[Sca-cooks] Caramel Laura Secord

[Decker, Terry D.]

Ah, you misread what I had written.  The comment was in response to a
question about "unsweetened" condensed milk and its relationship to
evaporated milk.  After a little checking, I can say they are the same.  The
terms unsweetended condensed milk, evaporated cream, and evaporated milk
were all used for the product we commonly know as evaporated milk today.

Sweetened condensed milk, on the other hand, is what we commonly refer to as
condensed milk.

Condensed milk was originally developed by Gail Borden is 1853 and patented
in either 1855 or 1856 depending on the reference.  Milk was reduced by
evaporation and then sugar was added as a preservative, as the canning
techniques were too primative to store unpreserved evaporated milk.

The first commercial pressure cooking process came into use in the
mid-1870's and improved the pasteurization in the canning, which in turn
permitted evaporated milk to be canned without preservatives.  Evaporated
milk came into general use in the early 1880's.

The differences in texture, taste and use are certainly why both products
are still around.  The initial evaporation process was (and probably still
is) the same for both products.

Bear



> At 01:59 PM 4/28/2002, you wrote:
> >I was under the impression it was.  I seldom use either
> product, so what is
> >the precise difference?
>
> Bear,
>
> I'll admit to not have a strong knowledge of how either
> sweetened condensed
> milk or evaporated milk are made.
>
> What I can say though is that the differences in texture,
> taste and use are
> so different that it is hard to imagine them as being of the
> same process.
>
> In a way, while not a wildly matching analogy, I would think
> of it as a
> reduced brown stock vs a demi-glace.  Products starting from the same
> place, done with somewhat similar process, with completely
> different usage.
>
> OTOH, I get easily confused nowadays ;-)
>
>
> Gorgeous Muiredach