Half & Half Hack

Do you like the taste of half & half in your coffee or tea? Do you hate the price of the stuff? We do and we do over here.

My husband & I consume a full pot of java every morning and our choice of addition is half & half. For a while, I could find it cheap(er) in small containers at Kroger, but as the cost of fuel went up, so did the "sticky prices" of groceries (more on that in another post). And our precious half & half went to the ridiculous point.

Then I began buying it in bigger containers at Costco -- making the run there every 4 weeks or so. And then those prices went up.

So as they say on our son's favourite Disney show ("My Friends Tigger & Pooh"), "Think, think, think."

A few weeks ago, I was at Costco and noticed the price of heavy whipping cream was less than half & half when compared ounce-for-ounce. Half & half is merely whole milk with heavy cream added, so could I make half & half for us cheaper than buying it ready-made? Hmmm. I bought a single container of heavy whipping cream and figured it was worth a try.

In order to successfully complete this "life hack," you need to have a container for combining milk & heavy cream that can be closed and shaken when you're ready for it. Happily, our milk is delivered in glass bottles with plastic lids, so I generally have a clean glass bottle hanging around. :)

Pour equal amounts of milk & heavy cream in to the container and shake. Half & half that comes from the store has been homogenized (a process whereby high-pressured air is shot through the product to break up milkfat molecules and make it smooth), and the stuff you're making won't be. However, I've discovered that as I shake, I'm getting a fresher-tasting half & half in my coffee and a head of foam on my cup that makes me feel like I'm drinking an expensive cuppa coffee from a gourmet coffee shop. ;)

If you've got the inclination and the willingness to hack something yourself, let us know. This little hack saves us about $1 per container of half & half and is entirely worth it.

~Sue