Why You Should Have Canned Milk In Your Pantry

Canned milk is shelf-stable, inexpensive, and versatile. Those three traits make it popular amongst savvy pantry preppers, who stock up on such items in the face of nascent hurricanes and price hikes alike. But aside from its practicality in emergency situations, it's also useful for recipes that require milk. While it doesn't taste exactly the same as the fresh-from-the-carton white stuff, it makes up for a lack of freshness by adding some sweetness to mugs of cocoa, your holiday pumpkin pie, and creamy mac and cheese.

Evaporated milk comes from milk that has had some of its water removed, which leaves behind the thick and creamy consistency that people associate with the sweetened condensed stuff. And while the original intention behind its invention was to make a long-lasting milk product that could be reconstituted with water as needed, it's the milk's reduced water content, plus the preserving method, that gives canned milk its 18 to 24-month shelf life (provided that it's unopened and the can isn't severely dented). It's also remarkably flexible as a cooking ingredient.

While you may not be a fan of consuming evaporated milk straight from the can, due to how different it tastes compared to regular milk, there is definitely an argument to be made for using it in the kitchen. Cooking with canned milk gives some recipes a slight nutty, caramel flavor and a rich texture that makes many dishes worth a second and third bite. Its distinct flavor is especially yummy in desserts like hot fudge and caramel turtle brownies, and even as a substitute for Cool Whip. To make that, you just need to whip some chilled evaporated milk and put dollops of it on top of your grandma's heirloom apple pie recipe (or other dessert of choice).

But it doesn't just shine in sweet treats. Surprisingly, evaporated milk is also an effective meat tenderizer, thanks to the salts, called phosphates, that infuse it. To make steaks more tender and moist, all you need to do is to soak them in a milk marinade for a couple of hours before cooking them. Easy peasy.

Finally, canned milk can be the difference between a plate of ho-hum corn chips and a platter of irresistible nachos covered with an special nacho cheese sauce. Because it's less inclined to curdle than its non-evaporated counterpart, your sauces will be creamier and less likely to scorch, thanks to the evaporation process. This undertaking encourages the soluble whey proteins to cover the casein in the milk, making the water and milk molecules less predisposed to separate when you heat the milk up again. Less separation equals less curdling and creamier cheese sauces come nacho night.

Aside from making meals more delish, having a stash of a dozen or more cans of evaporated milk in the pantry comes in especially handy for those who prefer to shop the pantry. If you're unfamiliar with pantry shopping, it basically means that you plan your meals around what's already in the cupboard instead of going to the grocery store every time you cook dinner. This practice is particularly easy on the budget if you buy canned goods in large quantities while they're on sale. Having canned milk already stashed away means that you can skip the supermarket when food price fluctuations don't favor your wallet's bottom line.

Canned milk usually comes in 12-ounce cans. However, because it's condensed, you need to add water to it to make it take on the consistency of regular milk. Typically, you'll add one and a half cans of water to each can of milk (simply refill the empty milk can with water for this measurement). A can of evaporated milk sells for about $1.20, netting you almost 4 cups of milk using this method. Even if a gallon of milk is slightly cheaper at the grocery store, the shelf-stable nature of evaporated milk might save you time and money in the long run.

Of course, you can cook with milk in its evaporated form. However, having the option of stretching it out with water allows your dollar to go farther. It's an all-around effective way to save yourself some cash on your grocery budget without forcing you to skimp on taste and texture.