cover with a fine cloth to discourage the ingress of flies and dust.

How To Keep Milk Fresh: If milk is not be kept in the containers in which it was bought, transfer it to a clean jug, which has been rinsed with cold water. A warm container will cause milk to stick to the sides and go off more quickly. Keep milk in the coolest place in the larder and always covered. it is worth remembering that draughts are often at ground-level and that hot air rises. Never keep milk in an airless cupboard and in hot weather stand the jug in a bowl of water with the cloth covering dangling in the water. The cloth will soak up water, which will evaporate, which uses up heat, ensuring that the containers remain cool. Keep milk away from strong-smelling foods, as it absorbs odours easily. Never mix new milk with old.

Sour Milk: Milk straight from the cow is slightly alkaline, but as it ages, lactic acid is formed and it becomes what we call ’sour’. Pasteurizing or scalding the milk slows down this process. Milk which is ‘just on the turn’ can be revived by boiling with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to restore the alkalinity. Once the milk has gone too far and has curdled, it can be strained through (cheese) cloth, thereby separating the curds from the whey. The curds can be used as a filling for cakes, tarts, scones etc and the whey can be used as the liquid for making scones, cakes and soups etc., as it still has much goodness.

Evaporated Milk: Evaporated milk is ordinary milk, which has had some of its water content driven off by heat in some form or another before being placed in its container. Once reconstituted by adding water, it will last only slightly longer than fresh milk does.

Condensed Milk: This form of milk is merely evaporated milk to which sugar has been added before being placed in its container. The sugar acts as a preservative and preserve the milk for about a week. Do not keep in the tin, but decant it into a jug or bottle.

Dried Milk: Dried milk comes in a variety of forms and notice should be taken of the instructions on the label. Specialized products can be bought for babies, invalids, convalescents and dieters, all of which contain varying amounts and types of added vitamins and minerals. Usually, they are very much lower in fat content than conventional milk.

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