Today, I’ll show you how to make evaporated milk. If you’re making pumpkin pie and other custard type pies, you’ll need to add this ingredient as part of your recipe.
But what if you don’t have a can of this ingredient on hand? Not to worry. It’s easy to make evaporated milk at home right in your own kitchen. And it only calls for one ingredient: Milk!
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Table of Contents
- Which Milk Makes the Best Evaporated Milk?
- How About Low-Fat Milk? Fat-Free Milk?
- Get Ready to Bake!
- More 4-Corners Pantry Recipes
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- The Modern Pioneer Pantry
- Start Your Traditional Foods Journey
- Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
- Kitchen Academy Videos
- Homemade Evaporated Milk Recipe
- Shop for My Favorite Items
Which Milk Makes the Best Evaporated Milk?
When it comes to making evaporated milk, it’s best to use whole milk. It can be raw, pasteurized, or ultra-pasteurized. If you have been with me for a while, you know that I generally don’t recommend using ultra-pasteurized milk in a traditional foods kitchen.
However, since we will be heating this milk for an extended period of time—about 30 minutes—I am fine with using ultra-pasteurized milk here, especially if that is all you can find at your local market.
How About Low-Fat Milk? Fat-Free Milk?
If you decide that you want to make evaporated milk with low-fat or even fat-free milk, you can certainly do this. However, the consistency of the final product will not be as rich as if you had started with whole milk. And if you are planning on using a low-fat or fat-free evaporated milk in a recipe, you might need to adjust the recipe slightly.
For example, if you use these alternative kinds of milk to make a pumpkin pie, you may need to add one tablespoon of flour to the pie mixture to achieve the correct consistency of the final baked pie.
Get Ready to Bake!
So be sure to watch my video and learn how to make homemade evaporated milk so that you can make a recipe that calls for this ingredient anytime you want. You’ll never have to buy that little can on the bottom shelf at your grocery again!
More 4-Corners Pantry Recipes
Now that you’ve mastered this ingredient, be sure to check out these videos for more homemade staples for your 4-Corners Pantry: Your Refrigerator, Freezer, Kitchen Pantry, and Extended Pantry.
- How to Make Bone Broth – playlist
- How to Make Homemade Vegetable Bouillon and Dehydrate It – playlist
- The Complete Sourdough Starter Guide
- How To Make Homemade Mayonnaise in 1 Minute With An Immersion Blender
- How to Make Fermented Carrots – playlist
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The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
Seasonal ingredients, traditional techniques, and nourishing recipes. Over 85 traditional, from-scratch recipes! Discover for yourself how you can use simple ingredients and traditional techniques to cook the modern pioneer way.
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The Modern Pioneer Pantry
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Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
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Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.
Kitchen Academy Videos
A Cozy Fall Kitchen: Cooking, Books, and Cherished Memories
Join me for a cozy fall visit filled with oven cooking, favorite books, and memories of my mother’s winter pantry preparations.
How to Mix Whole Grains for a Warm and Nourishing Porridge
Learn to mix oat groats, barley, and other whole grains for a warm, nourishing porridge with easy make-ahead tips and tasty toppings.
How Much of Each Natural Remedy Should You Make?
Use your family’s needs, past experience, and seasonal habits to decide how much to prepare for your Healing Pantry.
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Homemade Evaporated Milk
Equipment
- Heavy-Bottom Saucepan
- Heat Proof Spatula or Large Spoon
Ingredients
- 3 cups Whole milk
Instructions
- Add 3 cups of whole milk to a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Bring the milk up to a medium simmer and then turn down to a low simmer.
- Periodically, stir the milk as it simmers on low.
- Simmer milk on low for 25-30 minutes until it has reduced by half.
- Once reduced by half, transfer to a jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator. Homemade evaporated milk will stay freshly refrigerated for approximately one week.
Video
Notes
Shop for My Favorite Items
Favorite Evaporated Milk Making Supplies
- Staub Red 4 Qt. Round Dutch Oven
- Le Creuset Spatula
- 4-Cup Measuring Cup
- Fine Mesh Strainer
- 12-Ounce Storage Jars
- White Storage Jar Lids
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Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Backwoods Home, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, and More!
I am looking forward to trying the recipes for condensed and evaporated milk because all the canned milks at the store have carrageenan in them and that is incompatible with my stomach!
Hi Marcia, Thanks for your comment! So happy to hear that you’ll make this. It’s so easy! Also…If you enjoy learning about making other homemade pantry type items, you might enjoy my playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U1MqC3YAw7ZRYjuL9FBGSwc where I show how to make Apple Cider Vinegar, 10 Flavored Extracts including Vanilla Extract, 1- Minute Homemade Mayonnaise, Homemade Bouillon – and how to dehydrate it, Natural Food Colorings, Condensed Milk, Preserved Citrus, and more!
BTW – Do you enjoy making other traditional foods? I have a playlist of my videos titled “Mastering the Basics of Traditional Nutrient Dense Foods Cooking”. It’s a series of 15 detailed videos that covers How to Make Bone Broth, Cultured Dairy, Ferments, Sourdough Starter (my foolproof stater), Sourdough Bread, and How to Soak and Sprout Grains to Make your own Sprouted Flour at Home. You can watch the VIDEOS here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCWcFsG-Np0&list=PLkRuW3pBo2U3b4eu0QraZReKlGzA11h3y
Also, I wanted to let you know that if you are also interested in making bone broth, I buy my bones from US Wellness Meats. Be sure to go to the “shopping guide” on my webpage where I have a special link and 15% off discount code for US Wellness Meats: https://marysnest.com/shopping-guide/
And if by chance you are especially interested in learning about sourdough, be sure to check out my Complete Guide to Sourdough: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U3NKN0GHvGCpiWNxcTefLof I think you will enjoy some of these videos.
And in the Modern Pioneering spirit…If you enjoy canning, or are interested in learning about canning, I have a playlist of my canning videos here which include step-by-step tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U3HJRCmwVAvBNS90WjifR1U
Oh…And here is my 2020 Channel Update for everything I have planned for this year: https://youtu.be/qjOJh8Cb_-k
Oh…one more thing…Do you know about our FB group? It’s called Mary’s Nest Modern Pioneers. Come join us! We have a lot of fun chatting about Traditional Foods:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/171869080205145/?source_id=210509998974645
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m so happy to help! And I’m so glad we’re on this Traditional Foods Journey together!!
Thank you again for writing to me!
Love, Mary
Thank you for the evaporated milk lesson. I live a distance from a grocery store so I have been learning how to make things in my own. This was a wonderful help to ward making food 100% from scratch!!
Hi Tami, Thank you so much for leaving a comment. Glad you liked the lesson. I have a bunch more coming up including how to make condensed milk and how to make natural food coloring!
Do you enjoy making other traditional foods? If so, I have a playlist of some of my videos titled “Mastering the Basics of Traditional Nutrient Dense Foods Cooking”. It’s a series of 15 detailed videos that covers How to Make Bone Broth, Cultured Dairy, Ferments, Sourdough Starter (my foolproof stater), Sourdough Bread, Soaked and Sprouted Nuts and Beans, and How to Soak and Sprout Grains to Make your own Sprouted Flour at Home. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U3b4eu0QraZReKlGzA11h3y And please share the playlist with any other folks you think might be interested in learning about these types of things. I’m passionate about the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (of the Weston A Price Foundation) and want to help as many people as I can learn how to make Traditional “Nutrient Dense” Foods.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m so happy to help! And I’m SO glad you’re here!! Love and God Bless, Mary❤️😘❤️
PS – Do you know about our FB group? It’s called Mary’s Nest Modern Pioneers. Come join us! We have a lot of fun chatting about Traditional Foods: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171869080205145/?source_id=210509998974645
Hi Tami, Thank you for the comment – and so happy to hear that you liked this video and found it helpful !If you enjoy making homemade pantry type items, you might enjoy my playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U1MqC3YAw7ZRYjuL9FBGSwc where I show how to make Apple Cider Vinegar, Flavored Extracts, Natural Food Colorings, Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk, Preserved Citrus, and more! Love, Mary
I’m so glad you shared this! I am making evaporated milk for my pumpkin pies right now! I’ll let you know how it (and the pies) turn out. I never liked buying the canned stuff. XOX