Traditional Welsh Recipes

How to Use Dairy Products.

These tips may seem unnecessary for most modern households with a refrigerator, but modern devices can make people lazy and it is well-worth while knowing how to take care of dairy products.

It is also worth remembering these tips about dairy products when refrigerators are not at hand or are so small that they will not hold everything, such as when camping or boating or on holiday in some parts of the world.

Dairy products are one of the biggest sources of food poisoning at home.

MILK

Milk has been called 'nature's perfect food', because no other food, taken alone, can support adult life. Milk is of the first importance for the growth and development of young people, but it must be clean as bacteria also find it very nourishing and quickly multiply in it. If milk  is not bought pasteurized, then it should be scalded and quickly cooled before consumption.

How To Scald Milk:

Rinse a clean saucepan with cold water, pour in the milk and apply heat until bubbles form around the side of the pan. Keep the milk at this temperature, that is not letting it boil, for 3 minutes. Do not overheat, as milk burns easily. Pour immediately into a clean jug and place in a basin of cold water and cover with a fine cloth to prevent the ingress of flies and dust.

How To Keep Milk Fresh:

If milk is not be kept in the containers in which it was bought, transfer it to a clean jug, which has been rinsed with cold water. A warm container will cause milk to stick to the sides and go off more quickly. Keep milk in the coolest place in the larder and always covered.

It is worth remembering that draughts are often at ground-level and that hot air rises. Never keep milk in an airless cupboard and in hot weather stand the jug in a bowl of water with the cloth covering dangling in the water.

The cloth will soak up water, which will evaporate, which uses up heat, ensuring that the containers remain cool. Keep milk away from strong-smelling foods, as it absorbs odours easily. Never mix new milk with old.

Sour Milk:
Milk straight from the cow is slightly alkaline, but as it ages, lactic acid is formed and it becomes what we call 'sour'. Pasteurizing or scalding the milk slows down this process. Milk which is 'just on the turn' can be revived by boiling with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to restore the alkalinity.

Once the milk has gone too far and has curdled, it can be strained through (cheese) cloth, thereby separating the curds from the whey. The curds can be used as a filling for cakes, tarts, scones etc and the whey can be used as the liquid for making scones, cakes and soups etc., as it still has much 

Evaporated Milk:

Evaporated milk is ordinary milk, which has had some of its water content driven off by heat in some form or another before being canned. Once reconstituted by adding water, it will last only slightly longer than fresh milk.

Condensed Milk:
This is simply evaporated milk to which sugar has been added before canning. The sugar acts as a preservative and will keep the milk for about a week. Do not keep in the tin, but decant it into a jug.

Dried Milk:

Dried milk comes in a variety of forms and notice should be taken of the instructions on the label. Specialized products can be bought for babies, invalids, convalescents and dieters, all of which contain varying amounts and types of added vitamins and minerals. Usually they are very much lower in fat content than conventional milk.