canning milk

Edit:  standard procedure - into room temperature jars and tap water in canner, pour cold milk with significant headroom (just under 1").  Put into pressure canner to heat up, vent for 10 minutes, then turn off and let cool. (I put it in for 1 minute.)

***

 

 Now that I can't have much dairy, it can be hard to get through a container of milk before it goes bad.  But, I really like to keep it on-hand for baking and such.  And I'm a stickler for humanely raised dairy, etc. which is SUPER expensive so I like to stock up when on sale (which usually happens when it's about to go bad). I do now have a local source of goat milk, but it's ... goaty.  So will use sparingly.  (It made some nice chevre, but the yogurt didn't work.  Will try once more with yogurt.) 

When I was at the store recently I picked up two half-gallons of milk because they were buy one get one free and I thought I saw that they were both "sell by" in a month, so I thought I could make yogurt later (I do still make it, just much less than before).  But I got home and saw one is sell by this week.  And because it's ultrapasteurized as most milk is here, I knew it could last awhile, but ... I didn't want the waste of it turning.  And I could freeze, but my freezer is already full. 

So, I decided to can it.  USDA doesn't sanction this, but loads of people do it without ill effect.  Also, the milk is likely to spoil but not botulism, so I will be able to detect it's gone bad if it does. 

I canned 2% and apparently that's better than whole for quality sake.  I have an electric canner and I couldn't find directions for this, so out of an abundance of caution, I went with 10 minutes.

I used cold milk in room temperature jars; water in canner from tap.  I did about 1/2"-3/4" headspace and there was some overflow.  Put it in canner on high, set timer for 10 minutes, making sure good steam flow before closing vent.  

I used Tattler lids which are cheap because reusable, but also more prone to failure for me at least, so we'll see if there was full seal. The jars look good, not too much flowed out.  I did three pints and two jelly jars which look to be about 12 oz. each (more than half gallon, to use up the milk already on hand). 

I'll plan to use them up in the next few months and will report back here about quality.

Papaya Milkshake

Papaya Milkshake (1)
Originally uploaded by gummychild

A really tasty smoothie for a hot day like today! =)

Ingredients:
- 1 ripe papaya, scooped out into pieces with a spoon
- 3 Cups of milk
- 2 Cups of crushed ice
- 7-8 teaspoons of sugar (to taste, really)
- cinnamon
- mint leaves to garnish

Directions:

Use a blender to blend everything except for the cinnamon and mint leaves together (be careful! Remember that blenders can go crazy if you fill it all the way up...about halfway up is good, and if you need to do this in batches, that's fine too).

Serve with a dash of cinnamon sprinkled on top of the foam that will naturally be made, and top with a sprig of mint for some color, pizazz, and flavor. =) We didn't have any mint leaves available, but I think it would be nice. =)

We served ours in martini glasses, but this will serve beautifully in a tall glass as well! =)

oatmeal pancakes

Super duper yummy! Very filling, hearty, tasty. Also NOT low-fat, so not a regular thing!

From here. I halved it and that worked very well.

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk (or milk with lemon juice: 2 T lemon juice, add milk to 2 c, let sit a few minutes)
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten**
1/4 - ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted but not hot (less works fine)
Vegetable oil or spray, for greasing the pan
Maple syrup, for serving

The night before:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The morning of:
Take the bowl of buttermilk and oats out of the fridge. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir well. Add the flour mixture, and stir to blend. The batter will be very thick.

Warm a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, and brush (or spray) with vegetable oil. To make sure it’s hot enough, wet your fingers under the tap and sprinkle a few droplets of water onto the pan. If they sizzle, it’s ready. Scoop the batter, about a scant ¼ cup at a time, onto the pan, taking care not to crowd them. When the underside is nicely browned and the top looks set around the edges, flip the pancakes. Cook until the second side has browned.

Re-grease the skillet, and repeat with more batter. If you find that the pancakes are browning too quickly, dial the heat back to medium.

Serve hot, with maple syrup.

Yield: about 12 pancakes, or 3 to 4 servings

***
I learned two good cooking tricks growing up (yes, only two):
1. The best way to tell if something is finished cooking is by its smell
2. Don't flip pancakes until the bubbles have formed and burst.

Trust me - life is so much better if you just follow these very important rules.
*****
These are so tasty and satisfying that I decided to make them again the next week - but I'm not thrilled about all that butter. So I looked around the internet and it appears there are very similar recipes but with only 1-2 T oil listed, not a whole darned stick of butter. So next time I will try it with just 1 T and see how it works! I'm sure it won't be as rich, but it'll still have the satisfying texture.

** Once I decreased the butter, the egg taste really came through and that wasn't what I wanted. So next time I wonder ... if I just substitute 1/4 c milk for each egg, will that work? Hmm ...

crockpot yogurt

I followed directions from here.

--8 cups (half-gallon) of milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. (I use all nonfat and it works just great!)

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter) (You can also buy the dried starter packets. You can also freeze the yogurt in 1/2 c portions, which is what I do. You can only use starter from prior batches a few times before the bacteria lose their oomph.) (Note: the best starters are PLAIN YOGURT with live cultures. Dannon works well, and I've used Activia to start the last few batches and it turns out AWESOME. All generic plain is good as long as they don't add other junk like sugar, etc.)

--thick bath towel

I start in the evening about 5:00 pm and it's ready in the morning.

I used a 4 quart crockpot.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation. (I put it in my gas oven with the pilot on, which seems to keep it at the perfect termperature.)

Let it sit for 8 hours. (Or a bit longer - the longer it sits, the tangier it gets. I think I've left it up to 10 hours or so.)

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt. Put the crockpot directly in the refrigerator to let it chill and that will thicken it some. However, I find that the yogurt is still runny. If you want it thicker, strain it (I line a colander with a tea towel and put the yogurt in it with a bowl underneath. If you want it thick like supermarket yogurt, it only takes a few minutes. If you want it thick like yogurt cheese, it needs a few hours.) (Whey is the liquid you're draining out if you thicken it. Keep the whey and use it in soups, breads, or anything else calling for water or stock. It's pretty much flavorless and is packed with nutrients.)

I've tried other methods of thickening, such as adding in dry milk powder and I found that useless (and expensive). I could add in gelatin, but I like the texture better without that.

Note that you don't get the full amount of yogurt that you put in as milk if you strain it. I just now got (from 5 minute strain) about 5-6 cups of yogurt and about 3 cups of whey. (I don't know how much milk I put in because I just eyeball it - probably 8-9 cups.)

Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days (or longer ...).

****
Why make your own yogurt when you can just buy it from the store?

First and foremost, I find the taste far superior. Chop up some strawberries in it and it's heaven.

Plus, it's cheaper. Even buying cheap plain nonfat yogurt is more expensive than making it myself. And I can better control quality - I know exactly what's going in it.

rice pudding

Based on this recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) of milk (I use low fat but I think any is fine)
* 1/3 cup (66 grams) of uncooked long or short grain white rice (I used long grain because that's what I have, but I think a short grain would be better)
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cardamom pod
* 1 cinnamon stick
* small handful of almonds (maybe 10 or so)
* 1 egg
* sugar (still working on amount; 1/8 c is too much)
* 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Method

1. In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, combine milk, rice, salt, cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, and almonds and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until well mixed. Add a half cup of the rice mixture - a tablespoon at a time - beating to incorporate.

3. Add egg mixture back into the saucepan of rice and milk and stir, on low heat, for 10 minutes or so, until thickened. Be careful not to have the mixture come to a boil at this point. Stir in the vanilla.

Serve warm or cold.

Serves 2-3.

***
When I have a craving, this does it! Just need to try it with short grain rice like arborio or sushi rice.

I could also make it chocolate following these suggestions.