Forum

Hi there

any idea what to use when a recipe stipulates "condensed" milk? Here in the shops, I get sugared and non-sugared.

Thank you and best regards, 

Jeanne

Sweetened condensed milk is often just called condensed milk.  I had not seen unsweetened condensed milk before.  Otoh, I do not think sugar is added to evaporated milk.  

Here in Canada we can get sweetened condensed milk OR evaporated milk.  BOTH products have had 60% of the water removed BUT then the condensed milk has sugar added and the result is a rich & thick product that is 40 - 45 % sugar (ie VERY sweet!) and therefore pretty thick. There is nothing labelled "unsweetened" condensed milk here because essentially that is what evaporated milk is.  Sugar is NOT added to evaporated milk but it is still thicker/richer  than regular milk due to the water loss.  Where I live,  I can choose between regular and low fat evaporated milk.  Apparently a skim version is made but I've never seen that choice on my small town grocery shelves.  Brands I often see are Eagle Brand for the sweetened condensed and Carnation for the evaporated.

Based on the key properties of each of these products, I would assume that your "sweetened" and unsweetened" versions would correspond to these products.

Thank you so much. 

I live in Switzerland, and English is not my mother tongue. 

I've just noticed that the two last posts speak of "evaporated" milk - is that the same as condensed milk? I thought evaporated meant something like milk powder? 

Evaporated milk is liquid milk that has had 60 % of the water removed (by heat) and sold in a can....it is very shelf stable.  I have friends who use it in their coffee - it is not sweet at all, it is thicker (ie "creamier") than regular milk but much lower in fat than traditional creams.   Powdered milk (ie a dry powder sold in a bag or box) is a different product.

Hope that helps!  

Evaporated milk is not sweet at all.  During the first phase of lockdown, my next door neighbor was diluting evaporated milk for her two young children because it is normally a pantry item and can be used in savory recipes.   Condensed milk is very sweet and is used in desserts. 

Lots of evaporated milk being used in the US this week: it's a key ingredient of pumpkin pie!

For sure.  I always think of Paul Prudhomme when evaporated milk is mentioned.  He used it in number of savory dishes which are some of my favs.  

Here is a post of making condensed milk in the instant pot if you cannot find it anywhere. Disclaimer: I have never made it myself.

https://mycrashtestlife....weetened-condensed-milk/

Hi JFM,

Is your recipe from an American writer? If so, you would want sweetened condensed milk.  We call the unsweetened kind "evaporated."  If your recipe is not American or if it is from someone writing English as a second language then it is a little uncertain.  (I say this from experience as an American living in Sweden.  Swedes use similar terminology as you described in Switzerland-they say "condensed" and "sweetened condensed" where an American would say "evaporated" and "sweetened condensed" . SO if a Swede attempted to write a recipe in English they may incorrectly write "condensed" when they mean "evaporated"...

Can you tell us more about the recipe?  Or the writer? Do you also have Rainbow brand in Switzerland?