How to cook condensed milk at home?

Condensed milk is a tasty dish, familiar to all from childhood.Unlike ordinary milk, it can be stored for a long time at room temperature, it is added to coffee and tea, served with pancakes, baked goods and other dishes. How to cook condensed milk at home, so that it tastes not only not inferior to the store, but it was much more useful?

The technology of preparation of condensed milk according to GOST was developed back in 1952. Then there were quite a few stringent requirements for the sweet product, for example, a fat content of at least 8.5%, a certain amount of sugar, and the absence of chemical additives. Of course, in those days only natural products were used for manufacturing. Today it is difficult to find an identical product in stores, nevertheless it is possible to produce condensed milk as close as possible in taste at home.

Many varieties of modern factory condensed milk are made from defective dairy products with the addition of cheap palm oil, lactose and other components. Therefore, some housewives do not trust the stores and prefer homemade recipes. The main feature of manufacturing factory condensed milk according to GOST standards is long-term pasteurization at temperatures from 60 to 65 degrees. At the same time, many useful elements are preserved in the product: milk fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins.

There are also fast technologies of home cooking, in which time is not wasted, but many useful components are destroyed, but the taste remains the same. To make a full-fledged sweet dairy product at home that is not inferior to the best brands, you must comply with the following conditions:

• for preparation, take milk with fat content not less than 3%, optimally 5%;
• only fresh product should be cooked, otherwise it can curl up when cooking, and to avoid this, you can add a little soda - 1 l at the tip of a teaspoon;
• in order to avoid burning it is best to take an enameled pan with a thick bottom;
• during cooking, you must constantly stir the milk with a spoon so that it does not burn or run away;
• it is important not to digest the product, otherwise it will become liquid, and after cooking it is necessary to allow the condensed milk to cool.

According to the existing standards, caloric content of condensed milk can be from 164 to 312 kcal per 100 g, this can be easily achieved at home using a suitable fat content product and sufficient sugar. Some add some butter to the condensed milk at home: it increases the caloric content and makes the texture more thick.

A very good option is to use natural cow's milk, if you have access to this. It is no secret that all store products, without exception, are made of dry powder; in any case, they are not so fatty and have lost a number of useful components. But village milk is not pasteurized, in order to make condensed milk from it, certain tricks are required: filtration, boiling, otherwise condensed milk may curl during cooking.

Finally, currently there are a large number of “smart” household appliances - multicookers, food processors, pressure cookers. They have the ability to quickly and without unnecessary trouble to cook condensed milk at home. Milk at the same time will not run away and will not burn. Some appliances even have special modes for making this product.

At first it is worth considering how to cook at home classic condensed milk from cow's milk according to GOST. This is a recipe without extra additives, it will almost not differ in taste from the best samples that can be found on sale today. 50 ml of water is poured into a thick-bottomed saucepan, 250 g of sugar is added and the syrup is cooked over low heat to a uniform consistency.0.5 l of milk is poured into it, then the fire is set to a minimum, the mass must be boiled for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

The result is a thick mass with a characteristic cream color with a yellowish tinge. Condensed milk should be allowed to cool, after which it is ready to eat. This product can be stored in a plastic bottle or in another open container in the refrigerator for up to 30 days. It is possible to prepare condensed milk, made according to this recipe, for a long time. For this, sterile jars are rolled up, the method is no different from preparing other roll-ups for the winter, and condensed milk can be stored in this form for several years.

For a more pronounced milky taste, condensed milk is sometimes prepared from powdered and whole milk. But it is worth remembering that water cannot be used for dissolution, otherwise condensed milk will be completely tasteless. 300 g of liquid product is poured into the pan, 300 g of sugar is added, everything is heated to 60 degrees. Then, a concentrate in the amount of 300 g is poured in there in a thin stream, it is necessary to constantly mix the mass with a whisk so that no lumps form. The temperature must be maintained constant, cook for an hour.

You can make homemade condensed milk from cream. To begin with, 50 ml of water is poured into a thick-bottomed saucepan, 1.2 kg of sugar is poured, and syrup is cooked over high heat. Next, 1 l of cream with fat content of 30% is placed in a water bath, cooked syrup and 0.5 kg of dried milk are poured into it. Everything is mixed and cooked over low heat for an hour.

If time is short, you can cook condensed milk and quickly. To do this, 300 ml of milk is poured into a deep saucepan, 300 g of powdered sugar is poured, everything is brought to a boil over low heat. After that, 30 g of butter is added, the mixture is boiled over an intense fire, and in order for the milk not to run away, it must be constantly stirred. So you can cook the product in 10 minutes. If powdered sugar is not at hand, then the usual sugar can be ground on a coffee grinder.

For many pastry recipes used boiled condensed milk. It has a characteristic light brown color and a very pleasant taste. Traditionally, this dish is cooked in the oven or boiled in a saucepan with water for 2-3 hours. The method has drawbacks: firstly, a long cooking time, secondly, you cannot immediately open an iron can, milk under pressure will burst from the inside.

Therefore, today the housewives know an effective method of cooking in the microwave, it is suitable for both factory and home products. Condensed milk should be boiled in a ceramic or glass dish, as the metal should not be placed in the microwave oven. The dish is prepared at a installed power of 700 W, every 2 minutes the container must be removed and mixed. The total cooking time is 20 minutes. The advantage is that the product itself and the degree of its readiness are always in sight.

Condensed milk in an open container can be stored at room temperature for only a few days. If you put it in the fridge, the period is increased by about a month. The best way for longer storage is to roll the condensed milk into sterilized glass jars.

Home-made condensed milk can be varied with various flavors. The most commonly used chocolate and cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. There are many recipes, although the majority of gourmets like the natural milk taste that has been known since childhood. If you follow all the details of the recipes correctly, you always get a homogeneous and thick mass. But sometimes for various reasons (insufficient fat content of milk or low sugar) the product is liquid. You can thicken homemade condensed milk by adding starch, although this negatively affects the taste.

For information on how to make condensed milk, see the following video.