Page:Food and cookery for the sick and convalescent.djvu/87

Rh to be not of good standard quality except during the months of April, May, June, July, and August, when milk containing less than twelve per cent of milk solids, or less than nine per cent of milk solids exclusive of fat, or less than three per cent of fat, shall be deemed to be not of good standard quality."

When milk is heated a scum rises to the top, which consists of coagulated albumen, a small quantity of coagulated casein, and some fat. If the scum is removed some of the nutritive value of the milk is lost. If scalded milk is beaten with an egg-beater the scum, which is so unsightly, is well intermingled with the mass.

Milk should always be heated in a double boiler, where it never reaches a higher temperature than 196° F. If heated in a single utensil, it may reach the boiling point (214° F.), when it is liable to boil over or to burn, and it always takes an unnecessarily long time to wash and scour the dish.

The taste of milk is altered by the application of heat. The flavor of cooked milk is not so agreeable to the taste as uncooked milk. For this reason, if cooked milk is to be taken alone, it should be chilled as quickly as possible, which somewhat overcomes the change of taste.

Milk is easy of digestion and absorption. When comparing the digestibility of raw with cooked milk experiments have shown such different results that one cares to be guarded in making statements. The clots formed by cooked milk are smaller and less dense than those formed by raw milk; notwithstanding this fact, it is a prevalent belief that the casein is not so readily absorbed nor the fat so completely assimilated.

The value of milk as a food in cases of disease cannot be overestimated.