ISO Help with curdled caramel

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Sprout

Sous Chef
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
557
Location
Usa, Michigan
I keep meaning to try the boil-for-3-hours method of turning sweetened condensed milk into caramel, but I wanted something a bit quicker tonight. I saw online that you can make caramel out of condensed milk the same way you would make it from sugar and water, by boiling it until it browns and becomes the consistency you'd like. The page I found suggested to do it in a skillet. Well, since I can't help but experiment, I decided to change things up. I had leftover coconut milk and fresh lime juice from the rice pudding I'd just made, so I decided to try adding them. I combined the coconut milk and lime juice and reduced it by 2/3 over medium heat. Then I added the condensed milk. I brought it to a boil, stirring often. After about 5 minutes I added a pinch of salt and tasted it to see if I'd added enough. It had curdled. :(

I'm confused. Last week I combined straight lime juice with condensed milk and had no problems. Was it the acid and the heat combined? Was it just the heat? Was medium too high perhaps? As strange as it sounds, could the coconut milk have effected it adversely? If anyone has any input, I'd appreciate it!
 
I would suspect the heat and acid combination, as both cause can cause the milk protein to coagulate. Adding acid and heat together with milk is one way of starting the curd in home-made cheese.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I would suspect the heat and acid combination, as both cause can cause the milk protein to coagulate. Adding acid and heat together with milk is one way of starting the curd in home-made cheese.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Holy resurrected thread, Batman!

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