Cooking with Milk and Dairy Products

1. Cooking with Milk and Dairy Products

2. 2 general cooking rules to remember when cooking milk and milk products... 1. Avoid excessive heat(low to moderate) 2. Avoid excessive cooking time Breaking these rules can result in a skin forming on the surface of the milk, scorching, and/or curdling.

3. Scorch • Not desirable • Milk solids fall to bottom and burn • Avoid by stirring and using low to moderate heat

4. Scald • Heating milk to just below the simmer point • Used in yeast bread baking to kill competing bacteria/enzymes • Too obtaincooked flavor

5. Skin As the milk heats and water evaporates, the milk protein clumps togetherand forms a skin or film on the surface of the milk. If you remove this, you remove many nutrients. • To Avoid a Skin on Cooked Milk: • Cover the pan during cooking • Use low heat • Stir while cooking • Cover with plastic wrap while cooling • Whisk back in if forms

6. Curdle • Not always a bad thing since it is the first step in making cheese • The proteins (casein) clump together • Occurs when pH of milk becomes acidic due to bacteria growth (spoilage) or addition of acid (vinegar or tomatoes) • High heat and addition of salt can also cause • To avoid: add acidic foods slowly

7. Buttermilk • Used in baked goods as part of the leavening agent (acid + baking soda) • A substitution is milk mixed with vinegar (1 cup to 1 T. ratio)

8. Butter • Softened – allow to sit at room temperature • Melted – apply heat to turn to liquid • Burns very easily. If butter burns when heating, throw out and start again or it will ruin the taste of the product. • Browned butter can be made by heating butter in pan until it turns a light brown color. Remove from heat immediately.

9. Butter To make clarified butter, melt the butter on low heat or in a microwave. Allow the butter to sit, and the cloudy light-colored milk solids will settle to the bottom. This leaves a “clear”, very yellow-colored butter as the top layer. This layer is the drawn butter. The drawn butter can be served in a warmer or a side dish. It serves as a flavorful dipping sauce for foods such as seafood or artichokes.

10. Butter Measurements: • ¼ cup = ½ stick = 1/8 pound = 4 Tablespoons • ½ cup = 1 stick = ¼ pound = 8 Tablespoons • 1 cup = 2 sticks = ½ pound = 16 Tablespoons • 2 cups = 4 sticks = 1 pound = 32 Tablespoons

11. Cooking with Cheese • Store in the refrigerator • Keep tightly wrapped (dry out and absorb flavors) • Hard varieties served at room temperature for best flavor • Shredded, grated or shaved for easier melting or to distribute in recipes

12. Shred Cheese • Long, thin pieces • Hard and semi-hard cheeses • Cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, Gouda

13. Grated Cheese • Small pieces • Very hard cheese • Parmesan, Romano

14. Shaved Cheese • Thin, flat pieces

15. Three cooking rules to rememberwhen cooking cheese. 1. Avoid prolonged cooking time 2. Avoid excessive temperatures Breaking these rules can cause cheese to become tough (rubbery), stringy, and greasy. 3.When cleaning up, don’t use hot water or you will cook the cheese onto the pan or utensil.

16. Stop! Did you say you cooked your pizza in a very hot oven? Doesn’t that break the cooking rules? Won’t the cheese get rubbery, stringy and greasy? Oh yeah… I like it like that! In some foods, the undesirable qualities caused by cooking cheese incorrectly actually become desirable qualities. Pizza is the perfect example! The stringy, rubbery, greasy mozzarella cheese is exactly what you want in a good pizza!

17. Cheese Crisps Breaks the rules of cheese cookery with yummy results.

18. Yogurt • Over-stirring yogurt with make it thinner • If whey separates on the top, drain it off for a thicker yogurtor gently stir it back in. • Drain yogurt to make yogurtcheese • Yogurt can be substituted forsour cream or mayonnaise