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Tea bags curdling my milk

Discussion in 'Professional Pastry Chefs' started by jessiquina, Jun 1, 2010.

  1. Jun 1, 2010 #1
    jessiquina

    jessiquina

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    i dont have a lot of experience with tea and their relationship with milk products. so i was making a panna cotta, steeping the milk/sugar/ tea bags. the next thing i know, the milk had curdled. im assuming that its the citric acid in the tea that is causing this, but how do i prevent it? ive done things with milk and earl grey, but maybe its this specific Passion Tazo Tea that is doing this. errrggh, its pretty frustrating!
     
  3. Jun 2, 2010 #2
    gunnar

    gunnar

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    You may be over steeping? drawing too much tannic acid off of the tea? How long are you steeping for?
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2010
  4. Jun 3, 2010 #3
    jessiquina

    jessiquina

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    it really happens in the beginning, just as the flavors are being released into the milk.
     
  5. Jun 6, 2010 #4
    chefpeon

    chefpeon Kitchen Dork

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    It just may be very possible that you can't use that kind of tea to make your panna cotta. I wouldn't know how to prevent the milk curdling in the presence of an acidic ingredient.....
     
  6. Jun 6, 2010 #5
    petemccracken

    petemccracken

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    If it is the "acid" causing the problem, the only solution would be in the direction of making the milk more alkaline to offset the acidity. Might be tricky...
     
  7. Jun 7, 2010 #6
    igannon

    igannon

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    The name of the tea sounds like one that might have some fairly acidic ingredients. I'm not sure if its true, or something I've conjured up in my head, but I think that milk is slightly less likely to curdle when its colder. You might try steeping it cold over a day or so.
     
  8. Jun 17, 2010 #7
    rexxar

    rexxar

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    Use manufacturing cream it wont seperate
     
  9. Jun 17, 2010 #8
    m brown

    m brown

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    How about a tea reduction added to scalded milk?
     
  11. Jun 17, 2010 #9
    seaside

    seaside

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    As the tea is a fruit tea and therefore quite acidic it will curdle, I drink it quite a lot of fruit teas,  but can never add any milk,   can you not use the earl grey or even better cardamon pods?  that will taste wonderful!    failing that a good dark green bay leaf. hope this helps./img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif
     
  12. Jun 29, 2010 #10
    jessiquina

    jessiquina

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    thanks for the help guys!
     
  13. Oct 6, 2012 #11
    rebecsound

    rebecsound

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    Try almond milk!  Taste great and wont curdle.
     
  14. Oct 7, 2012 #12
    808jono202

    808jono202

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    Zombie thread. . . . must work for the Almond Milk people. . .