Powdered milk is a powder made from dried milk solids. Powdered milk has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated due to its low moisture content.

History

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Powdered milk was first made in the 20th century and is used extensively today. It is found abundantly in many developing countries because of reduced transport and storage costs (as it does not require refrigeration). Like other dry foods it is considered nonperishable and is favored by survivalists, hikers and other people in need of nonperishable easy to prepare foodstuffs.

Processing

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Powdered milk is typically made by spray drying nonfat skim milk. Pasteurized milk is first concentrated in an evaporator to about 50% milk solids. The resulting concentrated milk is sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving behind fine particles of powdered milk solids.

Alternatively, the milk can be dried by drum drying. Milk is applied as a thin film to the surface of a heated drum, and the dried milk solids are then scraped off with a knife. Powdered milk made by drum drying tends to have a cooked flavor, due to caramelization caused by greater exposure to heat.

Yet another process is the use of freeze drying, freeze drying has the advantage of preserving many nutrients in milk compared to drum drying. ^*

Uses

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Powdered milk is often used in baking, in recipes where adding liquid milk would render the product too thin to be used. It is also a common sight in UN food aid supplies, fallout shelter, warehouses and wherever fresh milk is not a viable option. Powdered milk is also used in Western blots as a blocking agent to prevent nonspecific protein interactions.

Trivia

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"Powdered Milk Man" is a supervillain, mostly described in a song from The Aquabats.

Granular materials | Milk | Dried foods

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