Milkman milk powder cases now available online

Hi Gavin,

one alternative you might want to consider is dried milk from Nestle – Nido.
On backpacking trips I try to get the most calories per oz of my food. Since Nido is whole milk and Milkman is low-fat milk, you get per oz roughly 65 calories from fat compared to roughly 12 calories. Those 50+ additional calories in an ounce of milk powder are valuable to me on long trips.

Manfred

Hey Manfred, are you able to find Nido locally? If so, at which stores?

Hi Justin,

I found it at the local Walmart (in the Hispanic food isle) and also in Hispanic markets in the area. It comes in several different sizes (around 14 oz, 28 oz and 56 oz).

Manfred

I find it in the local Chinese grocery. Our Target used to carry it, but I think they no longer do. Worst case you can find it online.

I have never tried Milkman, but for backpacking and bike touring I'd much rather have whole milk so I'll stick with Nido.

BTW, Nido is really good in coffee, much better than skim in taste, IMO.

Thanks for the tip, Manfred.

I think what I'll do is pick up some Nido and do a bit of a taste test. I'll report back with what I find :)

Milkman – $2 to $3 per quart at milkmanmilk.com or REI (currently out of stock).

3.52 pound can of Nestle Nido, which makes 13.3 quarts, is $19.15 at my local Mexican grocery, and $13.88 at Walmart.com.

That’s $1.04 to $1.44 per quart.

Besides backpacking, I use Nido at home when we run out of regular milk. Add Nido to water for best results.

— Rex

Ok, so here it is. I bought some Nido to compare side by side with Milkman.

Both of them mixed up pretty easily although I found a few more clumps in the Nido that were more difficult to break up. The Milkman dissolved really well with no clumping at all.

Flavor-wise, Nido was much creamier due to the higher fat content. It tasted good, more like whole milk but still a bit of a powdery/chalky flavor I expect from milk powder. The Milkman was excellent and tasted almost exactly like the 2% milk in my fridge. Perhaps a bit thinner in texture but still a lot like real milk.

Based on that alone I'd say its worth paying a little extra for Milkman because I don't necessarily need the extra calories Nido would provide on strenuous treks.

"If so, at which stores?"

Just about any Hispanic market will carry it.

My brother use to have mild asthma and moderate allergies. He tends to eat a lot of cereal and use to ingest a lot of cow milk because of that. Awhile after his wife only started buying almond milk, both of the above body issues got a lot better.

Non cultured cow milk makes me very mucous filled, course, i didn't realize that until i had cut it out for awhile, and then would occasionally have some. (Raw, non cultured cow milk was a bit better, but still had a similar effect, though less severe). When you're use to it, it becomes the "norm" for you and don't know any better.

I use goat milk powder, doesn't affect me like cow milk, and it's not so much about lactose, but about casein, as lactose free cow milk would do the same thing still.

Pure whey is pretty good, as it has very little to no casein in it, and little to no lactose. All the good stuff, without the mucous forming, hard to digest stuff.

I find that not a lot of people know about the casein issue with cow milk (lactose is the only thing commonly talked about in the mainstream), so thought i'd share the above for people's consideration. Casein, good for glue, not human consumption. I think *some* folks can probably digest it fully, but i know a lot of people who can't even if they aren't aware of it–tale tell signs being sniffly and at least mildly congested much of the time, constant allergies, etc.

Nido is far and away the best.

I also prefer to order the imported (from holland) Nido due to better regulations (and it might just be in my head, but slightly better flavor) in Holland than the USA. You can get the imported Nido from amazon.

Food industry worker here with 15+ years experience, especially with powders. I thought I would add my two cents.

When using milk powders, care needs to be taken as to storage conditions and shelf-life. The higher the fat content, the quicker the product will go stale or rancid. Once a canister has been opened and the powder is exposed to air, the clock starts ticking. Breaking it down and storing in plastic bags also does not quite do the trick because plastic is not an adequate oxygen or moisture barrier.

With this in mind, all of your milk powder should be consumed within a relatively short period of time or tightly sealed in a metal/foil container and kept in the fridge once opened. The fat-content in the milk powder is the same as leaving butter out on the counter or in your pantry (its the same type of fat in both instances).

Any product that comes in a single serving foil package will certainly be a bit more expensive but will absolutely provide an optimum shelf-life and flavor protection and will taste just as fresh a year or two later.

"Once a canister has been opened and the powder is exposed to air, the clock starts ticking."

Would this same principle apply to whey protein, even though it has no fat?

"The fat-content in the milk powder is the same as leaving butter out on the counter or in your pantry (its the same type of fat in both instances)."

I don't doubt you on the milk powder suggestions.

But butter – I never put it in the fridge. It says in a cupboard in my kitchen (with a glass front, so not even in a 'dark' place, unlike my heart, but I digress). I've had a tub of whipped butter (sometimes salted, sometimes no salt) in the cupboard for over a month after it's been opened, with never a problem.

"But butter – I never put it in the fridge. It says in a cupboard in my kitchen…. I've had a tub of whipped butter (sometimes salted, sometimes no salt) in the cupboard for over a month after it's been opened, with never a problem."

I would think you would get sick on that… or at least upset stomach and/or the runs…

Dude… the grocery stores don't spend all that money to refrigerate the stuff for no reason… I'm sure if they thought it was okay to store it at room temperature they would gladly save the money on their electricity bill…

billy

"I would think you would get sick on that… or at least upset stomach and/or the runs…"

Been doing it for years. I'm not young. Never have gotten sick from it yet. Ever. Nor has the butter ever turned rancid. Ever. (And rancid butter doesn't make you sick, it just smells and tastes horrible, from what I've read).

How long does it sit on your shelf Doug?

And your're talking real butter, right? Not margarine?

Perhaps you should take out a patent on your storage method and sell it to the grocery stores :)

billy

"… the grocery stores don't spend all that money to refrigerate the stuff for no reason…"

I once saw some fully cooked shelf stable bacon displayed on an end cap shelf. A few months later I saw the same product in the refrigerated case, next to the Jimmy Dean sausages and the uncooked regular bacon. I asked the manager of the butcher section why it wasn't refrigerated earlier. His reply was that it doesn't need to be kept cold, but that they chose to do it because people expect it to be. Bacon bits aren't kept refrigerated…maybe folks don't expect them to be?

I wonder if the Idester keeps his place at 55* F–that might explain his happy butter.

"How long does it sit on your shelf Doug?

And your're talking real butter, right? Not margarine?

Perhaps you should take out a patent on your storage method and sell it to the grocery stores :)"

Anywhere from 2-4 weeks or so, I'd imagine. And yes, organic, sweet cream, salted (usually) butter. No margarine in this house!

But not just me, many other folks do so as well. Quite popular in Europe.

And no, Dr. Dunckel, my house is quite warm in summer, and quite cool in winter. Thermostat set to 80 in summer (82 during the day when I'm at work).

Very recently, I had a seven-ounce package of sliced Swiss cheese packed into a bear canister for my trip. Unfortunately, it was in there for six or seven days without any refrigeration before the start of the trip.

When I got to my first campsite, I opened the canister and got out the cheese package. Either from internal gases or reduced external air pressure, the cheese package was blown up like a balloon. The slices had been reduced to a big melted wad of cheese, but I could just gnaw off a hunk of it. Gee, was it good!

Now, once opened, I think it might become suspect after several days.

–B.G.–

I once saw some fully cooked shelf stable bacon displayed on an end cap shelf once. A few months later I saw the same product in the refrigerated case, next to the Jimmy Dean sausages and the regular bacon. I asked the manager of the butcher section why it wasn't refrigerated earlier. His reply was that it doesn't need to be kept cold, but that they chose to do it because people expect it to be. Bacon bits aren't kept refrigerated…maybe folks don't expect them to be?

Interesting… But have you ever seen butter unrefrigerated at a grocery store?

billy

"But have you ever seen butter unrefrigerated at a grocery store?"

Yeah, it's called ghee. ;0)

"Been doing it for years. I'm not young. Never have gotten sick from it yet. Ever. Nor has the butter ever turned rancid. Ever."

+1, except I'm younger than Doug. Though I will leave fresh eggs out on the counter.

No, chicken eggs, that I did not lay myself Doug.

I'm with Ken, eggs are OK at room temps for a good while. And I'm with the good Rev. Ide, in that butter doesn't get very funky below 90*F.

My thing here is that some things don't actually need to be refrigerated, no matter what Martha Stewart tells us. For example, I've been eating my 2009 vacuum-sealed FD/dehydrated component meals lately, to check them out, and to get them out of my inventory. All of them have been great. They've been sitting in cool, dry storage for all that time. I do refrigerate my fatty meats, or freeze them, just to be sure.

But what does this have to do with powdered milk, anyway?

Just bought two large cans of Nestle Nido today from a small local store. The "Best Before" date is January 31, 2015, over 7 months from now. I don't know how long it's been on the shelf at the store, especially since it has two layers of price stickers. On the other hand, "Best Before" dates are often very, very conservative. The label states "Keep tightly closed and store in a cool, dry place."

Sometimes it takes me a couple of months to use up a large can of Nido, stored in a cupboard in the kitchen with it's plastic lid. I've never had it go stale or rancid. It rarely gets above 90° F here, but we get 100% humidity for some part of almost every day of the year.

I've repackaged Nido into Ziploc sandwich bags with instant tea, and taken those on many backpack trips with no problems. Some of those trips ended early, or I took too much, and I used those bags at home over the following several weeks. None of those went stale or rancid.

Will Nido stay good repackaged for a thru-hike, stored for five months in a friend's garage, shipped across country, stored in post office for another week, then carried down the trail in your backpack for another week? Don't know, but you can find Nido on many thru-hiker food lists.

YMMV.

— Rex