Domestic science, principles and application

Purchase and Care of Milk. — No other food so quickly absorbs odors and impurities and requires more careful handling than milk. It is often a common way of spreading certain diseases, such as diphtheria, typhoid, and scarlet fever. The secret of clean milk is, production under clean surroundings, prompt cooling, and keeping it cool and protected from dust and dirt until it is used in the home. Some rules to follow are: — 1 . Buy milk from sources you know to be clean and pure. 2. Buy milk in covered bottles rather than in bulk. 3. Keep milk in scalded glass or earthen dishes, or in the original bottles. 4. Keep milk cold, for then germs develop much less rapidly. 5. Keep milk from flies, dust, and odors by keeping covered. Pasteurization. — In times of disease epidemics or when there is a suspicion that the milk is not pure, it is pasteurized to kill dangerous germs. Pasteurization consists in heating the milk to a temperature of from 150° to 180" F. for 20 minutes or more and then rapidly cooling it to 50° F. or lower. Pasteurized milk is not necessarily clean milk, — in fact sometimes farmers and dealers rely too much on this system and are not so careful to maintain a pure product. Pasteurization can easily be done in the home. Sterilization consists in heating milk to the boiling point for 15 or 20 minutes. The process may be repeated PROTEIN— MILK 89 after an interval to make the result doubly certain. This destroys practically all bacteria in it, but it has the disadvantage that the taste is spoiled for many persons and also that the milk is probably made less digestible. Scalding Milk. — Heat milk in a double boiler until bubbles appear around the edge of the milk. This occurs at about 160° F. and this heating makes milk safer for use, as it kills many forms of germs. Boiling milk or scalding it too long makes it less digestible. What substance in milk should be cooked below the boiling point? Condensed Milk. — This is milk that is evaporated in vacuum pans to one-third or one-fourth its original bulk and then sealed in air-tight cans, in which it will keep indefinitely. Sometimes cane sugar is added to increase its keeping qualities. Condensed milk enables milk to be carried and kept in many places, such as on board ship and in the tropics, where fresh milk is not obtainable. When it is to be used, increase its volume two or three times by adding water. It may then be used the same as fresh milk. 1. Baked Custard 4 sc. c. scalded milk 3^ c. sugar 4 eggs or 6 yolks 1 tsp. vanilla Few gratings of nutmeg Pinch of salt Method. — Beat the egg slightly, add the sugar, and then the scalded milk slowly. Add the flavoring and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into cups or into one large baking dish, grate a little nutmeg on top, set the cups in a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven until a knife piercing it will come out clean. Do not allow the water in the pan to boil. Serve cold. This serves 7 people. {Basis for 2 girls, )^ rule.) 2. Soft Custard Method. — Same recipe as for Baked Custard. Combine ingredients by same method, but cook in a double boiler. Stir constantly until the mixture forms a coating on the spoon. Remove instantly from the hot water; flavor, and cool. {Basis for 2 girls, Y^ tide.)