By the end of the American Civil War, sweetened condensed milk had grown in popularity, and its success encouraged the development of evaporated milk.
The basic process for preservation of unsweetened condensed milk by heat sterilization was conceived by John B. Meyenberg in 1882, a Swiss citizen, and an employee of the Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Basic principle of the process was the preservation of unsweetened condensed milk by heat sterilization, by steaming under pressure.
He suggested the idea to the company but was rejected. Meyenberg’s process removed about 60 percent of the water in milk. The remainder was homogenized, canned, and sterilized. The evaporated milk, which occupied far less space than fresh milk, could remain in cans for over a year.
Meyenberg obtained the two United States patents for his process and sterilization apparatus, published on November 25, 1884.
He formed Helvetia Milk Condensing Company, the first unsweetened evaporated milk plant on February 14, 1885, with a number of farmers, and businessmen from Mountain, Illinois, as shareholders. By June 14, 1885, “First Canned Mountain Evaporated Cream” was ready to be put on. The first product was called Highland Evaporated Cream.
History of evaporated milk
