Choosing The Right Milk For Baking


Milk is one of the most important liquid use in baking. Milk being 88%-91% water helps on development of the gluten during baking process. Common baking recipes that include milk as an ingredient include cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes, and bread. Other than that, many types of cream and filling also use milk as one of the main ingredient. In addition, milk contributes a lot in baking and cooking such as:

1. Flavour: Adds a subtle dairy flavour that enhances the taste of baked goods.

2.Texture: Improve texture by provides moisture which helps create a tender and moist texture in cakes or other baked items.

3. Crust colour: The fat and lactose in milk help with tenderizing the crumb of the bread making it softer and sweeter also giving them an attractive golden colour.

4. Nutritional value: Milk can contribute to the richness and tenderness of baked goods, it also adding vitamins and fat into the product.

As we know, milk usually come from cows or goats. But most of the liquid milk we see are milk from cows or dairy cattle. Milk from other animals such as goats and sheep is used to make some cheeses instead of liquid milk.

Here are some of the categories of milk that we should know before baking:

lRaw Milk - Come straightly from cows without anything done to it. It contain disease-causing bacteria or other organism. Must be pasteurized and being processed first before being sold, if not would be harmful towards consumer.

lPasteurized Milk - Milk that has been heated to a specific temperature for a set of period of time to kill harmful bacteria that can lead to diseases.

lUHT Milk - Ultra-high temperature or ultra-heat treated milk product exist to extend their shelf life. The process can kills not only disease-killing bacteria but nearly all organisms that can cause spoilage. Most of the milk you see in the retail shop are UHT Milk which is safe to consume and has longer shelf life.

Type of Milk Easily Can Get In Retail

1. Whole Milk

2. Low Fat Milk

3. Skim Milk

4. Almond Milk

5. Soy Milk

A lot of brand that we can easily get from ingredients shop or supermarket out there. As refer to the above information about the type of milk, whole milk are widely use. Commonly, for baking  we will use full cream milk also known as whole milk which content around 3% full-fat milk .

Full cream milk has several benefits such as rich in nutrients including calcium, vitamin D and protein. Other than that, full cream milk can enhance the flavour and texture providing a richer and creamier result of the product. However, you can use other alternative like plant-based options such as almond or soy milk depending on your dietary preferences. That’s is why whole milk is the best choice to use in baking.

 Other than that, there’s also other milk product that we usually see, which is milk product with water removed.

Evaporated Milk -with 60% water removed. It is sterilized and canned. Has a somewhat cooked flavour .

Condensed Milk - whole milk that has had about 60% water removed and heavily sweetened with sugar.Available in canned.

Milk Powder - whole milk that has been dried to a powder, dissolve in a water more easily

 

By,

Chef Hada.