I’m looking for a source of powdered milk for storage. It would be for drinking as well as baking. Somewhere I remember reading that ‘instant’ was not the way to go. Need input on sources and type of milk to store in buckets with mylar and oxygen absorbers (unless there is a better way). Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas/encouragement here.
You can get it from MRE DEPOT using the link we have on the group buy canned cheese and butter thread. We have a 21% discount with them till the end of the year.
I bought my powdered milk from Nitro-Pak: http://tinyurl.com/ylv5rb
Other places also sell powdered milk, like Beprepared.com: http://tinyurl.com/yga5fh
2ND the recommendation.
MREdepot.com
Spray dried milk in #10 cans for long term storage.
I bought milk substitute from Honeyvillegrain.com Already canned with oxygen absorbers. I also bought powdered milk at Aldi and put it into 1/2 gallon Mason jars with oxygen absorbers. Bought Nido milk for the baby.
nido and #10 cans from beprepared.com.
I buy instant non-fat milk for everyday use in 5 pound plastic bags from “Smart and Final” the smaller, faster warehouse stores we have here all up and down California.
The ‘use by’ date marked on the package varies from about six months to a little less than a year out from when I buy it. I use it regularly, so rotate out the older packages as I use them. The milk has been really great, if you mix it and then leave it in the refrigerator overnight it tastes fine.
Have to store it in a ‘cool, dry place.’
I have tried the ‘non-instant’ milk before, and found it left a lot to be desired, flavorwise. Would prefer instant milk, for at least six months before having to use the regular stuff.
Possibly there are other brands of instant milk that might last longer, or use canned or those boxed liquid milk containers. Liquid milk will actually solve part of the drinking water problem. I used to give my daughter a chocolate milk container with a straw in it when we took trips in the car; very convenient, and she’d stay well-hydrated.
Tip for parents — if your kids get whiney and cranky when out and about, get them to drink water and juice or other liquids and they will be much happier. Kids need more sips of water consistently than adults do to stay hydrated. Of course you will have to take them to the potty more often, but even that’s more fun when they are happy.
A couple of years ago I was able to buy quart cans of Eggnog (possibly the Bordan’s brand?) and had them around for a while before finally using them. They were actually quite good, and were truly wonderful as a dip for bread for french toast when we went camping. I hope that I will be able to find some this holiday season, if they still make it.
our Costco regularly has soy milk in individual serving boxes by the case. Trader Joes has soy milk by the quart in boxes. It’s actually pretty good stuff, but has a tad more added sugar in it than regular cows milk.
I buy carnation instant milk in a 22 qt box from Sams. The box is wrapped in a “foil-y” paper. We use this exclusivly for everything. I slowly started adding it to a half gallon of fresh milk 1 qt at a time till the kids were finally drinking straight dry milk. They never even blinked an eye! Its SOOOO much cheaper ($1.53/gallon) Its been so long since I’ve bought fresh milk, I don’t know how much it cost now. I say try it now, get them swiched over now, and free up some more money for preps! LOL
Has anybody here tried any of these and which ones have the most nutrients? Which one is closest to fresh milk as far as taste?
+ Morning Moo http://waltonfeed.com/self/moo.html
+ Country Cream 100% REAL Non-Fat Instant Powdered Milk Can - link
+ Mountain Mills Milk Substitute http://www.mredepot.com/servlet/the-94/Powdered-Milk-Mountain-Mills/Detail
youngmom – at 15:45
Do you serve fresh skim milk normally? If you do, then no fat instant dry milk won’t be that much of a change for you family. IF your drinking something besides skim milk, may I suggest that you switch over to skim first, then start switching over to non fat instant dry milk.
I cannot say enough good things about nonfat instant dry milk. I pay $1.53 a gallon for the carnation dry milk from Sams. When I stopped buying fresh milk it was almost $3.00 a gallon. I don’t know what it is now. The savings from milk alone, when we first got our Sams membership, paid for the membership in 6months!
I already said that I switched over to dry milk no one noticed at all. Well one night, about a week after starting to use dry milk, I was caught mixing it up. My oldest, then 12, asked what I was doing, When I told her, she gave me the “ewwwwww I’m not drinking that!”. Thats when I told her she had been drinking it for the past week, and hadn’t even noticed. She changed her tune really quick.
Its such a money saver, that even if your not convinced its will work, its worth a try.
In my area the major grocery stores offer milk for $1.99 a gallon---and any instant milk I’ve found so far is actually more expensive. We do drink skim milk and I have mixed up some instant powdered milk to see if anyone would notice, and no one did. I need to add some powdered instant milk to my storage for whatever emergency/situation might come up and we couldn’t (or would choose not to go to store) obtain more---both for drinking and for cooking/baking. The problem is, I’m resisting the higher cost of buying the #10 cans which would probably store longer. Yet, I’m afraid if I buy at the best cost available for the instant milk and store it myself it will go bad before too long.
The one thing that I discovered today, much to my horror, is that I ordered the wrong type of milk from Honeyville, and it says it is not recommended for long-term storage because it only has a shelf-life of 6–12 months. I swear that info was not on their site when I ordered. I reviewed the info on the differernt types down to the commas. So aggravated. So now that’s getting donated to the local soup kitchen, and I’m replacing it with the canned Mountain Mills in cans. Live and learn.
Edna was that the fake-o stuff with palm oil, or the spray dried milk ?
I have been buying noname brand instant skim milk (22 litres = I think about 5 gallons worth) for years to put in my coffee which I drink at coffee shops or restaurants. A bag has lasted me up to 2 years and I do not taste or see anything wrong with it. I store it in a rubbermaid container in a cool dark and dry basement pantry.
Just for added info the reason I carry it in my purse is because I don’t drink the expensive lattes (that I make at home Sunday mornings) but to add skim milk makes my coffee cool off too much. I add the skim milk before the coffee and it becomes frothy like an expensive drink but I get more coffee in my cup. Silly but works.
heddiecalifornia at 17:19: You can get cans of eggnog at Walmart now - they have a bunch of extra baking stuff out for the holidays already - in our Walmart it’s in the center aisle. Chocolate chips, nuts, candied fruit for fruitcake, etc, and cans of eggnog at the bottom shelf.
That’s a great idea about the French toast - think I’ll try it!
http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FS%20P399
Emergency Essentials has several sizes and types. They are fast and I have never had any problems with their services or products.
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/mixes/mixes.html
Scroll down to Mix Recipes… for some ideas using powdered milk.
http://waltonfeed.com/grain/ldscn/87.html More powder milk recipes
Also… google: Fankhauser cheese yogurt