Sad news. Familiar Foods, the company that carried the Milkman Brand powdered instant milk (with the kiss of cream) is out of business.

I discovered how good their product was while in Iraq. The shelf stable cartons of milk the chow hall had weren't fit for consumption, so I asked the wife to send me some instant. At first I got Carnation, and while I do not care for the taste of their product, it was better than what we got at the chow hall. My wife sent me a package of Milkman Brand and the taste was much more acceptable, to the extent that I became somewhat of a supplier for good fresh milk to a number of expats and a few soldiers. The small amount of milkfat in the mix really made a big difference.

Now it is gone. Woe is me.

Benjammin, you might try Nido whole powdered milk. Like you, I really prefer milk that has some milkfat. I never had the Milkman brand, so can't compare the two. This stuff has a particular taste that I happen to love.
Downsides: it's quite expensive, and has shorter shelf life than nonfat milk.
Indian and Mexican grocery stores carry it. I watch for the occasional good price and/or free shipping offer on Amazon.
By the way, the Nido made in Mexico tends to be somewhat cheaper than Nido from Holland or England. I don't know if there's any difference between these products ...

From an article in the NY Times:

"... sold for an undisclosed price its Milkman brand of instant low-fat dry milk, along with a production plant in Loleta, Calif., to Familiar Foods Inc. of the City of Industry, Calif.

"The product will be sold through current distribution channels by the new owners."

Sue

Sue

Yeah, they had the best powdered milk by far. Haven't tried it yet but in REI I noticed Backpackers Pantry sells pouches of powdered Whole Milk. That should mean a higher fat content than MilkMan (2%).

Yeah, Familiar Foods is out of business, so the product is no longer available. Whole milk doesn't have a good shelf life, unless you add chem to it to keep it shelf stable. Milkman was about an ideal compromise.

So were the milk cows all laid of or just given different jobs?

Yeah, they changed their name to Chuck

Ahhh, so the company had a going away roast for them.
That is nice.
I wonder if there were any other steak holders involved?

i switched to Nido a few years ago,Milkman was ok for camp cooking and much better than dry skim milk. but for me it just go's into Mac and Cheese dinners and biscuits so i don't notice any difference.

Restaurant at the End of the Universe "Dish of the Day"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_characters_from_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Dish_of_the_Day

OP, what was it you did not like about the gossnerfarms milk? As long as it is chilled I think it taste just fine, choco is better however. Living in Utah (were Gossner is from) I stock a few cases in my pantry and storage. I also stock a case or so of the silk vanilla soy milk in the quart sized cartons. this stuff is nice since it does not require chilling till opened, but chilling prior to use makes it taste better. My daughter loves it with her cereal.

I assume its gossner farms UHT milk you are refurring to in your first post?

FYI, just tried the Backpackers Pantry powdered whole milk and that is indeed what it is. Clumps a little when you stir just like Milkman did. Really good stuff. Expiration date is 2011 so its good for at least 2-3 years.

I used to empty the one quart envelopes of milkman into a 1 liter plastic bottle, add enough water to fill it 7/8ths full, then shake it like a bad little monkey until the foam locked the liquid up. I'd let it sit to reduce the foam and shake it again, repeating this process until I was satisfied it was as fully mixed as I could get it. Ice cold, it tasted just like fresh milk to me at the time.

Stupid question here. Having never used instant milk, does it have the same nutrition as regular milk?

Now this milk jug shaking reminded me of something I think I read several years ago in a book perhaps called "The New Way of the Wilderness", by Cal Rutstrum. He described just this very process with one very important twist--he tossed in a clean short length of light chain to enhance the agitation. He claimed excellent results using this method.

From what I could determine, yes, instant milk is nutritionally about the same as fresh milk, fat content notwithstanding.

Hmm, the chain idea makes me think of the little marble in a spray paint can. Don't know if that'd help with knocking the foam down, though.

in one of the 1950's camping books they suggested using a cocktail shaker and a bit of light chain to mix pancake batter.
sounds ok but now you have a gunky bit of chain to deal with---

Deep fry it: RDA of iron, if nothing else

My teeth are good, but not good enough to chew on iron chain, deep fried or not.

BTW, I use that method to make flour slurry for gravy. A pint mason jar with a tight lid filled 1/2 full of water/milk and flour makes a nice emulsion and no lumps.

I do that with jars as mixers but I don't bother with any chain. I find if you shake them the long way, top to bottom, they mix well.
Sometimes right upside down and a few good shakes to get anything sticking to the bottom of the jar to mix in.

I also found for dry ingredients they mix well by turning them upside down and upright again a few times. Usually only three or four times.

Yep, that's the routine right there.

Oh happy days. Milkman brand dry powdered milk is once again on the market.

I was perusing the local REI, lo and behold there were two boxes of packets sitting on the bottom shelf below all the Mountain House bags. I snagged them and ran for the checkout. Looking on the REI website, they are temporarily out of stock. A quick websearch and it looks like packetgourmet is selling them. For $3.99 per packet, which makes one quart, it is not economical, but it is the only powdered milk I have tried that I care for.

I suppose Nido brand would be okay. I need to give it a try I suppose. But now that Milkman is back (being made by marronfoods.com now, though you won't find it on their website), I am a happy boy once again.

Good news if you like milk! Personally I'm not a big fan of the stuff. Humans are one of the few animals that normally drink milk again after being weaned, and that's primarily Western people. I like cheese but plain milk doesn't do much for me.

Ditto. Some (definitely not all) cheese and I do my coffee as a latte', but that's about it for milk.

I grew up drinking milk, and I developed quite a taste for it. Sometimes it quenches my thirst better than anything.

Sometimes it's a beer. Depends on the mood, and the occasion.

In the past, on cold or rainy nights, I would make home made cocoa. I still have the recipe somewhere.

Jeanette Isabelle

A lot of peeps drink milk for the calcium thinking it's a good source -- only if you're an infant. From what I've learned, milk breaks down acidic in your system and forces the body to pull other minerals out to get your blood to a more normal ph. Calcium is one of the most readily available and your bones are the source. From what I've read online, google is your friend.

Broccoli is a better nutritional source of calcium.

FWIW

Too funny!

I guess some things you just get used to. I also enjoy a big glass of buttermilk once in a while. Something else I picked up from Grandad. Not exactly a thirst quencher, more like how some folks enjoy a milkshake I suppose. It tends to gross out the rest of the family. But when I use it to make strawberry banana smoothies (with a little honey added), they don't seem to have any problem.

Any opinions on the consumption of buttermilk?

Beer contains zero fat while milk is full of fat.
Beer is not contaminated with hormones or antibiotics. But milk is loaded with a wild variety of the pesticides and antibiotics fed to cows.
Beer has no cholesterol. In every 8-oz. serving, milk holds 20 mg of cholesterol.
beer is better for you than milk
Beer contains only 12 mg of sodium in one serving while milk is loaded with it.
In every 12-oz. serving, beer holds 3 grams of complex carbohydrates. Milk contains zero complex carbohydrates.
In every cup, beer contains a half gram of fiber. Milk has zero fiber.

According to the American Heart Association, milk is linked to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, asthma, strokes, allergies, iron deficiency, and the common cold. Recent studies have also shown that milk consumption may cause osteoporosis.

"It is vital to understand that milk is useless against osteoporosis, so that people will understand what really does help. Milk is no substitute for exercise, avoiding animal protein and sodium that deplete calcium, and other factors," says Neal D. Barnard, M.D., president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Over a 12-year period, the Harvard Nurses' Health Study revealed that milk-drinkers had more bone breaks than women who rarely drink milk.

Interesting statistics.

I drink milk because I like it. I never said it was healthy. LOL

I drink beer for much the same reason.

In fact, most everything I consume I do because I like it.

Funny how different authorities espouse and cite different statistics, usually in contradiction to other authorities.

Take coffee for instance. I've been drinking coffee for a long time. Occasionally I hear some authority say coffee is bad, then later I hear another say it is okay, and yet again another will say it is good for you.

I say drink/eat what you like. Do so in moderation, and try to have a sense of variety. Everyday I hear about some health nut in his 50s who keeled over from a heat attack, or was diagnosed with cancer, or run over by a car. Almost as often I come across someone in their 80s that is smoking, 50 lbs overweight, and, believe it or not, still drink milk. Go figure.

I can't give any references, just working from memory here. The first study linking coffee consumption to heart disease was performed in one of the Scandanavian countries. They boil their coffee which releases some kind of oil into the coffee. the oil seems to elevate cholesterol.
Another study found if coffee is prepared by the drip method using a paper filter, what little oil is released from the coffee grounds is trapped by the paper. So no adverse effects on health.
A (I believe) third study found coffee has a fair amount of anti-oxidents which promote good health, but the antioxidents dissipate or decompose within 10 minutes of brewing so you have to drink your coffee right up to get the benefits.

I don't think milk is good for humans but I have to agree with Benjammin; I'm a chef, and nearly everything I eat is chosen because I simply like it.

Coffee makes milk palatable

I try to subsist entirely on foods that I don't care for, read books that do not interest me, associate with tedious people and avoid casual romantic involvements.

This may not make me live longer, but it certainly seems longer; and, as a bonus, death is much less unattractive.

I found the recipe for home made cocoa.

Combine one-quarter cup Hershey's Cocoa, one-half cup sugar, a dash of salt in saucepan; stir in one-third cup hot water. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil and stir two minutes. Add four cups milk; stir and heat. Remove from heat; add three-quarters of a teaspoon vanilla. Beat with rotary beater until foamy.

Jeanette Isabelle

Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Very good.

My Benzen last week was "Our suffering is of greater value than our joy."

Close corollary?

The tao of buzz-kill?

Nursemike,

Thanks, you gave me a good laugh! And I needed it today.

My pleasure, Tree-

Laughter is the only real defense we have against the swirling, sucking eddy of despair that is life in this dark and threatening universe.

"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh.”

― Voltaire