Powdered Milk Alternative

[Broil]

here's more information on Nido, which apparently is a Nestle (Swiss) product made in various countries, but is available in some Walmart Hispanic sections in the US.  http://www.nestle.co.za/default.aspx?pid=150

Parmalat is also available in some Walmarts.

Even though it's costly, maybe it could be mixed into a lot of nonfat milk to make a budget prepper product.

Here are some customer reviews from Amazon, all positive - http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Nido-Instant-Whole-12-6oz/product-reviews/B00032B982/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[speaksoftly]

Grower I'm so glad you mentioned Nido. I had not heard of it. So the other day I was in the store (the store is not LATOC-accepted  so I won't mention the name), saw it for 13.00, and bought a can. It's good! I'm going to get some more.

[Broil]

How much milk does one of those cans make, speaksoftly, and is that the regular kind or the kind that's specifically made for children?

[speaksoftly]

Broil, It doesn't say just for children, but it is fortified, and it is instant. I have regular powdered milk (Bob's Red Mill) in storage as well, and the Provident Pantry instant. This can is 1 lb. and makes 58 1 cup servings per container. The ingredients listed are whole milk, soy lecithin, vitamin A acetate, and vitamin D3. I checked my receipt : 13.88.

To compare with the 12.99  on sale Provident Pantry, which I have in storage but haven't tasted, 48 1 cup servings, Extra Grade Nonfat Dry Milk (not sure what Extra Grade means), Lactose, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3.The Nido lists more vitamins than  the "standard" label, but maybe because it comes from Mexico? Other than the extra listings they are nutritionally similar except that the Provident Pantry has 5% more Calcium per serving, and 4% Vitamin C (Nido no C).

What else should I be looking for? I don't drink milk, but would be using it for baking, cheese, and yogurt.

[Grower]

Nido is about the only powdered full fat milk I can find. Instant is almost always non-fat, and as far as doom prep goes, I think it's important to have more calories.

[Broil]

Well, look at the reviews on that link above, I can guarantee you that people don't give reviews that good for nonfat instant.

[Grower]

Yes, exactly. Taste and calories. That's why I chose it.

[pamplemousse]

The latest from Honeyville, not just for powdered milk substitute either:

Greetings from Honeyville Farms: SUMMARY: 15% OFF YOUR ENTIRE ORDER* from Thursday, November 12, 2009 thru Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 6:00PM PST. Simply enter the coupon code VETERANS during checkout. Stock up and SAVE! Pass this along to friends and family. This is sure to be one of our best discounts of the year.

[pamplemousse]

Broil, I was in the local middle-Eastern grocery a few weeks back and I saw Nido whole fat powdered milk, $4.99 for a small canister, 12.6 ounces.  Of course I thought of you!  The directions said 3 heaping tablespoons for one cup of milk.  Just eyeballing it, maybe the canister is enough to get you to a gallon?  It wasn't so long ago that milk was $3.50-ish a gallon, so this isn't much of a price stretch.  The use by date on mine was December 2010.  Too bad it is Nestle.

We're out of milk today, needed some for the fake mashed potatoes, and I made 2 cups of reconstituted milk.  This stuff is GOOD.  The (grown) boys reject anything that's different, so they're useless for a taste test, but if you can get past it being not fresh milk, it is very drinkable.  TONS better than skim powdered milk.

Storing $20 worth would be very do-able.  You could make it a point to rotate through that much in a year without great hardship.  In a SHTF scenario, this would be very useful.  You could blend it with skim powdered milk, or chocolate powder to come up with a palatable blend.  Thank you for the recommendation.

[Broil]

You're welcome!

I just saw it at Walmart for the first time, earlier this month.  Maybe that's as bad as it being Nestle, but frankly I can't save the world on my limited income.

[Grower]

You can buy BIG cans by the case at Amazon for less than $100. Six of them makes quite a lot of milk. It's often used for infants, so yes, it's pretty good.

[I_Heart_Petrobilia]

The thing about powdered milk, is that after you mix it, it should sit overnight in the fridge before drinking.  I read somewhere that it has to do with the proteins in the milk -- the mixed milk has to sit for a few hours for everything to rehydrate properly.  I have memories of my childhood where I would try drinking the freshly mixed milk, it wasn't pleasant.   

My mother always stretched the milk, by mixing whole homogenized milk half-and-half with powedered skim milk.  Tasted fine the next day.

[ArtiseLife]

My family won't touch powdered milk, no matter how I doctor it up.  I have one can open that is used for baking, and it has lasted more than a year.  This stuff is a tough sell at my house.

We went to Salt Lake City last week, and visited Emergency Essentials, Macey's, the Blue Chip Group, and Honeyville Grains.  Several of the places offered samples of their brands of whey-based milk alternatives.  My fussy spouse approved of all of them, plain, chocolate, strawberry, orange, all good.  Shelf life is up to five years.  This is going to make inventory rotation much easier.

I checked prices (plus shipping) at Walton Feed, Survival Acres, Beprepared.com, Blue Chip Group, and Honeyville Grains.  The low price winner was Honeyville Grains.  You can get a case for $60, plus $4.99 shipping.  That will make 36 gallons for $65, not bad.  There's a discount for a 4 case purchase, and I found a 10% off coupon code with an internet search, expires today, sorry.  I'll post a fresh code if they send me one.

I first clued in to this by watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0nT0HRbf-c#noexternalembed  at the 3:52 mark, she talks about powdered milk and Morning Moo. 
The ingredients aren't as simple as dried skim milk, that's for sure.  But it looks like a good way to get  everybody's calcium requirements met without brute force, so I'm going with it.  Ingredients: Sweet dairy whey, non-fat dry milk solids, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: coconut oil and /or soya oil), corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, lecithin, carrageenan, vitamin A, vitamin D3.

Maybe you'd like to have a little bit of this set aside in your food storage, just in case?

This alternative milk has carrageenan in it. That is some wicked stuff. Google that ingredient to be truly horrified. Here's something from Wikipedia about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan  One of the uses of carrageenan is as a personal lubricant! It also causes intestinal swelling and was used to create the drool in the movie "Alien." It seems to have the consistancy of vasoline which can't be good. I became aware of this stuff when I made frozen ravioli and got sick. I didn't think much of it at the time and later made that same frozen ravioli again with the same resulting nausea and stomach pain. Then I read the ingredients and found carrageenan. That explained it. Now I scan labels for that ingredient and avoid it. Also, Nestle has also started using it in Nestle's Quik. I found that out the same way....by drinking it and getting sick. I had a giant Sam's Club sized jar of it that I threw away. It's in a lot of ready made frostings too.

[revoltingdevelopments]

Carageenan is derived from seaweed. It is safe for most people but in some folks does cause stomach trouble as you discovered.