Saving money by using dried milk

thriftlady_2

Those of you familiar with The Tightwad Gazette may have read the article on page 209 about using dried milk. I had always dismissed it because the difference in price between fresh and dried milk here was not that great. In the US it seems that dried milk is significantly cheaper. However I realised the other day that with the recent rise in dairy prices dried milk may be worth thinking about again.

Tesco are selling fresh milk for 33.5p a pint (4 pint cartons)
Tesco value dried milk is £1.48 a box and it makes 8 pints -18.5p a pint

Now, I wouldn't drink reconstituted dried milk straight but there are ways of using it that are worth considering.

1) Mixing it half and half with whole fresh milk to make your own 'semi-skimmed'. This would save my family £62.38 a year.

2) Using it in baking. If a recipe calls for half a pint of milk you add 1oz of dried milk to your dried ingredients and half a pint of water with the wet ingredients. It works well for muffin recipes and pancakes.

3) Use it to make your own baking mixes. Queenie had a thread with loads of recipes for these.

4) Use it in yogurt making. This is how I use it most. I add half a cup to 1 litre of UHT milk. It makes the yogurt more concentrated and consequently thicker. You can also use dried milk for all of the liquid milk in yogurt making. I will experiment with this continuing to add extra dried milk for that thick texture.

5) Use it to make a mock cream -I haven't tried this but the Tightwad Gazette recommends mixing it with half the water to make a cream substitute for adding to recipes such as sauces and quiches.

Does anyone have any other ways of using dried milk ?

doddsy

When my youngest daughter was younger she did not drink milk, so I would put a spoonful of dried milk into mashed potato for a little extra calcium.

jennybb

Morning!

I use it now and again - but not as "milk", like you say. However, your post made me wonder how it is made. I know you don't like "messed about" with food. "The Savvy Shopper" (Rose Prince) doesn't have much info - "Dried milk powder - this often contains added vegetable fat and sometimes added vitamins".

I'd be interested if anyone has more info. I'd do a search myself but really should be writing an essay at the moment - not messing about on here

We don't use a great deal of milk - but are moving more towards organic at the moment. I'm not sure I fancy replacing entirely with powdered.

thriftlady_2

You're right Jennybb , some brands do have other ingredients added -Marvel I think has all sorts of things in. But, the Tesco value one only has vitamins added (these are 'replaced' because they are lost in the drying process).

I must admit I really only use it for yogurt and I don't intend to mix it with whole milk for drinking. But, for those looking for ways to combat the recent price rises it is a useful thing to have in your cupboards

lil_me

We used it on holiday in tea and coffee, wasn't too bad actually (took Marvel as that's what I had in that I used in bread maker) I found that it disolved easier if I made it into a paste first. I still use it now if we're short on milk. When I thought about it all cafes I worked in when I was at school had coffee machines which used powdered milk.

I know some would prefer to water down full fat than use powdered milk, which I suppose then makes it about the same price if done half/half.

http://www.supernatural-skincare.co.uk/recipes.html bath time treat

Something I've not tried yet myself is making a cheese sauce (for lasagne etc for example) with it, but when you buy 'mixes' they just have 'milk powder' in them. Might give it a try next time I make one.

jennybb

The bathtime treat sounds good. I have made sauces sucessfully with it.

thriftmonster

I used to add some to blended veggie soup to make it "creamy" without the fat. Unfortunately we can't use it now because of lactose intolerance - but it is good in cooking.

shetitasatic

I use dried milk (Tesco's) in HM yoghurt too and also use it in cooking - sauces,pancakes etc.
I also use it to make a quick cup of cocoa - mix 1tspn cocoa powder with 3 tspns dried milk to a paste with a bit of cold water and then top up with boiling water, stirring like he**. Most of the instant chocolate and cappucino type drinks include dried milk.

Yategirl

I keep dried milk in stock - mainly for the breadmaker and yoghurt but.. I have used it when we are running low on "real" milk - in cooking, baking, for porridge and I have used it for tea/coffee/hot chocolate if desperate though I try and keep an emergency carton of UHT for drinks as I think that tastes better.

EagerLearner

I like to buy the 6 x long-life semi-skimmed milk cartons from Tesco online - saves me carrying them and lasts ages, no more running out of milk or popping to the shop for milk and coming out £15 lighter. Plus is tastes NO different to the plastic bottle milk... Powder milk is too much of a faff for me and like other have said, don't like the idea of anything being added to it...

greyteam1959

jennybb wrote: »

The bathtime treat sounds good. I have made sauces sucessfully with it.

Dont you smell a bit shall we say odd when you get out of the bath???
:eek: :eek: