My relations are dairy fiends. At any cut-off date, our fridge can be stocked with milk, heavy cream, labne, and not less than 5 completely different sorts of cheese (however often extra). The one dairy product we by no means appear to have once we want it’s half-and-half. We like to make use of it in recipes like quiche and mashed potatoes, the place we would like an ingredient that’s richer than milk however lighter than cream, however these recipes aren’t ones we make typically, and so we don’t often preserve half-and-half readily available.
For these instances when a recipe requires half-and-half and also you don’t have it, I wished to know which substitutions work greatest. I spoke with Stephen Chavez, senior chef-instructor on the Institute of Culinary Education’s Los Angeles campus, in addition to our Editorial Director Daniel Gritzer, to study extra about how you can substitute the dairy product.
What’s Half-and-Half, and When Is It Used?
Half-and-half is a combination of cream and entire milk and is required by the Food and Drug Administration to comprise between 10.5 to 18% milk fats. Because of this, it’s thicker than milk however thinner than heavy cream. Whereas the title half-and-half implies an equal-parts combination of milk and cream, that is not essentially the case: The authorized necessities for half-and-half come right down to fats percentages, not particular ratios of milk to cream, although as you’ll be able to most likely guess, equal elements milk and cream can get you within the ballpark.
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Quiche Lorraine
“Half-and-half can be utilized in recipes the place further fats is required past the fats content material that’s present in common milk,” says Chavez, “however not the high-fat content material of heavy cream. The mix works nice for lighter custards corresponding to flan or the egg custard combination you’ll use for bread pudding. Half-and-half can be nice for the feel of quiche, French toast, and budino,” a wealthy Italian pudding. Chavez notes that heavy cream is most popular whenever you’re seeking to obtain a good richer texture in desserts like crème brûlée.
The Finest Substitutes for Half-and-Half
Since half-and-half is legally outlined by its fats proportion and never by volumes of milk and cream, there are a lot of methods to reach on the objective. Listed here are some pointers for substituting half-and-half by mixing milk at completely different fats percentages (from entire to skim) and heavy cream. Word: In the event you’re utilizing a lower-fat cream like mild cream, you have to to extend the quantity of cream relative to the milk (nearer to the fundamental 1:1 ratio by quantity that half-and-half’s title suggests).
- Entire milk and heavy cream: From a sensible standpoint, an equal-parts combination of entire milk and heavy cream rather than the precise quantity of half-and-half a recipe requires will typically work, however technically you may find yourself making a combination that has a better fats content material than any half-and-half offered in markets.
That is as a result of entire milk is 3.25% fats and heavy cream is not less than 36% fats. In the event you make an equal-parts combination of these two, you’ll get a product that’s not less than 19.625% fats, which is 1.625% increased than the utmost quantity of fats in half-and-half as outlined by the FDA.
Will that 1.625% distinction actually matter in a recipe? Most likely not, however when you’re a fastidious one that desires to really reproduce half-and-half faithfully at house, you are higher off utilizing a roughly 2:1 ratio of entire milk to cream, that means for each 1 half milk you’ll add 1/2 half cream. This may land you correctly within the FDA’s half-and-half fats zone (3/4 half cream additionally works too for a richer consequence that is nonetheless inside FDA pointers).
- Low-fat or skim milk and heavy cream: Mixing low-fat or skim milk with heavy cream works simply in addition to entire milk, and technically you should utilize the very same ratio as entire milk for any of those lower-fat choices and nonetheless get a consequence that is inside the FDA’s required half-and-half fats vary of 10.5-18%. However, as a result of these milks have barely much less fats than entire milk, the consequence can be on the low finish of that vary.
By simply barely adjusting the ratio with extra cream, you’ll be able to nudge your combination into the center of the FDA’s fats vary, which is arguably a pleasant factor to do given fats is scrumptious; a ratio of three/4 elements cream for each 1 half low-fat or skim milk works nicely.
Frequent Half-and-Half Substitutes That Do not Work
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
The next are widespread options for half-and-half substitutes, however they’re not beneficial by Chavez or Severe Eats’ culinary crew.
- Entire milk and melted butter: “Butter is made by separating the fats from cream,” says Daniel. “Milk and cream are emulsions with the fats suspended in water with proteins and sugars within the combine. Whenever you make butter, the fats coalesces by churning the cream, breaking the emulsion. In the event you then soften the butter and attempt to combine it with milk, you will not get half-and-half, you may simply get milk with liquid butterfat floating on the floor, and that won’t typically carry out the identical as one thing like half-and-half, the place the fats remains to be in an emulsified state.”
Due to this, we are able to’t depend on butter to reintroduce fats into milk and kind a correct half-and-half combination.
- Buttermilk: Whereas buttermilk might need an analogous viscosity to half-and-half, it’s truly a lot leaner, containing round 1% fats in comparison with the ten.5 to 18% in half-and-half. It is also a cultured dairy product with an acidic tang—it is the culturing, the truth is, that offers buttermilk its viscosity, just like how milk thickens into yogurt.
“The acidity of buttermilk makes it a poor substitute for half-and-half for taste causes alone,” says Daniel. “The low pH of buttermilk, which is round 4.4 to 4.8, means it could make batters and different mixtures behave very in a different way. On prime of that, whereas they might share comparable viscosities, the explanations for which might be completely different, with buttermilk getting it from coagulated proteins because of modifications in acidity and half-and-half getting it from fats. Because of this, they will not work the identical manner in all conditions.”
- Milk and cornstarch: “This mixture should be boiled to ensure that it to thicken, which implies that you would need to cook dinner it in a pot earlier than utilizing it in a recipe,” Chavez says. “The starch will thicken when cooking however will provide you with extra of a starchy, pudding-like texture quite than the sleek silky texture half-and-half would provide you with.” Daniel echoes Chavez’s hesitation about this substitute. “A starch-thickened milk could behave in a different way in recipes than one thing like half-and-half,” he says. “You could possibly create an analogous viscosity utilizing a starch, however the fats content material is completely different and that may make a distinction within the ultimate cooking outcomes. It isn’t a protected substitute.”
Can You Freeze Half-and-Half?
Whilst you could also be tempted to freeze half-and-half to ensure you at all times have it readily available, Chavez doesn’t advocate it. “Substances with a excessive water content material will freeze nicely, however it’s the defrosting course of the place issues go improper,” he says. When you defrost any dairy product, the fats can separate and the product typically takes on a grainy texture. In some circumstances, this will not have a noticeable affect in your ultimate recipe, however in others, it’ll.
The Takeaway
If the following time you’re caught in the midst of a recipe and searching for a half-and-half substitute, there are just a few choices that may work. You should use a mixture of entire, low-fat, or skim milk and heavy cream in roughly 2:1 proportions of milk to cream by quantity (not half and half, because the label implies!).
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