Evaporated milk substitute for pumpkin pie

How to make evaporated milk from regular milk

Cook off about half its water. Evaporated milk is defined in the FDA's standard of identity as milk with only water removed, at at least 6.5 percent milkfat and 23 percent total milk solids. Whole milk has to have at least 3.25 percent fat and 8.25 percent other milk solids, about 11.5 percent in all. Halve the milk and both numbers double, which lands right on the evaporated milk minimums. Going a little past half, 2¼ cups down to 1, gives you a margin.

1. Measure 2¼ cups (530 ml) of whole milk for each cup of evaporated milk you need, or about 3½ cups (830 ml) for a 12-ounce can.
2. Pour it into the widest heavy pan you have. Water leaves from the surface, so a 10- or 12-inch skillet beats a deep saucepan.
3. Bring it to a bare simmer over medium-low heat, with small bubbles at the edge and no rolling boil. Stir every few minutes and scrape the bottom with a heatproof spatula, since milk solids settle and scorch.
4. Pour it into a heatproof measuring cup now and then to check. Stop at 1 cup (or 1½ cups for a can).
5. Cool it before it goes into a pie filling, so it doesn't start cooking the eggs.

Go by the line on the measuring cup. The time depends on the pan's width and the heat, and a wide skillet gets there much sooner than a saucepan with the same milk in it.

Stir in the skin that forms on top, or lift it off if it has gone leathery. 2% milk reduces the same way and gives you something like low-fat evaporated milk.

Store-bought evaporated milk tastes a little of caramel because it is heat-sterilized to keep in the can, and America's Test Kitchen puts its caramelized lactose at about 10 percent, against 4.5 percent lactose in fresh milk. Milk reduced in a pan picks up some of that cooked flavor too, though less color, so a pie made with it comes out a shade paler.

Which evaporated milk substitute is best for pumpkin pie?

Reduced whole milk, if you have the time, because it is evaporated milk in all but the can. Half-and-half is the one to use when you don't. In a pumpkin pie the dairy's job is to add milk solids and fat without much water, so the eggs set the filling into a firm, sliceable custard. Half-and-half has at least 10.5 percent milkfat, so its total solids come out close to evaporated milk's, with more of them as fat and fewer as protein and milk sugar. The pie bakes up a little softer and tastes of cream.

Heavy cream is at least 36 percent milkfat, so half cream and half water comes out at 18 percent or so, a touch above half-and-half. Leave out the water and straight cream gives a heavy, almost cheesecake-like filling.

The dry-milk mix is from Utah State University Extension's dried milk guide: 1 cup of instant nonfat dry milk stirred into 1⅓ cups of water, with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil whisked in hard if you want some fat back. It separates as it stands, so stir it again right before it goes into the bowl.

Plain milk straight from the carton is the weakest choice. Whole milk can be up to about 88 percent water and evaporated milk no more than 77 percent, so a cup and a half of milk brings an extra ⅙ cup or so of water into a filling that has nowhere to put it. The pie will set, but softer.

If your recipe works in metric, Hedgehog Chef's free cooking converter turns 12 fluid ounces into milliliters or cups. For two pies, the recipe scaler doubles the whole ingredient list, 3½ cups of milk to 7.

Can you use sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk?

Not in a recipe written for evaporated milk. Sweetened condensed milk has sugar cooked into it, enough that the FDA standard says the sugar has to be sufficient to prevent spoilage. USDA's FoodData Central lists it at about 54 grams of sugar per 100 grams, more than half its weight. Swap it into an evaporated-milk pie, which already has its own sugar, and the filling comes out far too sweet.

If sweetened condensed milk is what you have, use a pumpkin pie recipe written for it. Those use one 14-ounce can in place of both the evaporated milk and the sugar. Don't try to make up the difference by cutting sugar from an evaporated-milk recipe and guessing.

It doesn't work the other way round either. Evaporated milk plus sugar won't stand in for sweetened condensed milk in fudge, key lime pie or seven-layer bars. Their thick, syrupy body comes from sugar cooked down with the milk, and sugar stirred into a can of evaporated milk stays runny.

Evaporated milk vs condensed milk: what's the difference?

Sugar, mainly, and a bit more fat. The federal standards of identity set the floor for each:

Evaporated milk pours like light cream. Sweetened condensed milk falls off a spoon in ribbons. A recipe that says "condensed milk" and lists no other sugar means the sweetened kind.

What's a dairy-free substitute for evaporated milk?

Full-fat canned coconut milk, 1 for 1. It's thick enough to use straight from the can, with no reducing. Whisk it smooth first, since the fat rises to the top. The pie will taste of coconut.

For a neutral flavor, reduce unsweetened soy milk the way you'd reduce dairy milk, 2¼ cups down to 1. Soy is the plant milk with protein closest to dairy milk's, so it thickens and helps the custard set. Almond and oat drinks usually carry far less protein (compare the protein line on the cartons; the FDA's guide to milk and plant-based beverages shows where to look), and reduced almond or oat milk gives a softer, looser pie.

The carton coconut drink sold for cereal is a different product from canned coconut milk. It's mostly water, too thin to stand in.

Should you keep evaporated milk in the pantry?

For November, yes. An unopened can keeps on the shelf until the date stamped on it, and a can in the cupboard means no simmering milk on a day the stove is busy. Once it's open, keep the rest covered in the fridge and use it within the time on the label.

Put two cans on your list when you shop for the Thanksgiving groceries, and see the Thanksgiving cooking timeline for where the pie fits in the week. If the recipe also wants buttermilk for the biscuits, the buttermilk substitute post has the amounts.

In Hedgehog Chef, cans you keep go in the pantry with their dates, and when you add the pie recipe to the shopping list, it leaves out what the pantry says you already have. So the evaporated milk turns up on the list only when the cupboard is out of it.