Milk that has been heated to 83 °C (181 °F) has been scalded. You may heat it in a saucepan, steaming wand, or even your microwave. Foamed milk contains air, but scalded milk does not.

Scalded milk can be utilised in a variety of recipes, but coffee preparation has traditionally been one of them.

It’s recommended to use dairy milk if you want to produce scalded milk at home.  

Use milk you enjoy drinking regularly, such as whole milk (my personal preference), 2% fat milk, or even non-fat milk.

You should select milk that is most enjoyable to you because you will be utilising the scalded milk in a coffee preparation.

What makes boiling and scalding different?

Milk that has been scalded and milk that has been boiled differ significantly. 83 °C (181 °F) is the temperature at which milk is scalded, while 95 °C (203 °F) is the temperature at which milk is boiled.

Your coffee will taste fantastic since the properly scalded milk has the ideal temperature.

You can start sipping your coffee practically immediately after it has been put into it, for example, a Café au Lait. It’s a fantastic way to start the morning off early.

Why make coffee with scalded milk?

Scalded milk can be used to make delicious coffee at home. While most coffee businesses scald milk using the steaming wand on their espresso machines, there are other methods you can employ at home.

Methods for scalding milk

• Fill your chosen small saucepan, preferably one with a handle, with milk.
• To keep the milk moving, continue stirring with a spoon or swirling the pan.
• To conveniently monitor the temperature, place a thermometer in the pan.
• After the temperature reaches 83 °C (181 °F), turn off the heat and start using the pan for all of your coffee recipes.

Can non-dairy milk be scalded?

Any non-dairy milk can be scalded and used in coffee. When utilising non-dairy milk, the key is to heat it to the proper temperature. It is much simpler to use the thermometer I stated earlier, so I do advise doing so.

You don’t want to boil non-dairy milk, so be cautious when eyeballing it. It might begin to curdle as a result.

The non-dairy milk can be scalded on the hob by following the same procedures as previously, or it can be heated in the microwave. Making use of your microwave for this is simple:

• Pour the desired amount of non-dairy milk into a heatproof basin.
• Put it in your microwave and cook it up until the proper temperature is reached. Once the milk is perfectly heated, you may use it to make some wonderful coffee. Using this method, making Your Dream Coffee at home has never been simpler.

How can you tell if your milk has been scorched?

When your milk reaches a temperature of 83 °C (181 °F), you will know it is scalded. You can take a temperature reading. You can estimate the temperature if you don’t have a thermometer at home.

If so, you should watch it carefully since you don’t want the milk to begin boiling.

The temperature reaches the required level in around 3–4 minutes, according to my observations. On medium heat, this is. You’ll attain the temperature even faster if you set the pan on a higher heat.

How to Scald Milk

Milk can be scalded for discretionary or practical reasons. The following three situations could lead you to opt to scald milk:

• To add flavour

A recipe’s flavours can be enhanced by drizzling spices or extracts into hot milk. These kinds of infusions are extremely useful in general dessert and ice cream recipes.

If you prepare desserts like cinnamon buns or vanilla bean ice cream with milk that has been spiced with vanilla or cinnamon, the flavours will be more robust.

• To produce yoghurt

Pasteurising milk kills hazardous bacteria, but to guarantee that a handmade yoghurt culture remains stable, you must also kill off any harmless bacteria.

Scalding milk enables the beneficial bacteria that form the basis of yoghurt to flourish without interference from rivalry.

• To produce bread-like recipes

In order for bread dough to rise, scalded, chilled milk is necessary.  

If you let the milk to cool down first, you can be sure the yeast won’t be harmed during the proofing process, which is when the dough rises, as the initial scalding will neutralise the whey protein in milk and prevent it from harming the gluten in bread.

Use the warm liquid once it has cooled to room temperature if you’re making dinner rolls or another bread-based recipe.

Conclusion

Even though the practise of scalding milk has been around for a while, it can be challenging if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

Making the best coffee at home has gotten a little bit simpler now that you know what temperatures to use for scalding milk at home and what milk and milk substitutes you can use.