Milk Musings

[chuckro]

As a recent experiment, Jethrien and I tried all of the non-standard milk options available at our supermarket. There's no real dietary necessity for this, more just a general keeping options open and trying new things. I had a milk allergy as an infant and drank soy formula, but my mother successfully weaned me onto milk products before I can remember and I don't think I've had soy milk since. (Though I wonder if this influenced my habits growing up and now--I don't really drink a lot of milk or milk-based beverages. Even with cookies or PB&J, where it's the classic accompaniment. I have milk on cereal, and that's mostly it.)

I couldn't really taste much difference between soy milk, rice milk and almond milk; they all taste pretty much like skim milk that weas poured on sweetened cereal. Given that most of my milk consumption is on cereal anyway, this isn't so bad. We did virtually no baking with them, but the "original" flavor (as opposed to the vanilla version) works find for powdered-cheese pasta mixes. They also all have a much longer shelf life than regular milk, and pretty much the same nutritional content.

I may try baking with soy or rice milk just to see how things come out--broiche, for example. Stuff that's directly dependent on dairy (pudding, ice cream, frostings) will not be attempted without actual dairy. And I won't be baking with almond milk, because that seems an unnecessarily cruel thing to do to friends with nut allergies.

We tried out goat milk after exhausting the non-dairy options at our supermarket, just to see what it was like. Given that goat cheese is so fabulous, the milk was surprisingly meh. It tastes like cow's milk with a slightly unpleasant tangy aftertaste. Not going to bother again.

Comments

I like milk too!

[qiika.livejournal.com]

Lactose-free milk is interchangeable with regular milk for everything (that I've tried, possibly not fancy-sweets baking). Even though I'm not (I don't think I am) lactose intolerant, I've found that lactose-free milk is a little gentler on my system. My kid, however, would not be able to keep up her milk habit without the stuff. It seems like she goes through 2 gallons a week on her own.

A month or two ago, a friend came over and attempted coconut ice cream - made with coconut milk (no dairy). It was surprisingly tasty.

The almond milk that I've tried tasted like liquid candy bars. I'm afraid I would drink it all. I've avoided buying it for this reason.

Soy milks are not all created equal. My kid the expert likes 8th Continent brand, but not Silk. She prefers the vanilla to the chocolate. Me? I think soy is too chalky in most applications.

I did try goat milk and decided that it was equivalently tasty compared to cow milk. However, in my experience a quart of goat milk is the same price as a gallon of cow milk. Yeah. Not worth it.

[hutubachick.livejournal.com]

I actually really like the rice milk in cookies and other baked goods. I've found that it gives it a little bit of a sweeter taste :)

[(Anonymous)]

For some reason I do not understand (perhaps no one does), goat's milk was all the rage for "allergic" kids in the 1950s. Your aunt tried it and tiger's milk (yes, tiger's milk) for Andrew, as that was a recommended treatment for autism. Who would milk a tiger?
When I want a real treat, I drink a glass of icy cold whole milk. That's all we drank when I was a child- no water, very little soda, and never any reduced-fat milk. I love whole milk.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

I really like lactose-free milk... it stays fresh longer, and seems to be slightly sweeter. That said, we have a milk store near us where the milk is local and super super fresh, so I go with that instead.

Soy milk tastes thin to me, not creamy at all. No love.

Don't know how goat's milk is, but goat yogurt is amazing.