Boiling and simmering

[Carolyn]

If a recipe calls for milk to boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, does that mean bring to boil and then let simmer for 1 1/2 hours? Also, what kind of milk is best to use for this, whole, 2%?

 

[abjcooking]

What are you cooking? If it were me I would probably bring it up just until it starts to bubble and then quickly turn it down to a simmer. Also, is there any other kind of liquid in with the milk?

 

[PA Baker]

Welcome to the site, Carolyn! What are you trying to make?

I can't imagine boiling milk for that long, so yes, I'm sure you are to bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and then simmer for 1 1/2 hrs.

The type of milk depends on the recipe, to an extent.

 

[Carolyn]

well i am making an indian dish called mango rabri. and it says to boil and simmer milk for 1.5 hours or till it acquires a granular consistency. Then you add the sugar till it dissolves and then the mango when it has cooled.

but, yeah, i was just going to let it simmer for 1.5 hours until it turns granular.

i didn't know milk could turn granular, but i guess i'll find out!

thanks for helping!

 

[waaza]

what you are aiming for is what the Indians call khoa, a kind of dried milk/toffee. Think very thick milk made from dried milk with the smallest amount of water added which will give you a paste, it will be granular, well not quite. You could start with evapoated milk, but not condensed unless you can deal with the sugar. Indians would use buffalo milk, probably, which is richer than cows milk.
\Don't think there would be anything left after simmering for 1.5 hours.
Anyway, Google khoa, and see what you get, good luck.:p
cheers
Waaza

 

[norgeskog]

I have heard of this, but I thought it used condensed or evaporated canned milk.

 

[purrfectlydevine]

I'm curious. Please post to let us know about granular milk.

 

[Carolyn]

Well, I tried the milk thing, but it didn't turn out right. It just looked weird and it wasn't as thick as I think it should have been. Oh, well. I'll have to try different techniques next time. Thanks for all the help!

I tried googling khoa, but it just said the same thing, boiling milk til it reduces. I guess I missed something.

 

[Michael in FtW]

You're trying to make homemade sweetened condensed milk. Unsweetened condensed milk is called evaporated milk. And yes, use whole milk unless the recipe specifies otherwise.

Many older recipes called for you to scald milk, that is, to bring it nearly to a boil (185°F, 85°C, or more), preferably in a thick-bottomed pan, and stirring actively, to keep a protein skin from forming on the surface and keep the proteins and natural sugars in the milk from sticking to the bottom. Scalding served two purposes, to kill potentially harmful bacteria in the milk, and to destroy enzymes that keep the milk from thickening in recipes. Pasteurization, however, accomplishes both of those goals, and since almost all store-bought milk in Western countries is pasteurized these days, scalding is essentially an unnecessary step. But, in your case, you probably want to do it to get the milk up to temp.

Okay, back to evaporating the milk ... what you want to do is reduce the water content by about 60% - and cow's milk is about 87% water. So, skipping the math, you basically want to reduce the milk by at least 50% - ie reduce 1-cup milk to no more than 1/2 cup.

And, since you're making a reduction - you don't want to put a lid on it, and stir it frequently while it's reducing. The more it reduces the more frequently you want to stir it to keep if from scourching.

If you are adding the sugar to the milk after it is reduced it will be more grainey than if added at the beginning before reduction.

Substitution: Replace the total amount of milk with 1/2 that amount of evaporated milk ... heat and add the sugar.