Powdered Milk For Long Term Storage

ByKen J. Last Update
27 Comments

Cost Savings of Powdered Milk

Powdered milk could be an important part of the prepper pantry. Long term storage of milk… I’ll tell you what we’ve done to solve this problem, and what we specifically buy.

UPDATE (2021)
This article is one of my first ever on this blog! Way, way back in January, 2010. I happened across it today, more than 11 years later.

Interesting… So what’s the price of milk these days? Well it depends where you live. The cost reference above was associated with living (at the time) in a highly populated city region (right before we moved out!), so, more expensive I suppose.

A quick internet search today, 2021, reveals the average price of milk these days seems to vary around $3 dollars a gallon. A bit more or less…

Anyway, back to the short article…

Powdered Milk in Bulk

We decided to look into powdered milk. What we discovered may surprise you. We found several websites where you can purchase powdered milk in #10 cans.

(Update: What we bought was from Augason Farms. We really like the taste compared to other powdered milks.)

Augason Farms Morning Moo’s Low Fat Milk Alternative – Makes 6 Gallons
(view on their storefront at amzn)

If you’re looking for pure powdered milk for long term storage, again, Augason Farms has that too:

Country Fresh 100% Real Instant Nonfat Dry Milk

We decided to buy one can of their ‘Milk Alternative’ to see if it would suit our palettes. After our first pitcher, we were hooked, and here’s why.

This is not the powdered milk of our youth. It tastes good! 

But here’s some advice. After you mix your first batch, don’t take your first taste until after you’ve refrigerated it for a few hours.  I’ll admit, it doesn’t taste as good when warm, compared to when it’s cold.  Also, when you mix it, make sure you use a whisk, not a spoon. Big difference.

The powdered milk has a 20 – 25 year shelf life unopened. That’s some great long term storage! It has a one to two year shelf life if opened. The two of us go through a can about every 6 weeks.

There is no more waste. You can mix as much or as little as you need. For the two of us, I mix 6 cups at a time. I have two pitchers that I rotate, so when one is getting low, I mix another batch so there is always some that is refrigerator cold. No more throwing away a quarter of a gallon because it went bad before you could drink it all.

The nutritional value is comparable to store bought milk. In fact, the powdered milk has a little less fat.

Additional update, again, 11 years later…

We have purchased this particular powdered milk off-and-on throughout all these years. It has always been great. We keep a good number of these #10 cans in our long term preparedness food storage. It’s perfect for that.

  • 93 1-cup Servings
  • 5.8 Gallons
  • 6,510 Calories
  • Makes approximately 5.8 gallons
  • Certified Gluten-Free
  • Up to a 25 Year Shelf Life!

It was kind of neat finding this old post. Someone on the blog had remarked about powdered milk shelf life, which reminded me of this.

Oh, powdered milk shelf life will depend on how it’s packaged. Typical grocery-store powdered milk is not packaged in vacuum-sealed #10 cans like I referenced above. Instead they’re in these soft packs, or a cardboard-type container. So shelf life is going to be much, much shorter. A year or two?

27 Comments

  1. I use out-dated milk in the garden. When I needed a can for a project I just dumped the milk in it (5 years open, or so) in a bucket and put it out in the shed.

    1. Nido for me doesn’t last long in the fridge, so I only mix a couple cups at a time–if not used quickly, I do use it watering my indoor plants..a teaspoon per quart is about right.
      Has calcium for plants.
      I also keep Nido in the freezer.

  2. I have been using canned evaporated milk if I need it, as we don’t use much milk. I have never really tried the powdered milk before honestly.

  3. I have mine unopened from 2012, but I read where people opened theirs years beyond the shelf date and it was still good.

    I have opened a can of freeze dried strawberries and used the #10 can to store the rest…but even with absorbers, the can leaks air and spoiled the rest after a few weeks in my cabinet. So with any #10 can I open, I have glass canning jars to seal the rest in the refrigerator or freezer and I didn’t have the problem anymore. Every time I open a large can I have to make sure I have the jars to store the rest.

  4. I like the Nido by Nestle, is an excellent whole milk alternate, actually tastes like milk should. Works great for baking too, like Txgirl i use evaporated too

    1. I also have evaporated for backup–equal amts of milk and water for use.

  5. One of the books on my shelf is about making cheese. I ear cheese almost every day. Haven’t tried making it yet but friends tell me yogurt, ricotta, and cream cheese are very easy and can be made with powdered milk. When we hit the trough of this grand solar minimum, long season crops, like grain for dairy, will likely be impacted. Could be then that our most reliable source of dairy products will be our own pantry. Gonna add rennet and other hard cheese making supplies to the list.

    1. If you have a dog, keep an eye on the dog while makinv the cheese. A friend of mine was making cheese. The dog grabbed tbe bag of rennet and took off running down the hallway with it, with the friend yelling at the dog and giving chase.

  6. Lauren, re Using milk in the garden. Chickens will drink milk. It’s a good source of protein and calcium for them too.

  7. Has anyone tried powdered heavy cream? Do you know if it outlives the best by date?

  8. Anony Mee…I would like to know about the powdered heavy cream as well. I use a lot of heavy cream. I just was not sure about the powdered stuff. I mainly use in coffee and recipes.

  9. Now I am confused! I poured out all my metal milk jugs to store gasoline in. But wait I live in Texas no problem.

  10. If you have a dog, keep an eye on the dog while makinv the cheese. A friend of mine was making cheese. The dog grabbed tbe bag of rennet and took off running down the hallway with it, with the friend yelling at the dog and giving chase.

  11. When I make sausage , I use non fat milk to help retain moisture and help the good bacteria.
    For drinking and baking i use Nido, kept in sealed jars in freezer for long term storage.
    Cooking and baking I like Hoosier Hills. I just tried a new company, Kate’s Naturals. More spendy than Hoosier Hills, but friend recommended it. All she uses when they go camping or backpacking . Haven’t tried it yet. Will report back after the weekend.
    Peace,
    MadFab

  12. Anybody have a suggestion for lactose intolerant people? I use almond milk but I’ve not found a long term storage alternative.

    1. Consider trying fermented milk, like kefir. Some who can’t handle cow’s milk can use kefir. Dried milk can be used for kefir. Also, look for an a2 herd and see if you can handle that. Apparently the a1 strain is a recent mutation that makes some milk more difficult to digest. You can try goat and sheep milk. I know they have dried alternatives, although they’re pretty pricey.

    2. My wife is lactose intolerant too. She tried Almond milk but, didn’t like it. She has been looking for an alternative too.

    3. No moo
      My hubby was also intolerant, so I purchased goats milk. It actually tasted better than regular milk, who knew and it made pasta dishes taste better. The goat cheddar cheese was good, drier than normal cheese but it still had a wonderful flavor. I have more goat cheese in the fridge soft & ??, to be used up in a recipe for the puppy and myself.

      1. AC
        Interesting about goat cheddar, i bet that is good, a nice sharp cheese i imagine, i know i like feta, good on or in lots of dishes.

    4. You can try “Ripple.” It’s a pea protein and available from amazon in powdered form. Might have to freeze for long term storage?? My grandchild is allergic to dairy and her parents give her this.

  13. Try dried soy milk powder
    Or old school used dried soybeans (soak overnight)then add water/blend and strain

      1. I think you’re thinking of making rice milk
        That leftover mashed rice is glue like

        (thinking elmers glue -since the Chinese used sticky rice mortar to help build the Great Wall) 😉

        I have a stash of morning moo cans
        I also have the nondairy creamers and cans of evaporated and condensed milk too (good for making Thai tea and coffee)

  14. Morning Moo is the best tasting dry milk. It is a whey based product. You can even make cream out of it or half and half.

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