Milk – Scalding

Rinse a heavy sauce pan with cold water. By briefly cooling the inside of your pan, you can help regulate the temperature of the milk more carefully, preventing it from heating too quickly on the stove.

Pour the milk into the sauce pan. Measure out the precise amount of milk you need for the recipe, since it will be difficult to add more later. You also should not use more than you need since you should not return scalded milk to the container of un-scalded milk it originally came from.

Slowly heat the pan of milk over medium-low heat. A low heat setting may not provide enough heat to actually warm the pan up, but anything stronger than a medium heat setting will likely bring the temperature up too quickly, causing the milk to boil and burn before you have the chance to stop it. A medium-low heat works best, but a medium heat can also be used as long as you keep a steady watch of it.

Stir the milk continuously. To prevent the milk from thickening or burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan, frequent stirring is vital. Do not allow the milk to rest for more than 30 to 60 seconds at a time as it heats up.

Watch for the formation of steam and bubbles.^[2] The milk is heated enough to be considered scalded once small bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Do not allow the milk to start boiling, however. Once the milk has started to boil, it has gotten too hot, and a certain protein inside the milk may be destroyed as a result. The destruction of this protein could lead to a loss of volume in baked goods. Additionally, once milk has gotten hot enough to boil, it is nearly impossible to stop it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and creating a burnt film.

Remove the milk and let it cool. Lift the pan off the stovetop and transfer it to a heat-resistant surface. You can transfer the milk to a room temperature container to prevent it from continuing to cook, or you can simply keep stirring it until it stops steaming. Most recipes suggest that you allow the milk to cool to a certain temperature before you use it, so you should check the milk periodically with a thermometer until it reaches this temperature.