Milk is a part of many households around the world because it is protein-rich, full of calcium, and has a massive range of use cases from drinking it straight up to incorporating it into recipes. However, the problem with fresh milk is that it goes bad relatively quickly, making it not ideal as a survival food. But what about evaporated milk?
Evaporated milk is a good survival food. It is preserved milk, which you can store up to 2 years. This can be used for anything that needs fresh milk, making it an excellent food item to keep around the house, and it is typically more economical than dairy milk from the carton or jug.
This article will be going over how evaporated milk can benefit your food stock and what you can use it for. Read on if you’d like to learn more about this key component to any pantry.
What Is Evaporated Milk?
Evaporated milk is real milk that has been heated until 60% of its water has been removed. Not to be confused with condensed milk, which is sweetened but ultimately remains a similar product apart from that.
The texture of evaporated milk is extremely thick and tastes just like milk because, as previously stated, it’s just milk with water removed. Some people are weirded out by the idea of consuming canned milk with a seemingly strange consistency, but in truth, there is nothing to worry about here because it’s the same milk you know and love.
It is worth noting that the darker color is due to it being caramelized from the heating process causing it to have a slight caramel taste.
You can see how evaporated milk is made in this video, and it’s quite simple:
What Can You Use Evaporated Milk For?
You can use evaporated milk for almost anything you use regular milk for. You can bring it back to how it originally was by mixing 1 part evaporated milk to 1 part water, meaning if you want 10 oz of milk, mix 5 oz of evaporated milk with 5 oz of water.
Evaporated milk can be used to make protein shakes, smoothies, and add to your coffee. The beauty of evaporated milk is that you can control its consistency to suit your tastes, which is an advantage it has over fresh milk. And speaking of the pros of this food product, that leads us to the next section.
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Benefits of Evaporated Milk
Evaporated milk has advantages that make it a great product to use. Some people even prefer it to fresh milk outside of survival reasons.
It Takes Up Less Space
Most people know what the size of a gallon of milk looks like. It’s quite large and heavy. Combined with its short shelf life, it is less than ideal if space is a concern. With evaporated milk, you can keep dairy stored nicely in your pantry in a compact 12 oz can.
It Costs Less
This will depend on your area and where you are purchasing your milk. Generally, evaporated milk is less expensive than fresh milk, and considering there will be far less waste due to its long shelf life. The cost might start to add up if you become a frequent buyer of the stuff.
You Control the Consistency
We mentioned this part above but wanted to further iterate on this. Being able to control how thick you want your milk is great, especially for people watching their calories. Low fat and fat-free evaporated milk can be reconstituted to be thicker than fresh, low-fat milk, making calorie-conscious protein shakes richer.
It’s Great for People Tired of Buying Milk for Recipes
Some people don’t drink milk on its own but use it for the occasional recipe. This is where evaporated milk shines with its convenience since it can be stored until you are ready to use it instead of having to go to the store every time you feel like making something that calls for milk.
Storing Evaporated Milk
Like with any canned good, it is important to properly store evaporated milk to ensure you are getting the most out of its shelf-life. Humidity and temperature play the main role in the storage of canned goods, and you’ll want to keep the product in a cool, dry, and dark place.
- Humidity levels should be 15% or less
- The temperature should be between 50℉ – 75℉ (10℃ – 24℃)
- The cans should be away from sunlight
When properly storing your evaporated milk, you will likely get the 2+ years of shelf life out of it. It is worth pointing out that the nutrients of the milk begin to diminish at a certain point as it gets older even if it still tastes fine. This usually happens past the 2-year mark.
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Storing Reconstituted Evaporated Milk
Reconstituted evaporated milk lasts up to 5 days in the refrigerator when stored in a sealed container making it in line with an opened regular milk and like with fresh milk. If it starts to smell funny, it is probably time to toss it. These guidelines aren’t set in stone, rather an approximation to try to guarantee safety. You can use the AYL Flip Top Glass Bottle for storing the milk to make it easier to pour.
Consider Dry or Powdered Milk
Evaporated milk isn’t the only milk great for survival. Powdered milk is also an exceptional dairy product to have in your food storage. Like evaporated milk, sealed powdered milk can store for a very long time, and it is usually still usable for up to 10+ years past its expiration date if stored properly.
One of the biggest advantages of powdered milk is that it takes up very little space for what you can get out of it. You can even buy it in bags to further cut down space usage. 1 pound of the powder will make approximately 1.3 gallons of milk, making it a blessing for those with small storage.
You can use this just how you would use regular milk. Anything you can think of and the cost is in line with fresh milk, so don’t worry about paying a premium for the convenience of being able to store milk for an exceptionally long time.
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If You Are Lactose Intolerant or Vegan – Don’t Worry!
Not everyone can consume dairy, and fortunately, you are covered if you are in this group! There are many plant-based milk powders available so you can enjoy the advantages of evaporated and powdered milk without the lactose or animal product. The variety of plant-based milk powders include:
- Coconut milk
- Nut-based milk (almond, cashew, etc.)
- Rice milk
- Soy milk
Essentially, you have a similar amount of powdered or concentrated plant-based milk options as you would with regular plant milk. The downside is that you will probably be paying a premium for these products. For example, JOI makes concentrated plant-based milk products that are excellent, but it is very expensive compared to dairy evaporated milk.
A 15 oz bucket of JOI will run you $20 and make 7 quarts of milk (1.75 gallons). In contrast, dairy powder/evaporated milk would cost approximately $5 for that much. Coconut milk powder like Anthony’s Organic Coconut Milk Powder is more economical but is still not what we’d call cheap. Even so, these products are very much worth checking out if you can get past that!
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Conclusion
It is an excellent idea to keep evaporated milk in your food storage because it meets the criteria for what great survival food should be:
- Shelf staple
- Takes up minimal space for what you get out of it
- Great source of nutrition
If you are not convinced yet think that it can become a part of your food storage, give it a try. Evaporated milk is sold in your local grocery store for likely less than the cost of fresh milk. You can try using it in your favorite recipes or put it in your coffee or tea. There are no limits to what you can do with the dairy product, and we think you’ll be fairly pleased with it.
