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Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk",[1] is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product for which approximately 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains added sugar and requires less processing to preserve, as the added sugar inhibits bacterial growth.[2] The production process involves the evaporation of 60% of the water from the milk, followed by homogenization, canning and heat sterilization.[3]
Evaporated milk consumes half the space of its nutritional equivalent in fresh milk. When the liquid product is mixed with a proportionate amount of water (150%), evaporated milk becomes the rough equivalent of fresh milk. This allows the product to have a shelf life of months or even years, depending upon the fat and sugar content, which made evaporated milk very popular before the age of refrigeration as a safe and reliable substitute for perishable fresh milk, as it could be shipped easily to locations lacking the means of safe milk production or storage.
- ^ "Carnation FAQs". Nestlé. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "How does sugar act as a preservative?". BBC Worldwide.
- ^ McGee, Harold (2004). On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen. Simon and Schuster. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1.