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Sterilized Milk

A method for sterilizing fresh cow's milk for infants under three months by boiling with water and optional sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Sterilized Milk

Why it works: Milk and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Sterilized Milk

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Ensure the glass jar is perfectly clean and scalded before use.

  2. Pour fresh cow's milk into a glass fruit jar.

  3. Add one-third pure water to the jar for infants under three months.

  4. Add a little sugar if desired.

Sterilize

  1. Place the jar in a kettle of cold water with the cover loose.

  2. Bring the water to a boil.

  3. Boil for 10 minutes.

  4. Screw the cover down tightly.

  5. Boil for another 10 minutes.

  6. Remove from heat.

Cool and store

  1. Let cool slowly in the water.

  2. Once partly cool, place in the ice or a cool place.

  3. Keep it tightly covered except when pouring out milk.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Milk + limetop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together700 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Sugar + limetop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,332 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fresh cow's milk
Forms the base of the drink and supplies the proteins and fats that the heat treatment acts on.
Pure water
Dilutes the milk, lowering its concentration of protein and minerals for young infants.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to the milk.

The step that matters

Keep the cover loose, then seal after the first boil. The loose cover lets steam escape and pressure equalize; sealing it too early can make the jar crack or lose its seal. The tight seal after the first boil keeps outside contamination out while the milk cools.

Swap the lime

The recipe marks lime as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Limethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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