Why is my homemade dulce de leche grainy?

I used whole milk, sugar, a vanilla bean and a pinch of baking soda. The resulting dulce de leche tastes delicious but has small dark bits in it. Any idea why these formed and/or how to get rid of them? (Straining won't work due to thickness of the sauce.) Thanks!

Rhonda35
  • Posted by: Rhonda35
  • November 26, 2018
  • 8160 views
  • 3 Comments

3 Comments

Mindalena
Mindalena November 27, 2018
Hi Rhonda35! I've never made a dulce de leche in a slow-cooker before but in the traditional method it is very easy to slightly scorch the milk and sugar on the bottom of the pan after the first hour of cooking. My grandmother always suggested to us to use the thickest pan we could and stir about twice as much during the second hour of cooking to avoid any over-caramelization of the milk and sugar. As to how to get rid of them: any grainy pudding or sauce I run through my hand-blender on full for 5-10 min. Maybe it won't be the prettiest, but that's a sure way to get it smooth.
 
Rhonda35
Rhonda35 November 27, 2018
Thank you, Mindalena! I appreciate your grandmother's tips for cooking dulce de leche (next time I'll get it right!) and will try using the immersion blender to make this batch smoother. :-)
 
Rhonda35
Rhonda35 November 26, 2018
PS - I used Lora Brody's slow-cooker dulce de leche recipe.
 
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