Condensed (sweetened) milk is a product that may be stored for a long time without opening the container since it contains less water than regular milk. You can use it for a further week or two after opening it if you keep it properly because it contains sugar as a preservative. Let’s examine whether condensed milk spoils and how long it lasts.
Like most people, you likely have a few bottles of condensed milk lying around the house. If you’re wondering how long condensed milk lasts in the refrigerator, you’ve come to the right place. This article will give you an idea of the shelf life of both sweetened and evaporated milk. Learn about their shelf life and when they’re best to use. Read on to find out how to prolong its shelf life.
How Long does Condensed Milk Last in the Fridge?
Unopened Condensed Milk
The shelf life of this product is considerable. You can store it without worrying about spoiling it for a few years, even one to two, and perhaps five years after the expiration date. While a high-quality product will last longer, you should be aware that it will eventually lose some of its quality even though it will still be safe to use.
Condensed Milk was Opened
An open can of condensed milk shouldn’t be kept for longer than a week or two. Condensed milk that has been sweetened will last longer than unsweetened milk for several days.
This food must be airtight or firmly sealed to prevent spoiling. Otherwise, it will smell and turn sour after three to four days, especially if left in a can.
How should Condensed Milk be Stored?
Condensed milk can be stored in the fridge for the smallest amount of time after being opened by being put in an airtight container. Ideal consumption of condensed milk is within 14 days following opening. When storing milk in the refrigerator, cover it with a lid to prevent it from absorbing odors from its surroundings.
Below are some tips for storing opened, fresh condensed milk to prolong shelf life and prevent spoilage:
Pantry The pantry is the ideal place to keep a can of condensed milk that has not been opened. However, this item can be kept in a kitchen cupboard or any other cool, dry location.
Keep your cans away from heat sources, moisture, and extreme temperatures to prevent packaging damage.
Place it in the Fridge
Keeping condensed milk in the fridge is the best way to preserve it from going bad.
After opening, never put canned condensed milk back in the can; doing so increases the risk of metal shards from the can contaminating the food.
Condensed milk should be transferred into a glass jar or an airtight container before being placed in the refrigerator. Condensed milk can be used for two weeks without getting moldy or bad.
It’s important to choose an appropriate container for your condensed milk. To prevent degradation and airflow, the optimal seal for your container should be airtight.
Conceal it
Condensed milk can be frozen. It can be frozen for a few months if carefully stored in an airtight container. When freezing, use a sturdy freezer-safe container and give a little headspace to account for expansion during the freezing process.
Overnight defrosting should occur in the container in the refrigerator. After defrosting, stir well before using.
Sweetened condensed milk in steel cans that have not been opened shouldn’t be frozen, though. This might result in the milk expanding, leaking, or even blowing the can open.
What are the Uses of Condensed Milk?
In addition to being used as a sweetener in baked products and sweets like pie, pudding, and ice cream, sweetened condensed milk is regularly added to coffee and tea.
It adds concentrated creaminess and a sweet, milky flavor without adding as much moisture as conventional milk to whatever you put it to. So, it’s ideal for creamy meals that you want to set to a nearly-solid consistency, like key lime pie, fudge, frozen margarita pie, or caramel. It’s also one of the three types of milk in tres leches cake and a common ingredient in handmade ice cream. On the beverage front, it regularly shows up in iced coffees like the Spanish café and the Vietnamese variant.
How should I Select Condensed Milk?
Because it is rich in calcium and other vitamins and minerals and without yeast and other additives, condensed milk is considered one of the healthiest candies, unlike many other sweet foods.
Because there are so many counterfeit items on the shelves, be careful while choosing condensed milk.
To reduce the price of such condensed milk, various vegetable fats, including unhealthy palm oil, and numerous food additives are substituted for natural milk fat. Remember that food is unhealthy if it contains ingredients other than milk and sugar.
Condensed milk shouldn’t smell funny and should taste like pasteurized milk. The condensed milk should have a slight flavor of cream and be white. If it is light brown, the manufacturing process has been tampered with. Too much liquid in condensed milk means insufficient protein in the initial raw materials. An excessively thick product also likely contains a lot of vegetable fats or was stored at a high temperature.
How to Freeze Condensed Milk?
I advise freezing it in little, single-serving portions if you plan to use it for coffee. This is a terrific use for an ice cube tray.
What you’ll need to accomplish is as follows:
- Condensed milk should be poured onto a fresh ice cube tray.
- In the freezer, place the tray.
- Condensed milk should be frozen for a few hours or until the cubes are solid.
- The condensed milk cubes can then be removed from the ice cube tray by popping it out of the freezer.
- To make taking out the condensed milk cubes easier, you might want to use a flexible silicone ice cube pan.
- Put the frozen bag of cubes inside. It’s okay if you don’t individually wrap each in parchment paper, though you might want to.
- Then empty the freezer bag for any extra air.
- Label and date the bag before securing it.
- Until you need them, store the condensed milk cubes in the freezer.
Condensed milk can be frozen in larger quantities by pouring it into a freezer-safe, airtight container. Secure the container’s lid after covering the top with a piece of plastic wrap. Until needed, store in the freezer.
What are the Symptoms of Bad Condensed Milk?
Sweetened condensed milk in a closed steel can has a long shelf life and doesn’t need to be refrigerated. After then, the milk’s flavor and texture are lost along with its quality.
It could quickly go bad if not properly preserved after being opened and exposed to oxygen and light.
Here are a few signs that your sweetened condensed milk is past its expiration date:
Color
When freshly opened, sweetened condensed milk in a can has a light or yellowish color. When condensed milk starts to go bad, its color changes from bright yellow to dark yellow to light brown to eventually dark brown. If there is any strange discoloration or mold growth, you should throw it out.
Texture
Even if it has only recently been opened, sweetened condensed milk is thick and gloppy due to its high sugar content. Due to the exceptionally low water content, it is thick. Although working with the thick texture can be difficult, it is typical and nothing to worry about.
When it is spoiled or much past its use-by date, it becomes practically solid and impossible to pour. If so, you should avoid eating it and instead throw it away.
Smell
Another sign of food rotting is the odor. The aroma of sweetened condensed milk is inviting and pleasant, with just a trace of sweetness. The smell of freshly sweetened condensed milk is similar to that of milk but not quite as strong.
If food starts to smell sour, smelly, or rotten, throw it away rather than eat it.
Taste
If everything appears in order and there are no discolorations or offensive odors, you can taste the condensed milk to test its freshness. Even though each brand has a distinctive flavor, none should taste terrible, rotten, sour, or stale.
Fresh sweetened, condensed milk ought to taste rich, sweet, and just a little caramelized.
Mold Warning
The condensed milk is bad if there is even the slightest hint of mold. Because the entire patch has already been polluted, avoid removing the mold. Throw away the object as soon as any signs of mold show.
What are the Health Risks Associated with Consuming Bad Condensed Milk?
While consuming condensed milk has some health advantages, it also has disadvantages.
Not the Best for Losing Weight
100g of condensed milk has 321 calories, a substantial number of calories. Condensed milk should be avoided if you’re trying to lose weight or adhere to a calorie-restricted diet.
Bad for people with diabetes and anyone with heart disease
In addition to having a lot of calories, sweetened condensed milk has a lot of saturated fat, which is bad for diabetics and individuals with heart issues. Studies have shown that consuming a lot of saturated fats can raise insulin and LDL cholesterol levels. The risk of cardiovascular issues increases with a high LDL cholesterol level. Additionally, it may result in insulin resistance, which keeps your body from rupturing.
Not Recommended for People who are Lactose Intolerant
Since sweetened condensed milk is a dairy product, those who are lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy should stay away from it. Let’s look at how you might incorporate sweetened condensed milk into your diet now that you know its benefits and drawbacks.
Tryptophan, tyrosine, methionine, and lysine were found to be destroyed or inactivated in fresh, boiled, and preserved milk produced using four commonly used techniques, namely spray-dried and roller-dried milk powders, sweetened condensed glasses of milk, and evaporated bowls of milk. Destruction was noticeable in average roller-dried milk A (13%). It evaporated milk (8.4%), but it was significant (26.6%) in roller-powder B. Boiling milk did not appear to degrade the amino acid lysine. In contrast, spray-dried milk (3.6%) and sweetened condensed milk (4.8%) did.
Conclusion
The shelf life of sweetened condensed milk in your refrigerator depends on how long you plan to keep it. A can of condensed milk will last up to two years before expiration. Once opened, it will last around two weeks or less. It is best to store it in the refrigerator or freeze it to preserve its quality. Here are some tips for extending the shelf life of sweetened condensed milk.
First, store it in an airtight container in your fridge. This is to maintain its freshness for as long as possible. Although sweetened condensed milk has a long shelf life, it will go bad quickly if exposed to the air. Check the expiration date and texture to ensure it is still good for consumption. Ideally, it should be creamy yellow and have the consistency of chocolate syrup.