Difference Between Milk and Half and Half

Milk Vs Half and Half

Perhaps the difficulty in distinguishing the two is knowing which product has more fat content. Many come to think that whole milk immediately has more fat than the other ‘“ it is named half and half anyway.

Milk, as in whole milk, is usually procured from the cow. This product has roughly 4% fat. On the other hand, half and half came to be because it is ‘half’ milk and ‘half’ cream. To clearly know this product, one must first know the differences between milk and cream.
Milk, a translucent type of whitish liquid, has lots of protein content, not to mention calcium. It also has ascorbic acid but only to some degree (not present in all). The characteristic of milk, most especially its nutrient and fat values, differ from animal to animal (including humans); even the specific breed of the animal has some effect to the fat content of its milk. Some milk products are deemed healthier than the others. In addition, the most common animals used to produce milk are cows, goats, horses and donkeys.
Cream, another dairy product, obviously has the most fat. Before homogenizing milk to make cream, the fat in the milk naturally settles on top of the liquid. This layer would later become thick and creamy, and is actually skimmed off to be used as pure cream. It is called cream because of its color ‘“ cream-like color (somewhere between yellow and white). This is because some cream products coming from cows are rich in carotenoid pigments that give it a yellowish hue. The said pigments are said to come from the plants that the cows usually ingest.

Thus, if half and half is 50% cream and 50% milk then it would most likely be fattier than milk but less thick than any typical cream. If milk has a fat range of 0-4%, half and half usually has 12.5%.

In terms of taste, these dairy products are also different. It is because half and half is obviously richer and thicker than whole milk. With half and half, your dish will almost taste a lot creamier than when you’re going to use plain milk. It can coat your tongue unlike milk wherein it tastes a lot cleaner on your mouth. That’s why you must be careful in substituting one dairy product with another when you are talking about ingredients in a particular food recipe. You might end up having a dish that has a different taste and consistency than expected.

1. Milk is translucent white fluid while half and half is a little creamy’ in color ‘“ yellow-white.
2. Milk has less fat than half and half.
3. Half and half is richer and thicker than milk.

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