Scalded milk is
dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...
that has been heated to . At this temperature,
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...
are killed,
enzymes
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. ...
in the milk are destroyed, and many of the proteins are
denatured. Since most milk sold today is
pasteurized
Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...
, which accomplishes the first two goals, milk is typically scalded to increase its temperature, or to change the consistency or other cooking interactions due to the denaturing of proteins.
During scalding, a
milk watcher (a
cooking utensil) may be used to prevent both boiling over and scorching (burning) of the milk.
Uses
*Scalded milk is called for in the original recipes for
Béchamel sauce
Bechamel sauce ( ) is a sauce traditionally made from a white roux (butter and flour in a 1:1 mixture by weight) and milk. Bechamel may also be referred to as besciamella (Italy), besamel (Greece), or white sauce (U.S.). French, Italian and Gree ...
, as adding hot liquid, including milk, to a roux was thought less likely to make a lumpy sauce or one tasting of raw flour.
*Scalded and cooled milk is used in
bread
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
and other yeast doughs, as
pasteurization
Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life.
...
does not kill all bacteria, and with the wild yeasts that may also be present, these can alter the texture and flavor. Recipes old enough to have been based on hand-milked, slowly cooled, unpasteurized milk specify scalded milk with much more justification, and modern cookbooks tend to maintain the tradition. In addition, scalding milk improves the rise due to inhibition of bread rise by certain undenatured milk proteins.
[Corriher, Shirley. ''CookWise: The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking, The Secrets of Cooking Revealed''. New York: William Morrow Cookbooks, 1997. ]
*Scalded milk is used in
yogurt
Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...
to make the
proteins unfold, and to make sure that all organisms that could outcompete the yogurt culture's bacteria are killed. In traditional yogurt making, as done in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, the milk is often heated in flat pans until reduced to about half. Whatever the effect of scalding on milk protein may be, it is mainly this concentrating that reduces whey separation. Modern commercial processors use dried or concentrated milk or vegetable gums and gelatins such as
pectin
Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component o ...
,
carrageenan
Carrageenans or carrageenins ( ; ) are a family of natural linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. T ...
, or
agar
Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar i ...
("vegetable gelatin") to prevent whey separation in yogurt.
*
Café au lait
''Café au lait'' (; ; French for "coffee with milk") is coffee with hot milk added. It differs from white coffee, which is coffee with cold milk or other whiteners added.
Variations Europe
In Europe, ''café au lait'' stems from the same c ...
and
baked milk
Baked milk (russian: топлёное молоко, ua, пряжене молоко, be, адтопленае малако) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering m ...
use scalded milk,
ryazhenka uses
baked milk
Baked milk (russian: топлёное молоко, ua, пряжене молоко, be, адтопленае малако) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering m ...
.
* Scalded and cooled milk is used in many recipes for raised doughnuts, probably for the same reason it is so often specified in bread recipes.
However,
latte art
Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring microfoam into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply "drawing" in the top layer of foam. ...
does use scalded milk, as scalding destroys the
microfoam texture; milk for latte art is heated to below the scalding point.
See also
*
Baked milk
Baked milk (russian: топлёное молоко, ua, пряжене молоко, be, адтопленае малако) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering m ...
*
Condensed milk
Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condense ...
*
Eisbock milk
*
Evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...
*
Powdered milk
Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...
*
Clotted cream
Clotted cream ( kw, dehen molys, sometimes called scalded, clouted, Devonshire or Cornish cream) is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this t ...
*
Warm milk
Warm milk is milk that has been heated above room temperature. It is commonly used as a nightcap for children and people who abstain from alcohol. Its effectiveness as such is disputed.
As a nightcap
Warm milk is commonly touted as a sleep aid ...
References
External links
About scalded and scorched milk
Milk
Pasteurized foods
{{Milk navbox