No they can't Sonia, evaporated milk is thin and condensed milk is thick and gooey and yummy and sweet.

[link]

Hi Sonia! No, they cannot be substituted for each other.

Evaporated milk is unsweetened and is milk that has most of the water removed from it. It can be watered down and used like fresh milk (it doesn't taste the same!) or you can pour it over desserts as it comes.

Condensed milk is sweetened. It is thick and sticky and is most usually used to make a toffee for Banoffi Pie or Millionaires Shortbread. It is boiled in the can (unopened) in a pan of plenty of boiling water for about 2 hours. You must make sure the pan is topped up with water and doesn't boil dry or the can will explode. (It happened to a friend of mine - not a pretty sight!)

Hope this helps!

Thanks Rosti and chocolatruffle for your replies...............so what is 'unsweetened condensed milk' used for? Seeing as it is 65% sugar (I went to the link Rosti) I wondered what it's purpose would be.

well I use the unsweetened one or the sweetened one in the same way Sonia, I really can't find much difference with them apart from one says "light" on the can.

The unsweetened condensed milk is sweet from the natural milk sugar (lactose). Sweetened condensed milk has added sugar.

No I disagree chocolatruffle, unsweetened condensed milk still has sugar added or it would still be evaporated milk, it just doesnt have as much sugar added making it a light version as rosti says. just look on the tin to see

Try this link. It explains clearly what the products are. They manufacture them.

[link]

There is a distinct difference between evaporated milk and condensed milk as I said. Light condensed milk is made with skimmed milk.

Yes, so it is the skimmed milk bit that makes a difference between the sweetened and unsweetened condensed milks, whereas before you said that the unsweetened one didnt have any sugar added and was sweet from the natural milk sugar (lactose) which I think you now have to admit was wrong and that if sugar wasnt added it would still resemble evaporated milk which is a product that uses full milk for the normal version and skimmed milk for the light one, but no sugar. Glad you got there with the link in the end.

Put it down to my age. Condensed milk was always either sweetened (added sugar) or unsweetened (no added sugar). I naturally assumed the new 'light' name meant it had no added sugar & was the new name for unsweetened condensed milk - sweet due to the natural lactose found in milk. It may or may not have originally been made with skimmed milk. I assume as they say the recipes have remained the same, that the light does not contain added sugar. Without actually being able to read a can label I can't confirm this. I merely pointed out from the link that the light was made with skimmed milk.
Also, my original reply to the post was to say that evaporated milk and condensed milk cannot be substituted for each other.
If you go to Delia on line there is quite a discussion on previous message boards concerning condensed milk, if you are interested.

if you look there have been quite a few on this site too

This the official definition of condensed milks from food.gov web site. :

PARTLY OR WHOLLY DEHYDRATED PRESERVED MILK PRODUCTS AND THEIR RESERVED DESCRIPTIONS


Column 1 Column 2
Reserved Descriptions Designated Products
1. Partly dehydrated milk
- Types of unsweetened condensed milk


(a) Condensed high-fat milk

Partly dehydrated milk containing, by weight, not less than 15% fat, and not less than 26.5% total milk solids.


(b) Condensed milk

Partly dehydrated milk containing, by weight, not less than 7.5% fat, and not less than 25% total milk solids.


(c) Condensed, partly skimmed milk

Partly dehydrated milk containing, by weight, not less than 1% and less than 7.5% fat, and not less than 20% total milk solids.


(d) Condensed skimmed milk

Partly dehydrated milk containing, by weight, not more than 1% fat, and not less than 20% total milk solids.


- Types of sweetened condensed milk


(e) Sweetened condensed milk

Partly dehydrated milk with an admixture of sucrose (semi-white sugar, white sugar or extra-white sugar) and containing, by weight, not less than 8% fat and not less than 28% total milk solids.


(f) Sweetened condensed, partly skimmed milk

Partly dehydrated milk with an admixture of sucrose (semi-white sugar, white sugar or extra-white sugar) and containing, by weight, not less than 1% and less than 8% fat, and not less than 24% total milk solids.


(g) Sweetened condensed skimmed milk

Partly dehydrated milk with an admixture of sucrose (semi-white sugar, white sugar or extra-white sugar) and containing, by weight, not more than 1% fat and not less than 24% total milk solids.

a link would have worked
and evaporated milk?
tip top?

The link which I omitted to add :

[link]

I selected the relevant part.

Tip Top

I refer to link given earlier. But here is the relevant part:

TIP TOP
Light and creamy Tip Top is delicious on canned and fresh fruit, crumbles and pies and all your family's hot and cold desserts. Tip Top has fewer calories and two-thirds less fat than single cream. This product can help slimming or weight control only as part of a calorie controlled diet. Not to be used for babies.

yes I know
Found the page by doing a string search to see where you copy and pasted from.