Boiling condensed milk for caramel

mildred1978

Please read up on Nestl! before you buy any more carnation products.

https://www.babymilkaction.org

gibson123

There is no need to boil it to make caramel, just empty it into a thick bottomed pan over a low heat and stir continuously for about 15 minutes, add brown sugar for a darker caramel, let is cool and Bob's your Auntie. The only time I boil is if I am not going to use it for a while or have a huge batch to make, e.g. a bake sale, then I do about 8 cans together.

PasturesNew

If you're scared to boil and if you have a camping stove and it's nice outside...... boil it in the garden

krlyr

I've boiled them without piercing any holes and no explosions here. It does take ages though so I started doing the pan method - condensed milk, butter and brown sugar, as per the Carnation website - http://www.carnation.co.uk/recipes/8/Classic-Banoffee-Pie
Just remember to keep stirring and try to heat an an even temperature (so be careful with thin bottomed saucepans) or the caramel can separate. Had a nightmare the other week when I nipped over to grab a cake out of my nan's oven (wouldn't fit in my combination microwave) and came to find the caramel separating. Salvaged it by adding a little hot water and stirring a lot until it came back together - phew!

Alternatively, the caramel comes up on special offers occasionally so stock up then. I tend to empty it into a bowl and microwave for short spurts to make it a bit gooey-er so it settles on top of the banoffee better (it's quite jelly-like initially)

charlies-aunt

Cans are save to boil as long as they don't boil dry - as cned food is sterilised in the can by being steam heated in giant pressure cookers in the factory

Spent a happy summer as a student worker at Springs Cannery, Jam, Marmalade & Mincemeat Factory in Brigg in the 70's. The first three weeks were spent feeding large bitter seville oranges one by one into an evil tempered, primitive pulping machine for eight hours a dayare!

bluebaloon21

Ive made banoffee pie and never pieced the lid just don't let it boil dry and move the can around so it all gets cooked. Only thing to remember when doing this is to cover with a cloth when you open it as that could be when the hot caramel spurts out and this would burn badly

purplesequins

You can also boil tins of condensed milk in the slow cooker; a similar principle to the oven technique and safer than on the hob because the water hardly evaporates away at all, so no checking required and can be done overnight. Put the tin(s) in slow cooker, completely cover them with cold water and cook on low for eight hours.

rosie383

Let me be the first on this thread to say.......... make your own condensed milk!!!
1 cup milk powder (I use skimmed milk powder and it works fine)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
3 dsp butter (I just use whatever marg I happen to have in)

Put milk powder, sugar and marg in bowl.
Add boiling water and use electric whisk for about 3 mins til thick and creamy.

If I want caramel for banoffee or caramel squares I just put it (like Gibson says) in a decent saucepan over a low heat and stir til it's the colour I want.
Why on earth would I want to pay for an hours worth of gas, risk nasty burns etc, when I can do it in maybe 5-10 mins???

This way you can control the thickness of your caramel too as you can see it. If you want it runnier, don't cook it as long. If you want a nice chewy caramel square, then cook it until it is a darker brown. If you are going to do it in a tin, you don't have the same control.

village_saver

Please be careful if boiling the tins in a saucepan, I used to do this but a can exploded :eek: -it went EVERYWHERE, all over the walls & ceiling & was an absolute pain to clear up.

lijaloo

Have been making caramel like this for years. Have never punctured the tin. Just make sure there's plenty of water in the saucepan and that it doesn't boil dry. I usually boil a few tins at a time for four hours, then leave them to cool in the pan. The tins can then be stored until needed.