Is dried milk healthy?

[MamaBearTeacher]

is dried milk just as healthy as regular milk? Does it contain preservatives or chemicals? I have never used it but I just saw a recipe that used it.

[MamaBearTeacher]

Thanks Article Mama!

[displace]

I drink skim milk anyways. We use dried often if I run out of regular. I'm not a food chemist so I don't know "how" they remove the water but thought maybe it's like a freeze drying process? IDK. There aren't any added ingredients. Many people over the world use dried for shelf life, lack of refrigeration, cost, etc.

[mamaraby]

I think it's fine, though I never could get behind the taste. There are more than a few frugal bloggers (in addition to Hillbilly Housewife) who use it. Around here, taste aside (and the fact that we don't drink milk), unit price-wise it never makes sense.

[displace]

ETA - after a little research it appears they just evaporate water from milk first to condense it, remove fats as desired/needed?, then spray the condensed milk into really hot air that takes the extra water out. Seems pretty innocuous. No preservatives added.

[stripe]

It isn't highly stable nutritionally and is skim, to boot.

Nido is full fat milk powder. Most Walmarts and ethnic grocers carry it.

 

It is more stable than fresh milk, which must be refrigerated. That is why it was chosen for WIC, to make milk accesible to those without frigs, and why it is used in many bread recipes rather than fresh.

 

I use it to enrich regular milk for weight gain.

[Rosie_0801]

I used to mix it with peanut butter to make play dough so it didn't matter if the kids ate it. It probably isn't healthy, but it's healthier than eating salt dough! :ack2:

[LucyStoner]

Dry milk no longer seems all that economical in the US. I think it's an economy of scale thing. It was so unpopular that people stopped using it and that meant fewer brands and ultimately higher prices for the small customer base for it. I don't see how it is a money saver anymore , and that's with conventional milk hovering around $3 a gallon. It takes like 4-5 cups of powder to get a gallon of milk and the $12-16 containers I see might have 12-15 cups? I don't get it. When I was a kid it was dirt cheap and my mom would sneak it in by mixing half a gallon of milk with 1/2 gallon prepared from powder and pouring it into a gallon milk container. I've never been a milk drinker so it didn't matter to me but my brothers loathed the stuff.

[Lawana]

I grew up drinking powdered skim milk. Not the instant Carnation type, but a type used in the dairy business. My mother bought it in 50 pound bags for less than $10 dollars in the 1960's to the mid 70's. I have read some negative things since about the denaturing of the protein that happens when milk is heated, but I don't have any good sources I would trust to be sure.

 

Re: rancidity mentioned up thread. I thought rancidity applied to lipids only, being the oxidation of fats. How can rancidity be a problem with dry skim milk?

[Liz CA]

I once heard it contained a hydrogenated ingredient and that is not a good thing. I have really never used it for anything.

[stripe]

Dry milk no longer seems all that economical in the US. I think it's an economy of scale thing. 

No, it doesn't seem cheaper to me either. Also milk prices have been quite low for the past few years in the US. I am paying less now (by almost half) than I was 15 years ago.

 

I buy it for special purposes, such as as an add in to regular milk or for particular baking recipes. Because I am making what would otherwise be bought as Pediasure or Carnation Instant Breakfast (or whatever it's now calling itself so it's not limited to one meal!), it is still cheaper than those. The only people I think it's economical for are those who only want milk occasionally, and it's cheaper than buying more than you need and letting it spoil. Then again, my grandma freezes milk. ;)

 

 

I once heard it contained a hydrogenated ingredient and that is not a good thing. I have really never used it for anything.

I wonder if this is nondairy creamer?

 

[Liz CA]

I grew up drinking powdered skim milk. Not the instant Carnation type, but a type used in the dairy business. My mother bought it in 50 pound bags for less than $10 dollars in the 1960's to the mid 70's. I have read some negative things since about the denaturing of the protein that happens when milk is heated, but I don't have any good sources I would trust to be sure.

 

Re: rancidity mentioned up thread. I thought rancidity applied to lipids only, being the oxidation of fats. How can rancidity be a problem with dry skim milk?

 

Re: Rancidity, I found this:   http://www.academia.edu/1402271/Impact_of_storage_conditions_on_hydrolytic_rancidity_degree_of_the_dry_dairy_powders

 

"Milk powder has a low water content a characteristic that distinguishes it from any other milk product It is generally accepted that microbial growth does not take place in milk powder because of its low water content. The lipases can survive during the manufacture of dried milk and cause lipolytic defects in a wide range of fat-containing foods in which milk powder is an ingredient."

[fairfarmhand]

I grew up drinking powdered skim milk. Not the instant Carnation type, but a type used in the dairy business. My mother bought it in 50 pound bags for less than $10 dollars in the 1960's to the mid 70's. I have read some negative things since about the denaturing of the protein that happens when milk is heated, but I don't have any good sources I would trust to be sure.

 

Re: rancidity mentioned up thread. I thought rancidity applied to lipids only, being the oxidation of fats. How can rancidity be a problem with dry skim milk?

 

Are you talking about the powdered calf milk replacer?

 

Because if its the same as what you buy now., that is totally nasty.

 

ICK!

[Lawana]

Are you talking about the powdered calf milk replacer?

 

Because if its the same as what you buy now., that is totally nasty.

 

ICK!

No, not calf milk replacer LOL. It was sold primarily for cheese making.

[fairfarmhand]

No, not calf milk replacer LOL. It was sold primarily for cheese making.

 

good!

 

That would be vile. I couldn't imagine a parent doing something like that.

[Lawana]

Re: Rancidity, I found this: http://www.academia.edu/1402271/Impact_of_storage_conditions_on_hydrolytic_rancidity_degree_of_the_dry_dairy_powders

 

"Milk powder has a low water content a characteristic that distinguishes it from any other milk product It is generally accepted that microbial growth does not take place in milk powder because of its low water content. The lipases can survive during the manufacture of dried milk and cause lipolytic defects in a wide range of fat-containing foods in which milk powder is an ingredient."

Thank you looking that up. If I understand it correctly, the paper was written about whole milk powder. Is that correct?