Is there a difference between "evaporated" milk and "condensed" milk?

[Den]

I hate to admit I don't know this but I'm not much of a baker and needed condensed milk for a pie and saw evaporated on the same shelf...is it essentially the same?

[Curmudgeon]

This might seem very odd but I was looking for a recipe for pumpkin pie made with sweetened condensed milk last week rather than evaporated milk. I have not made this recipe, but if the rest of Den's question is "did I get the right thing to make pumpkin pie?" then Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk says YES!

Sweetened condensed milk pumpkin pie
1 can of pumpkin (15 ounces)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
2 eggs
3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice and salt until smooth.

Pour into unbaked crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil.

REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350 and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the crust comes out clean.

Cool. Garnish with whip cream.

Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Adapted from: Eagle Brand

[willownt]

You're right -- we all missed this.

Obviously, if you use sweetened condensed milk, you would skip adding the sugar to the pie. Your recipe reflects this. I wonder how the taste is. I love the caramely taste of cooked sugar.

[paulj]

In comparison, one pumpkin pie recipe in Joy of Cooking calls for 1 1/2c of light cream or evaporated milk (or a mix of milk and heavy cream), and 3/4 c of sugar (roughly the same amount of pumpkin and eggs). In effect for a dish like this, evaporated milk + sugar = sweetened condensed.
paulj

[LAcupcake]

I made pumpkin pies this weekend using the Libby's recipe on theside of the can. the recipe calls for two cans of evaporated milk but I used one evaporated and one condensed. I only cut the sugar by about 1/4 cup and I still had very nice results. I imagine that you could still add a reduced amount of sugar to recipes that call for condensed milk.

[violabratsche]

I don't have a pressure cooker. I've always made the caramelised sweetened condensed milk in a large kettle, boiled gently, for ...I think it's 3 hours, IN the can. It was perfect for filling home made chocolates!!

AnnieG

[Antilope]

It does take 3-hours to caramelize sweetened condensed milk on the stove top, inside the can. Don't allow the boiling water level to uncover the can or it could burst. The two advantages of using a pressure cooker are shorter cooking time (30-minutes) and little chance of bursting the can. Even if it were to burst, it would be contained inside the pressure cooker.

[Chuckles the Clone]

It cooks in a stovetop open pot in about 30-45 minutes. All of the pv=nrt things that a pressure cooker is good for are inapplicable in this case because the can is rigid and completely sealed. Water level doesn't affect the danger of explosion (which is essentially zero in any case). Even if the can did rupture, since milk is a mostly incompressible fluid there's not going to be much energy released and thus not much of an explosion.

[Antilope]

You can use sweetened condensed milk to make Dulce de leche, a wonderful Latin American caramel.

Homemade Dulce de Leche
http://www.chow.com/digest/3353

I make it in a pressure cooker with canned sweetened condensed milk. Remove can label. Place sealed can in pressure cooker and cover completely with water. Seal pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and set timer for 30-minutes. After 30-minutes at full pressure turn off heat. Let pressure fall naturally. When pressure is gone open pressure cooker. Place pressure cooker in sink and flush interior with cold water. Fill pressure cooker with cold water and let stand for a half hour to allow canned sweetended condensed milk to completely cool. Open can and enjoy.

[violabratsche]

Homemade Condensed Milk
1 cup Hot water
4 cup Powdered milk
2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Margarine or butter
Blend in blender until very well mixed.
Store in refrigerator or freezer.

---------OR----------

Sweetened Condensed Milk-Copykat Recipe
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. water
1 C. plus 2 T. powdered milk
Combine all ingredients.
Heat to boiling.
Cook until thick, this will take 15 to 20 minutes.
This equals one can.

Homemade Evaporated Milk
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup milk
OR
2/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup HOT water
Mix well. Refrigerate.

AnnieG

[paulj]

It is funny to see recipes for condensed milk copies, since these canned milks were developed as a means of providing milk to people who could not get the fresh version. Many of the recipes using these were developed by and for people living in the tropics and similar areas. The classic, of course, is key lime pie. Sweetened condensed milk would have been easier to buy in the Florida Keys, especially before the causeway was built.

paulj

[smartie]

nothing like a cup of chai at 5am in the Kenya bush boiled over an open fire with condensed milk added, lions roaring in the background, hyenas calling and monkeys chattering.

[paulj]

I keep a squeeze bottle of this milk in the fridge for use in my tea - preferably a good black one.
paulj

[chef chicklet]

When growing up, my parents added evaoprated milk to coffee, instead of fresh milk. Actually my memory of it is quite good. Think I'll try it again.

Then there is always that delicious Vietnamese coffee, aside from being awake for 3 days, I love it.

[willownt]

My grandma often uses evaporated milk alias "pet milk" (I couldn't bring myself to seriously use that expression) in her coffee too! I have no idea why, though. Since she only cooks with milk (doesn't drink it), maybe because it comes in a small container? Hmm, I'll have to ask her.

[lady_grey]

"Pet" is an old brand of evaporated milk! I just came across it while trying to figure out the difference between evaporated and condensed for my pumpkin pie. Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/1962-ad-Pet-evapo...

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

[heidelbergjoan]

I bet your grandmother is German! Germans usually use evaporated milk in coffee. Every office seems to have a small can with a tiny hole in it next to the coffee pot. Someone told me it is a holdover from WWII when there was no cream and little milk.

[Ruth Lafler]

Absolutely not (I know Curmudgeon said it, but it can't be stressed enough). Evaporated milk is just milk that's been cooked to concentrate it by evaporating out some of the water. Condensed milk is not only cooked and reduced but has a large amount of sugar added. It has a completely different flavor and consistency.

[Curmudgeon]

absolutely not! The Condensed is about 60% sugar and the evaporated is about 10% sugar.

[Den]

Ahh, thanks. I guess it would make a diference in the recipe.

[willownt]

I've never noticed that evaporated has ANY sugar. Hmm.

[paulj]

Evaporated milk doesn't have added sugar, but milk naturally has sugar (lactose). That is what the label identifies.
paulj