My hubby dearly loves evaporated milk. Anybody know how to make it? I know, I MUST get that cookbook, just haven't gotten it yet..so please be patient with me. Anybody ever done this? I am having such fun learning how to make cheese etc..with the goat milk. :-) Now if the family could adjust to the flavor....My cheese making book is getting very used even if the cheese is getting fed to the dogs. I haven't tried canning the milk yet, that was an hour water bath right?

Thanks so much.

Cindy

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), July 15, 2001

Answers

Cindy, if your cheese doesn't taste "right" or "normal" or "nice", then it isn't. Check out the older posts for tips on keeping goat milk clean and tasting good - if you don't do that then there's no way you can correct things later. There is no way that milk which doesn't taste clean or right or nice can be concentrated to produce cheese which tastes clean and right and nice. Clean before milking; strain, chill and refrigerate IMMEDIATELY after milking, that sort of thing. My personal opinion - pasteurise if you're going to keep it for any length of time - particularly if you're going to make cheese of it. This more so for goat milk than any other, because human senses object MUCH more to the taste and smell of capric/caproic acid from "going-off" goat's milk than to the butryic acid which forms in cow's milk. When you have good, clean milk then you can make clean, good-tasting cheese - never before. There is no need to adjust to the taste of goat milk - because clean, fresh, chilled goat milk tastes scarcely different to any other type of clean, fresh, chilled milk.

I've had cheese from cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, mare's milk, camel's milk. I've tasted milk from all the above except camels, and I've also tasted water-buffalo milk. The differences are subtle, and they all taste respectively like cheese or milk. I've also tasted what many people think of as "normal" goat's milk (not scrupously clean, not chilled immediately after milking) and I have to say that I'd have to be starving before I'd regard THAT as a food source. I certainly wouldn't want to consider the possibility of it being concentrated into cheese.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 16, 2001.

OK, let me clarify something. I never,ever leave the milk out, or unstrained. I come in the house, take care of it immediately. I also always pastuerize before making the cheeses. My family will drink the milk, but not eat the cheese. They say it tastes just like milk. Now, they love the cottage cheese and dips that I make, just not the string cheese or mozarella, I could just be cooking it at too high a temp. or something. I assure you, it has nothing to do with the sanitation or freshness of the milk. I have a house of picky eaters. My own hubby doesn't like home made bread, cookies etc...he would rather eat a something store bought. It is not my cooking either as my cooking is in high demand by people at church, friends, family etc.. My husband was raised on store bought food and would prefer his children be raised the same. They are coming around, they all love to cook, I just have trouble with some cheese recipes...I don't have a cheese thermometer, so I am sure that the temp isn't always right. I have a candy thermometer, but that isn't the same as a cheese thermometer.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.

I have known Cindy for many years, and I know she grew up taking care of goats and their milk.She does everything OK to me, she has even shown me how to take care of goats.Her goat milk tastes wonderful! I don't think she is doing anything wrong.She asked a question about evaporated goat milk, not how to strain or chill the milk. Sorry Cindy but I don't know how to make evaporated goat milk. I hope you find out soon.

-- Sarah in Ok (princessmeatballhead@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.

Hey, Cindy---try a cheap ($10) instant-read chef's thermometer from WalMarts for cheesemaking. It works lots better than a candy thermometer. Much more accurate.

And try aging your cheese at about 60°F. It'll never develop any flavor in the fridge at 32°...

-- Julia (charmer24@juno.com), July 16, 2001.

Hi Cindy, you sparked my curiosity so I have searched through my reference books and cooks books about evaporated milk. The only reference I found was in my old "Joy of Cooking" under "know your ingredients"

EVAPORATED MILK

This is whole milk which is freed of half its moisture content and canned. It can be reconstituted by adding 1/2 cup water to the same quantity of evaporated milk and used to replace 1 cup fresh whole milk in any recipes except those calling for junket. Because it can be preserved during times of excess production, it is somethimes less expensive than whole milk. It has a slightly carmelized taste, due to the porcessing.

So, my best guess would be that if you wanted evaporated milk you would have to heat it long enough to evaporate it down to approx. 1/2 it's volume and than can it like you would regular milk.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.

Really nice post Don. Cindy, my husband used to be the same way. I am a very good desert maker, my first pie for my husband, he complained that the pie shell was to flaky ;) He does appreciate my cooking now, as noticed by both of our waistlines! As Diane's post recommended, you just slowly simmer the milk down till you have 1/2 the milk you started with then can it. I simply place the hot milk into hot jars, adjust the seals, place in canner with hot water, adjust the lid, get the pressure up and turn off the heat. This insures a tight seal. If you are going to use it for goat kids, or as milk in recipes, than don't forget to reconstitute it with equal amounts of water.

If you continue to simmer the milk down, add some sugar and vanillia, you have Cajeta, a mexican carmel, with goats milk ice cream...yum, your family will love that one! You can't make this without Nubian milk though! That thin watery Alpine milk.............;) You can also can the Cajeta simply as you do the milk, it is very pretty in the small half pints. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 16, 2001.

THANKS!! I was wondering if I just simmered it long enough it would be evaporated, but wasn't feeling adventurous enough to just "got for it". I will keep those recipes thanks! I imagine that would be very pretty in little jars, all carmely colored. :-)

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.

OOPS!! Yes, I was putting the cheese directly into the fridge. You know, I had just pastuerized etc...didn't want any creepy things getting into my cheese...I will look for that thermometor. I may try another Walmart here in town. I have been looking for a time,but no luck. Though....come to think of it...I have seen a chef's thermometer....I will look at it closer. I was looking for something specifically marked for cheese.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.

Don't be afraid of your cheese. I wasted years that way---paranoid that some bugger would jump on the cheese & kill us all if I wasn't obsessive--- and the truth is, if you have a good make, with the proper acidity, there's not much that can go wrong. If it tastes good, it is good.

And any dial type thermometer with a wide enough temperature range will work for cheesemaking. Don't bother with buying those special ones---they always roll off the counter and break and they don't work any better than the cheap dial ones anyway.

-- Julia (charmer24@juno.com), July 16, 2001.

Thanks, I looked all over town looking for a cheese thermometer with no luck. I can't find a dial one right now either...tomorrow, I will check out the grocery stores instead of Walmart.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), July 17, 2001.

Cindy, I used to raise milk goats years ago and canned a lot of the excess milk.It is almost the same as evaporated when used in cooking. It is very simple to to do ,process pints and quarts in pressure canner for 10 minutes at 15 pounds pressure. Good luck with your cheese. I was never able to make any decent cheese except cottage and other soft cheeses. Hope this helps. Carla

-- Carla Sloan (twosloans@texoma.net), July 20, 2001.

does anyone have a recipie for Carmelized Goats Milk.. or refer me to a site that does..... I have a friend looking for the recipie.. Thanks in Advance

-- R.B. (Tlady3@aol.com), February 28, 2002.

CAJETA (caramelized goat's milk)

3 quarts goat milk

3 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 tsp. baking soda

Dissolve baking soda and cornstarch into 1 cup milk. Stir well to dissolve any lumps. Add to rest of milk and add sugar. Bring mixture to the boiling, stirring constantly while cooking. Cook until the mixture is thick and looks like caramel sauce. Pour into jars, cool and refrigerate.

This can be canned for future use.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

Is the carmelized goat milk like the canned sweetened condensed milk that you use for pies?

-- cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 28, 2002.

no, more like an ice cream topping.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

Diane...I've made sweetened condensed milk in the past from my alpine does and it's delicious!! I would imagine that this can be water-bath canned because of the sugar content, but should the evaporated milk be pressure-canned? Also, since I skim cream from each gallon of milk I get for my butter, should I leave this cream with the milk that I want to can? Thanx!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), February 28, 2002.

Marcia, I have never pressure canned milk products, but then I have never made sweetened condensed milk. How did you do that?? Because I have only used my canned milk for cooking or for feed, I always used the waterbath for 1 hour method. My book also said it can be used for the cajeta and puddings. It says while still hot, fill the clean jars with the hot stuff leaving 1/2 inch space. Put into your canner of gently boiling water and bring back to a boil and boil gently for 20 minutes.

To pressure can, leave 1/2 inch head space and can at 15 pounds for 10 minutes.

All these items can also be frozen if you have the space.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

Oh, when you asked about canning the skinned milk......why not?? I have only canned whole but I sure couldn't see any reason why not to can the skimmed. I would mark it though, so you would know by the label it was skimmed.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

Thanks, Diane. If I had been paying attention to Carla's post above, I would have read that same answer!! Been a long week....:-)! I know that when I made sweetened condensed milk, I reduced the liquid about 60%. I can't for the life of me, though, remember how much sugar...but I'm still looking for my recipe!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), February 28, 2002.

I had a problem getting my husband to eat goat cheese. He also would not eat homemade breads, eggplant or anything his Mama didn't fix for him growing up. Nothing wrong with the product, he was just uneducated (at least his tastebuds were stupid). If it aint store bought then it aint worth nuttin ;~) Problem solved when I learned to tell a couple fibs. Heck I even got him to love cauliflower soup by putting a couple carrots in it for color, putting the whole mess in the blender and calling it Progresso Cheese Soup. He's cured now and begs for eggplant even though I've caught him kicking the plants until I remind him that he's killing the veggieburger tree!

Do they ever grow up??????

ps, tounge lightly planted in cheek

-- Diana (dvance4@juno.com), February 28, 2002.

Sometimes, Diana, it takes several years to "train" 'em :-)!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), February 28, 2002.