Making Dulce de Leche

I would make Dulce de Leche using the Anova stick. 185°F for 12 hours.
The mover’s decided to keep the stick for themselves, and now I have the APO.

Question, can I place a can of sweetened condensed milk in oven (sans lid) using probe for 185°F and let the time be directed by the probe? Since there will not be a lid, I don’t think steam can be used.

Opinions or how did you make Dulce de Leche in APO?

you should be able to make it exactly how you did with the stick – set it to sous vide mode, 185, and use the timer to cook. If you take off the lid, you could just cover it with foil, or you could transfer it to a loosely-capped ball jar.

But with a 12 hour cook time under sous vide, I’d consider using an Instant Pot. I take off the label, check out the can and if there’s no damage, fill with water to 1-2 inches over the lid, then pressure cook for 35 minutes… when it’s done, turn it off and let it cool down completely…not just natural release, let the water cool down completely, like a couple of hours. A lot of people disagree with cooking it in the can, but I haven’t had a problem.

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Thank you. The InstaPot is a good idea. I just don’t have one.

The length of time does not bother me. I would usually get a Costco-sized shrink-wrapped six-can of sweetened condensed milk. Double bag them and put the whole bit into a water container, with the Anova stick. The double bag made me confident the labels would not get wet and wash off. Perfect, Dulce de Leche, all shelf stable. I noticed the gooey, delicious stuff would darken over time, but the flavor did not change.

I just realized I know the probe would work for the temperature, what I don’t know how long it has to sit at 185°, to work.

This recipe* needs five cans of sweetened condensed milk. Your excellent foil suggestion will become the control. After 6 hours, I can lift off the foil and see if it is the right color, if not, back for another couple of hours. The 100% steam will be the deciding factor for the ultimate amount of time needed.

*Making 2 batches of Panettone Dulce de Leche bread pudding for Christmas. Made a Panettone eggnog bread pudding for Thanksgiving, and it worked perfectly with the probe cooking the eggs and dairy in the soaked bread.

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I use Instant Pot. As noted, about 35 min. Sous Vide is great, but not not for all things. If anyone tells you the can may erupt. it won’t. The pressure build up is from outside the can and no, it won’t implode, either. Just follow directions. If someone still thinks the can will, take a thermodynamics class. 1/3 the time. No fuss, no mess.

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Turns out I used my Anova Precision Oven. I opened one can and covered the opening with foil. The other three cans were sealed. After eight hours, I checked and wanted the color to be darker. So, I left it in for an additional 4 hours. Came out just the way I wanted.

I am certain the pressure cooker way, would work the same way, but, as indicated, I just don’t have one.

On a separate note, I did not even remove the labels, because the ignition temperature of paper is greater than 185°F. I did have concern about the label glue, but it did not even soften.

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Made years ago, (before I gave up on anova app for android ever happening) #AnovaFail
& had to buy a new phone to find out just how crap the app was & still is.

Make it in a borrowed instantpot, then buy an instantpot.