February 7, 2011 - 8:05am
dry milk powder
Hello,
Should the weight of dry milk powder be considered part of the liquids or of the dry ingredients? Obviously if I'd reconstituted it in advance it would be liquid, but it's dry now!
Thanks
Judi
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Hello,
Should the weight of dry milk powder be considered part of the liquids or of the dry ingredients? Obviously if I'd reconstituted it in advance it would be liquid, but it's dry now!
Thanks
Judi
I say dry. Even though absorption may be small, water is still required to rehydrate it.
However, I wouldn't significantly adjust the hydration in the recipe to reflect this absorption.
I feel like dry milk should almost be treated somewhere between a dry ingredient and a fat in a recipe, because its tenderizing effects are related.
Yes, I'm using it instead of fat, keeping the dough very lean. I tried it with last week's baking and it added just a touch of softness to the interior but kept the crust very crisp and nice. Unfortunately, I adjusted my plan mid-phase and didn't keep a good record of how much of what.
Thanks, Cranbo.
Judi
What worked well for me (those bread diaries are handy!-) was to replace flour with an equal weight of dried milk and not change the amount of water the recipe specified. I got pretty much the same hydration and the same dough feel.
(I'm pretty sure this is not the "right" way to do it, as it messes up bakers percentages. All I'm reporting is it worked for me for "incorporating" milk into existing recipes that didn't already call for it, without having to do hardly any math or adjusting.)
Thanks Chuck,
Sounds like it's official: 'dry' milk powder counts as a 'dry' ingredient, maintaining the dry-to-liquid ratio.
I did it that way this morning and my bread is all I'd hoped for; a crisp, slightly chewy crust and a lofty, soft, spingy, open crumb. I added some Harvest Grains Blend from KAF to the dough and on top. It's beautiful and delicious.
Thanks for the input,
Judi