On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:54:13 -0800, Mark Thorson wrote:

> Like many of you, I spend Saturday morning
> thinking about obscure kitchen tools that
> I don't already have. Like these two:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220201592569
>
> Anyone have a clue as to how they work?
> Are they missing any pieces? Why would
> anybody boil milk?
>
> So, to educate myself, I looked around
> for other examples, but that only added
> to the mystery:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150220314469
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150218292500
>
> Whoa! A completely different design!
> At least, one of them has instructions.
> Apparently, these sit in the bottom of
> a pot of milk, spiral side down. Steam
> bubbles presumably travel along the
> spiral groove before exiting through the
> hole. What's the purpose of doing that?
>
> The instructions say it prevents boiling
> over, but wouldn't the real problem in
> boiling milk be scalding? Is preventing
> boiling over the only purpose accomplished
> by this tool?

I suspect the spiral design funnels the steam bubbles up into a
narrow stream so that you don't have bubbles coming up from every
part of the bottom of the pan, which is what causes the foaming
and boil over.

Neat design.

But I have no clue as to why you'd boil milk other than for
puddings, pasteurization, and some bread making applications -
which usually don't require a extended heat or large quantities.

> The name of the latter unit, "Milk Saver",
> implies that this is done to preserve milk,
> maybe an early form of pasteurization?

It may be used to re-pasteurize milk that has started to "grow".
Same theory id used in the "Chinese master sauce": As long as
heat it frequently, it won't go bad.

-sw