Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Which Brand to Buy?

About a year ago I taught a series of food storage classes in my ward. We focused on many different things, but the class on powdered milk was particularly interesting due to the fact that most people think powdered milk is disgusting. As people walked in the door they were handed a sheet of paper labeled #1-#5. The object was to go down a table with various pitchers of milk and rate which milk they liked the best and which one they liked the least (with the others filling up the middle). Although many of the women did not exactly want to partake, they humored me and the results were valuable. Not necessarily to me...but to them. The surprise...Each type of milk was someone's favorite. Some varieties had more votes than others, but there was not one single variety that didn't get a vote.

So why tell you this...?
The kind of milk you should store is the one you like the best. Try a few different types before you spend your money and fill up your storage. Get a few friends together, each make a variety the night before, put it in your refrigerator (it is vital to have it chilled), and then have your own taste test. One trick is to add a little sugar and vanilla (just a few teaspoons to taste) and the taste will be improved dramatically. I had to made some powdered milk for my kids a little while ago and when my husband tasted it, he said it was actually good enough to drink. Who would have thought.

But just to give you a little head start...
Many people like Country Cream which is sold at Macey's and Bosch. This is the one that I like to store. I also have some milk from the cannery which is not the best tasting but is the BEST price. Many people like the taste of Morning Moo...but just make sure and consider all of the additives in a milk alternative. Other options are Carnation, Nestle, the generic brand your store carries, etc.

We will talk more in depth about powdered milk at a later date.

2 comments:

Suzanne said...

I wish I could remember which one I liked best. I don't think I ever wrote it down...lame-o me. But I do remember being pleasantly surprised at how drinkable all of them were. Can you buy any of them in small packages?

Jac said...

The only kind of small packages you can buy that I am aware of are the boxes that are sold at the grocery store. The disadvantage to these is that they cost more and the shelf life isn't as long because they are not dry packed. P.S. I think you liked Country Cream!