Can I use dry milk instead of whole milk?

Question

If a recipe calls for whole milk and you only have dry milk, what would you do? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

I was able to find this pretty easily online:

1 Cup Milk = 1 Cup Water + 3 Tablespoons Powdered Milk
3/4 Cup Milk = 3/4 Cup Water + 2 1/4 Tablespoons Powdered Milk
2/3 Cup Milk = 2/3 Cup Water + 2 Tablespoons Powdered Milk
1/2 Cup Milk = 1/2 Cup Water + 1 1/2 Tablespoons Powdered Milk
1/3 Cup Milk = 1/3 Cup Water + 1 Tablespoon Powdered Milk
1/4 Cup Milk = 1/4 Cup Water + 3/4 Tablespoon Powdered Milk

Source: http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/conversion-chart-for-powdered-milk/

Additionally, I've done some calculations to show why this works for creating 1 cup milk (a little bit more :)

Dry milk composition in %

                Protein (%)  Fat (%)    Sugar (%)   Minerals (%) Water (%)
Dry milk, Fullfat   26       27      38          6               2.5
Dry milk, nonfat    36       1       52          8                3
Fresh milk         3.4      3.7     4.8          1               87

Dry milk composition in 42 ml (3 tbsp)..just converting % to ml

                  Protein(ml)   Fat(ml) Sugar(ml)   Minerals(ml) Water(ml) 
Dry milk, Fullfat   10.9        11.3        16.0      2.5            1.1
Dry milk, nonfat    15.1        0.4         21.8      3.4            1.3
Fresh milk          3.4         3.7         4.8       1.0            87.0

If you add 1 cup water = 42+236 ml liquid

Dry milk with water

                 Protein (%)    Fat (%) Sugar (%)   Minerals (%)    Water (%)
Dry milk, Fullfat   3.9          4.1      5.7         0.9            85.3
Dry milk, nonfat    5.4          0.2      7.9         1.2            85.4
Fresh milk          3.4         3.7      4.8          1              87

Which is nearly the same as whole fresh milk.

Source for dry milk stats (1st table): On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee.

Answer 2

If a recipe calls for milk you mix your powdered milk with water according to the package instructions and use the amount given in the recipe.

If your powdered milk results in the equivalent of skim milk (as opposed to whole milk), it depends on what you are cooking / baking whether you need make up the difference in fat content by adding some butter, cream or similar or use it as it is. Without a recipe or at least an idea what you intend to do we couldn't say.

Answer 3

If you mix the dry milk as directed you can replace the regular milk in cooking. You might need to add some fat to your recipe if it calls for whole milk. Sometimes powdered milk used in some recipes will change the flavor a little because of the different flavor between whole milk and powder milk. I have found that if you mix the powdered milk with warm water, refrigerate over night then aerate the mixture by pouring it back and forth from glass to glass it helps with the flavor.

Answer 4

I have great success adding the amount of powdered milk necessary on the package directions, say for 1 cup, by adding the dry powder with the flour, sugar etc.... Then add the amount of liquid (water) per instructions that would have been used to make the (cup of milk), ie 1 cup of water to the liquid ingredients in the recipe. This has worked great for me.