Wednesday Why: Dry Milk Cost Effectiveness

Milky May:  What is the cost effectiveness of the dry milk powder that can be bought at LDS home storage centers?

Store bought milk:  ranges from about $3 up to $4 sometimes.  The latest sales at grocery stores and Walgreens had it for $2.99, Sam's club runs around $3 regularly (depends on the location--some a few cents cheaper some a few cents more).

Currently, a can of dry milk powder that is canned by the customer, is $8.60.  Each can makes about 5 1/2 gallons worth of milk.  Divide 8.60 by 5.5 and you get about 1.56.  So to make one gallon of milk using dry milk powder, it will cost 1.56 plus the cost of water and any add-ins you use (vanilla, sugar, chocolate flavoring, etc.)  Using water from the tap, the cost is pretty much nil, but if you want to say it cost 1 cent then that brings the total up to 1.57.  (water bills are usually calculated by 1000 gallons--when I checked last year, my area's water bill was 3.46 per 1000 gallons so less than one cent per gallon).  I like to add vanilla to it when I make it as it does make it taste a lot better.  I use maybe 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per gallon, if that (to tell the truth I don't measure it  just pour a little in).  Again the cost of the vanilla isn't very much, but even if it is as much as 10 cents a teaspoon, the cost of milk is still only 1.67.

Please note:  the dry milk powder sold at LDS home storage centers is not the instant dry milk powder that can be bought at the store or other food storage suppliers.  Most stores that carry powdered milk only carry the instant variety.  If making something using instant dry milk powder instead of dry milk powder you will need to double the amount.  Example if a recipe calls for 1/2 cup of dry milk powder, you will need to use 1 cup of instant dry milk powder, and vise versa if a recipe calls for 1 c instant milk powder use only 1/2 c of dry milk powder.  In calculations I did a long while back (probably 1-2 years ago), it is actually cheaper to buy store bought milk over the instant dry milk for regular use (at least when buying it at the store), but if instant dry milk is all you have access to, it is still better to have it for your storage than nothing.

To get the current prices of items sold at LDS home storage centers, go to lds.org and click on family well-being under the menu list, then on home storage and click on the home storage center order form, it is available in pdf or exel formats in both English and Spanish for the US and English for Canada.