Powdered Milk

Do you store powdered milk?  I used to store just any kind at all.  I'd  use my FoodSaver to vacuum  seal it in jars.   Every once in awhile I would have to open a jar because I'd run out of regular milk.  I would only end up using it for cooking because the smell was enough to gross me out.  And trying to drink it? Oh heck no, not even chilling it and even adding a bit of vanilla extract would make it any better. I'd rather drink 2% milk, which to me is like wanna be milk but hands down better than some powdered milk.

So there I was with all these different brands of milk sitting in the pantry.I stopped buying powdered milk and figured I can always use what I have for baking/cooking.    I had broken one of the very first "rules to remember"  of long term food storage. Store what you eat and eat what you store.
  One day I'll have some goats (maybe. That is if I stop reading over at Carolyn's blog about her goat antics and adventures. She's my "goat guru" and has made me think twice about getting some goats my own. And she's funny too) I would like to have a source for milk and cheese here though and not have to worry about it. We'll see...

I was grocery shopping one day and saw a can of powdered milk that I recognized. I'd never tried it before but a friend stores the same brand and she uses it in her world famous biscuits. (Well in MY mind they should be world famous!) After a few times trying to get my biscuits as nice as hers always are I got to thinking maybe it's the milk that makes the difference.  It turns out I was wrong about the biscuits.  I still can't make them turn out as amazing as hers are but I've been practicing a lot.  Anyway..... I had been on the lookout for the same brand and finally found it in a local grocery around here.
 It's called Sanalac dry milk.  One of the first things I thought of when I  saw it was "Wow, isn't that a baby formula?"  It's not but the name is close enough to make you want to double check.

I made a quart up and set it in the fridge to let it chill.  I don't know about you but I can't handle milk that isn't chilled anyway.  The first thing I noticed was the texture of the dried milk. It's truly a powder.  Not like so many of the other brands.  It was a little hard to mix up at first because it sort of clumped up in the bottom of the jar. Now I mix it up in a quart jar using a little hot water and then adding the powder.  It seems to be easier to mix up like that. Once I finally got it mixed up good ( now I just shake it rather than trying to stir it)and took a smell.  It didn't have that nasty smell that most powdered milk have. Once it was cold, I gave it a test run.  I was craving some cornbread and milk Now if you think I just poured it into a glass before checking out the flavor, you'd be thinking wrong.  No way I'm going to possibly ruin a good piece of cornbread.  I took a tiny sip. Just because it didn't have a nasty smell I wasn't willing to swallow a mouthful and end up either gagging or spitting it out. (or both)
 All this talk just to say I really like it.  The flavor is just great.  It actually tastes like whole milk. I suppose if you like 2% milk you could just decrease the amount of dry milk.  All this really means is that I've found a new milk that I'll gladly be adding to my food storage.

PS  This is not a paid ad, I just really think it's a good product.