I'm a big milk drinker at home and was wondering what the best tasting powdered milk is for backpacking/camping? Any thoughts / opinions? Thanks..

Milkman - it's got the kiss of cream!

Nido, my favorite. Available at Wally World Mexican food section.

Nido and Milkman...the two answers that always show up. They're popular because they're 'whole' milk, not skimmed/no fat. I don't know that there are any others.

FB

I always drink skim milk at home, but on a longer hike, I'd rather risk gaining some weight if it means my energy level will probably be higher. So I'll check into each of these...thanks...

My hiking partner always uses powdered milk that she cuts with 1/3 with a powdered creamer to give it better flavor. Does the same with instant hot chocolate mix.

Finding whole milk powder here is virtually imposible. That is to say, milk with some fat in it.
I found some Buttermilk powder in the bulk food store and have been using that.
Quite rich and very flavourful. I use it in granola in the morning and my butterscotch pudding at night. Yum, Yum.

Powdered soy milk has a really good taste, but is much lower in calcium.

I buy my whole powdered milk (non-instant) in bulk at the locally-owned health food store (not a chain HFS). I have no idea who the supplier is or if other HFS stock it. The price is reasonable and the flavor ok. Don't be put off by "non-instant"... it still dissolves readily in water.

MNS

I purchased powdered milk products and did taste tests on what I could find in Central Illinois. Nido was found in the stores specializing in foreign foods and I found it in the Mexican section of a large supermarket.

I mixed the powders according to the directions, chilled overnight in a nalgene bottle and gave it to my family. Not only was Nido the winner but they could not tell that it was powdered. Used on cereal, it tasted really good. We used it in hot chocolate and again it really worked.

Nido had been discussed elsewhere and I am glad I found it. Milkman I have had and it had been a favorite but I will be using Nido.

I bring UHT (ultra high temperature) milk on the trail for the first day or so in small cartons but it is heavy. I have found that in several stores here. In the 1980s when it was first available in the US I used that. I had used it in Europe for years but any liquid is too heavy for the long haul.

I use "Organic Valley's organic nonfat dry milk non-instant for cooking and baking"
I dont care about fat or non fat Its just the only organic dry milk I can purchase locally.
I pre measure my cereal, sugar and dry milk into individual zip baggies, while on the trail I just add water or hot tea, zip, shake and eat right out of the baggy. I have never cared for powdered milk but I dont mind the taste of this one. Im not a milk drinker so It comes in handy around the kitchen when I need milk for cooking or that once a week bowl of cereal. never have to worry about spoiled milk in the frig.

Anyone know of a source for these in Canada? Wally World up here doesn't
carry them, and I have a hard time finding anything but powdered skim up
here.

It's pathetic what we can't get here.

Try some Buttermilk powder. That seems to be readily available here in Ontario. It has fat and is quite tasty.

I can't even find that here. Where you getting your buttermilk powder?

I haven't shopped for dry milk while on camping trips in Canada. However, I have seen Nido milk in Asian groceries in the USA. In fact I've seen identical cans with the Klim label (milk backwards) in those stores as well. So Asian groceries in Canada might carry one or other of those brands.

Note, cans of Klim were provided by the Red Cross to Allied POWs in Germany. They in turn used the cans to construct ventillation pipes and other gear for use in their escape tunnels. Current 'cans' are mostly paper, so are not multipurpose. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

paulj

Several bulk food stores carry it here. I use it wherever milk is called for - puddings, potatoes, soup, etc.

Shouldn't buttermilk have no fat at all? I mean, the fat should have been removed to be used to make butter, right? So it should be fat free, or as close to fat free as possible.

I could be totally wrong about this though, this was just always what I thought, though my thoughts on subjects have often proved to be totally unreliable <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

The original buttermilk was the left overs from making butter. But most of what is now called buttermilk is a cultured product, much like yogurt and sour cream.

Many US groceries carry 'powdered cultured buttermilk', made from 'cultured nonfat milk'. I keep this on hand for use in pancakes and other baking. I have also found a full-fat version in the bulk section of a health-foods shop.

But I do not consider this a substitute for dried milk as a beverage, or for making cream sauces. It also tends to pickup moisture and harden into clumps, more so than Nido.

paulj

Milkman isn't whole fat. The packaging says 'with a touch of cream'. That is, enough fat (or whole fat milk) has been added to improve the taste.

paulj

Cool. Thanks Paulj! I didn't realize that there were different kinds of buttermilk.

Nido, made by Nestle, 26% Milkfat


Asian Grocers
Hispanic Grocers
Indian Grocers

OnLine (US) http://www.mexgrocer.com/2575.html

Also available via Amazon.com I believe.

Never thought about buttermilk. I might have to give that one a try.

NIDO is available at walmart <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Life is good <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Morning Moo Milk from Walton Feed

http://waltonfeed.com/self/labels/moo.html

This is not non-fat dry milk... lots of fat, calorie density is very high.
This stuff tastes real good and last years and years.

Put about 3 ounces in a 2 qt. zip bag, pour a quart of water in, shake, drink with a straw.

I grew up on a dairy farm and drink several gallons of milk a week to this day.

If you are hiking a dry trail, bring Paramat shelf-stable milk. Amazon and Sam's Club sells it.

My local Wally world recently renovated and put in a full fledged grocery store - before it
had the little grocery shelf section, however, it was the only place in Edmonton to get
nice mexican stuff like La Victoria enchilada sauces, herdez salsas, etc. etc. Unfortunately
it never had the Nido milk that it obviously carries in the states...

I went in today and went hopefully to the mexican aisle - and was appalled. Not only do they
not have Nido, but they don't carry any of the mexican stuff from the states anymore either -
no good enchilada sauce and salsa verde anymore... Just a big wall of "Old El Paso" taco and
fajita kits...

Grumble... Not only no powdered milk but I'm back to the best enchilada I can get in this
town being the natural high chicken enchilada backpacking meal....

But I was able to buy a pair of Cuban pyjamas.

How about Soy Milk Powder (Instant) - 24 oz. - Non-GE
at http://www.nowfoods.com/?action=itemdetail&item_id=3493
I don't drink cow milk and feel much better for it.
Just thought I would pass this on. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Someone on the Western Canada section of Chowhound may know of a place in Calgary that carries Nido.

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/57

Nido/Ninho in Canada

kurt

That's funny that my old thread just got bumped because I finally tried some of that powdered milk about two hours ago I bought some Nido and Milkman and Carnation over a year ago, but it has been sitting on my shelf since then because I thought it would taste nasty and just haven't gotten around to trying it.

I tried some Nido today and it was excellent. I thought it tasted a lot like regular milk without any real "funky" taste. I still have the Milkman and Carnation stuff here too, but haven't tried it yet.

But I'm excited that I can take some powdered milk with me on backpacking trips and use it in my oatmeal or just drink it by itself. By the way, you can buy Nido on amazon.com, but it is probably pretty expensive, especially with shipping. I hope I like some of the lower fat stuff too, but I'm usually most concerned with getting enough calories while backpacking and hiking, so the Nido will probably win out, even if it put some extra weight on me in the end.

tchiker-

Now that you have opened that can of Nido milk powder, use it in a month or two, or cover very tightly and freeze or refrigerate it. Otherwise it becomes rancid. Yes, I learned form personal experience.

CM

I haven't noticed problems with Nido going rancid, but my home rarely gets above 70, and I mostly use it for baking, where mild rancidity would not be noticeable.

Still, rancidity is more of a potential problem with the full fat powder.

The container does keep in a cool dark place.

paulj

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking that I would probably take a few months to use it all up, but I guess this would not be a good strategy.

I must have no sense of taste, because I have kept Nido in the refrigerator for at least 6 months and still didn't notice any decline in taste.

My meaning was misread, so I'm sorry that I wasn't more clear.

Nido on the counter should be used fairly quickly after opening. I anticipate it will last longer in the refrigerator. My opened but covered can that sat near the stove went bad over time. (I use the microwave more than the stove, unless backpacking. When we find ultra light long cords and microweight microwave ovens, that could change...maybe.)

CamperMom

I have tried multiple varieties of powdered milk and liked none of them. One of my childhood nightmares was "Klim," a dried whole milk, with its lumps--my mother could never get the lumps out but wouldn't let me leave them behind in my cup, either. It wasn't long before the sight of even a single lump was enough to make me gag--and it still does! When I was about ten I took over mixing my own cocoa (I never could drink it plain) on trips, and quietly dumped behind a bush the lumps I couldn't get out. (Yes, I know that was ecologically unsound, but I was desperate!)

When I grew up I started using Carnation Instant Milk (which is, of course, a skim milk product). It seemed to be the best-tasting of the dried skim milk products, not that that meant much. But at least it would dissolve, unless you poured rapidly boiling water directly onto it. I used Milkman a few times, but didn't find it any better than skim milk (it mixes up to a 0.5% fat milk). I tried supermarket brands, but Carnation was a little less noxious.

More recently I found a few organic dried skim milk brands. They tasted a little better but the lump problem again reared its ugly head. And they are a lot more expensive.

Since I drink skim milk at home and dislike the taste of whole milk, I haven't tried Nido.

None of the many brands I've tried seem to taste good hot with coffee (I'm a latte/cafe au lait addict at home). I've given up on coffee altogether outdoors and drink either tea or just water at breakfast, depending on whether or not I feel like lighting up the stove. On the other hand, they all taste fine in cocoa, as long as no lumps form.

I have finally gone back to Carnation Instant, which seems to be the quickest dissolving. The Carnation tastes OK on cereal (I dump a couple tablespoonsful on my muesli or granola in a ziplock sandwich bag when packing and then add water just before eating out of the bag). I always add some dried fruit to my cereal (except in huckleberry season) which helps disguise the milk taste. Carnation Instant works fine in cocoa--the trick being either to mix up the cocoa/milk mixture with a little cold water ahead of time and then adding boiling water, or using not-too-hot water, adding it slowly and mixing as you go). I take cocoa only when my grandkids come along. I take calcium pills along so I don't worry about the small amount of milk I'm getting out on the trail.

As CamperMom states, any dried milk will go bad if left too long on the shelf at room temperature. I buy a small box at a time. The stuff can be used at home in cooking, so you don't need to waste leftovers. If you refrigerate or freeze the opened container, be sure to let it warm to room temperature before opening so it doesn't have moisture condensing on it.

I can sympathize about milk lumps. As a kid the cream that rose to the top of non-homogenized milk bothered me, as did the skin that formed on top of hot milk and cocoa.

Now Nido and Klim are different branding for the same product. I've seen the cans side by side at a large Asian market.

I suspect lumps are less of a problem now, but the whole milk still isn't quite as easy to mix as non-fat. The package recommends adding the powder to the water. Since I use it mainly for cooking, any mixing problems don't bother me as much as they might if I drank it straight.

paulj

Well, I picked up a couple large cans of Nido at wal-mart when I was in Vegas. It mixes up
very well when I add the powder to the water, without too much grief.

For me, I find it tastes fabulous - to put that in context, I have dehydrated skim here and find
it kinda nasty, however I normally have only skim milk in the house. so, for me nido actually tastes
like kind of a real treat! - I'm only using it backpacking through.

Nido's made in a couple of places though - my cans say they come from Chile..

To keep Nido (and any other fatty products, like Milkman, nuts, chips) from going rancid, you can either buy a vacuum sealer, a commercial oxygen scavenger packet, or take the cheap way out by using a disposable hand warmer (Hot Hands brand or similar that contain iron powder, salt, charcoal, and vermiculite). Putting one in the can will keep Nido fresh for many months. You can extend that to many years if you transfer the Nido to a clean, airtight jar. The hand warmer uses up all the oxygen so the fats can't go rancid and as a bonus, nothing that requires oxygen can grow. Opening and closing the container shouldn't cause any problem as the heat pack is designed to react with quite a bit of air - probably 50 or more containers worth. If you worry about having the pack mingle with your food, just stick it to the lid or put it inside another cloth bag.

.... or find a buddy who is a wine snob and has a nitrogen system at home <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I will have to agree with this I to use a vacuum sealer and the better models can do liquids..and have jars or and have lids that work on the jar that the food came in and I just thought all back packers had one never gave it any thought, that not all people use them but it solves many problems spoilage get it out once bag up many of your pack items you want to eat like remade dry meals your very own mountain house meals , bag them and put them in a Tupperware container and grab what you need on your way out the door .. And one of my tricks is to load the bag then add the water to it so I can get a idea of how much bigger to make it. Then out on the trail open, add water done.. also you can boil most of the freezer bags

I Have been mixing NIDO with pudding, hot choc, oats, instant taters, coffee. I love the stuff. A small can does not last long. I have not bought the huge can because I do not want it to absorb moisture. I am not sure that it would, but I get a fresh one when the one I have open is getting low. Pudding after supper makes me smile everytime.

I'm anxious to try Nido. I ordered some about a week ago from Amazon. I have tried so many powdered milk type drinks with absolutely no luck. Powdered soy, goat, and a zillion different skims, but I have yet to find a truly palatable drink similar to that of milk or soymilk.

Here's what I ordered:


Is this the same stuff as regular Nido?? I got this stuff because it was all that was available with the free super saver shipping.

Eric Kingston

I just looked at a container of this at Walmart. It is a low-fat, high sugar, milk drink mix aimed at kids. What we've been talking about just lists whole dried milk and lecithin in the ingredients.

paulj

Yeah, I found that out a little too late. It doesn't taste nearly as bad as the other powdered milks I've had, but I'd still like to try the regular stuff. I've scoured the isles, and it seems my local Walmart doesn't carry Nido.

Eric-

If you are willing to buy the case, MAYBE you could get the WalMart store manager to order it for you. I have only seen the Nido milk in WalMart SuperCenters.

CM

I usually can find whole powdered milk at Whole Foods Markets. The whole powdered milk is the closest thing to liquid milk I found. It really makes potatoes, soups, & cereals taste almost gormet. Brands vary from time to time.

I was on "Glad's" web-site and sent them an e-mail about cooking in their bags. They said that in no way was it safe to cook in their bags. They also said that they did not make a bag that was safe to cook in.(Freezer Bags included) Thought all you guys and girls might want that little tid-bit of information of what "not" take on the trail with you. I don't know about all of you, but the back country is the last place that I want to end up sick, so with that being said, I think that I will continue to play it safe..I also contacted Mountain House and asked was it safe to re-use their bags (because we had been doing it for a while) and they said as long as they were cleaned with boiling water that it was safe to re-use their bags over and over again. I have a couple that I have been using for a while, but the time is coming when even those durable little bags will need replacing, but I don't mind 'cause that's about all we use unless we dehydrate our own food and that's where the re-usable Mountain House bags come in. They are very light and weight wise you really don't even know that you have them. We dehydrate a lot of our own food to keep the expenses down because Mountain House is fairly expensive. Hope this helps every one...sabre11004...



The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I tried Nido for my morning cereal last summer on a 5 day backpacking trip. I mix the milk and the cereal together in a ziplock bag and just add water. I could never get the lumps out. While the milk tasted fine, the lumps were too distracting for me. I went back to powdered skim milk on the next trip. Lump free, and happy! Carol

Late last year after I smuggled some Nido back, I did a trip with muesli and Nido - I portioned my muesli into a regular small size ziploc, with the Nido inside in a ziploc "snack size" - the ones about half the size of a sandwitch bag - they aren't particularly tough, but don't need to be for this. I would then just add the water into the snack baggie, zip it up,
and (carefully) shake/knead a bit in my hands to break up the lumps and mix well, then crack the snack baggie and dump it into the main ziploc with the cereal. Bag is really
small and light, and means I don't need a seperate container to mix the Nido in.

I agree with you hamish. The whole milk powder is your best bet. I'm a big milk drinker and find that it is the closest a person can get to the real thing, when hiking.

Yeh, the nido is better than the usual powdered milk.A mexican friend told me that they use it as a substitute for baby formula.You'll surely find it at any mexican grocer.Sweeter, fuller taste.

There is actually two Nido's: one is 26% fat milk, there is also a Nido just for kids. So be aware when shopping that you don't grab the wrong one <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Never knew that.Good looking out.That's why my friend was saying they used it for formula.

Actually, there are -three- versions of Nido. The regular full cream dry milk just says "Nido". Then there are two that add the word "Kinder" followed by either 1+ or 3+, with added sugar, carbs, vitamins and fiber.

wow I started this thread about 18 months ago and it is still going strong. It's funny that I see it again now because I'm going backpacking next weekend for the first time in about six months and I'm scared to open up my container of Nido that I bought so long ago. I'm sure it has gone bad by now. I don't use the stuff often, but it does taste great...truly like whole milk.

I haven't had a lot of problems with "lumps" and usually just mix it in the cup...although bringing a plastic cup is an additional item that I have to put in my backpack. It doens't weigh much, but it takes up a good bit of volume. It is worth it on some trips though.

I always want to use the natural milk with all nutritional values.
If natural milk is not available then I take Nestle powder milk, it is better than other in taste and quality.

it is not news that glad says not to cook in bags. But none of us are. We add hot water - not the Same thing at all.

It is not harmful to add hot water to plastic bags

I'm one of the few who loves all brands powdered milk, because that is all we had on the table when I was kid, now I'm over 50.

The best I've found is this stuff: Bob's Red Mill Nonfat Dry Milk Powder. Before that it was Carnation for years.

Bob's is a true powder, not crystals. This means it packs very compactly, you need far less volume of powder to make a glass of milk.

On the other hand powder does not mix as well as crystals, so I use a Aerolatte Milk Frother which weighs 2 ounces without the AA battery. Takes 5 seconds to dissolve with the Aerolatte tool, almost impossible for me to dissolve it otherwise. Which is a disadvantage on the trail where crystals, like Saco or Nestles dissolves with only a spoon and some time, a huge plus!

Thank you for suggesting soy milk powder, I prefer soy milk too!

It IS okay to eat the powdered milk wether prepared with hot water (in pastas) or cold water (in cereal), correct?

yes of course

^^^^^^ +1

milkman used to be my go-to until I went Vegan (part of my transformation after a little bout with an artery in the heart last year.....). One gem I came across was cashew milk, which is simply cashews and water thrown into a blender with a touch of vanilla and sweetened with a few dates. Unsweetened is delicious. For the trail, just grind cashews in a coffee grinder to powder. You might be surprised. If you want sweetened, use anything you normally sweeten with, or dehydrate the dates (they are nutritious way to sweeten).

On that note I would add that when I purchased a dehydrator 2 years ago, I found the world was my oyster (lots of disastrous experiments, but a lot that came out great with drying fruits, peppers, herbs). Makes great jerky too. On trail, I am not totally vegan, I eat jerky (hope my doc is not on this forum - sodium content is out of sight for me I know, but...). Powdered cashew also makes a great add to a soup or stew.