Scalded milk is

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

that has been heated to . At this temperature,

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

are killed,

enzymes An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as pro ...

in the milk are destroyed, and many of the proteins are denatured. Since most milk sold today is pasteurized, which accomplishes the first two goals, milk is typically scalded to increase its temperature, or to change the consistency or other cooking interactions by the denaturing of proteins. During scalding, a

cooking utensil A kitchen utensil is a small hand-held tool used for food preparation. Common kitchen tasks include cutting food items to size, heating food on an open fire or on a stove, baking, grinding, mixing, blending, and measuring; different utensils ar ...

known as a milk watcher may be used to prevent both boiling over and scorching (burning) of the milk.

Uses

Béchamel sauce

Scalded milk is called for in the original recipes for Béchamel sauce, as adding hot liquid, including milk, to a roux was thought less likely to make a lumpy sauce or one tasting of raw flour.

Bread

Scalded and cooled milk is used in

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

and other yeast doughs, as

pasteurization In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...

does not kill all bacteria, and with the wild yeasts that may also be present, these can alter the texture and flavor. Recipes old enough to have been based on hand-milked, slowly cooled, unpasteurized milk specify scalded milk with much more justification, and modern cookbooks tend to maintain the tradition. In addition, scalding milk improves the rise due to inhibition of bread rise by certain undenatured milk proteins.

Yogurt

Scalded milk is used in

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

to make the proteins unfold, and to make sure that all organisms that could outcompete the yogurt culture's bacteria are killed. In traditional yogurt making, as done in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, the milk is often heated in flat pans until reduced to about half. Whatever the effect of scalding on milk protein may be, it is mainly this concentrating that reduces whey separation. Modern commercial processors use dried or concentrated milk or vegetable gums and gelatins such as

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

carrageenan Carrageenans or carrageenins ( ; ) are a family of natural linear sulfation, sulfated polysaccharides. They are extracted from red algae, red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, an ...

, or

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from " ogonori" and " tengusa". As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, t ...

("vegetable gelatin") to prevent whey separation in yogurt.

Other uses

Café au lait ''Café au lait'' (; ; French for "coffee with milk") is coffee with hot milk added. It differs from white coffee, which is coffee with cold milk or other whiteners added. In France, it is typically served as a breakfast drink, often as a la ...

and

baked milk Baked milk ( , , ) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering milk on low heat for eight hours or longer. History Baked milk was relatively popular outside of Russia ...

use scalded milk,

ryazhenka ''Ryazhenka'', or ''ryazhanka'' (Russian language, Russian: wikt:ряженка, ряженка; Belarusian language, Belarusian: wikt:ражанка, ражанка, ), is a traditional fermented milk product in Belarusian cuisine, Belarus, Rus ...

uses

. * Scalded and cooled milk is used in many recipes for raised doughnuts, probably for the same reason it is so often specified in bread recipes. However, latte art does use scalded milk, as scalding destroys the

microfoam Microfoam is finely textured milk used for making espresso-based coffee drinks, particularly those with latte art. It is typically made with the steam wand of an espresso machine, which pumps steam into a pitcher of milk. The opposite of microfo ...

texture; milk for latte art is heated to below the scalding point.

References

External links

About scalded and scorched milk
Milk Pasteurized foods {{Milk navbox