PET Milk: The 1800s canned dairy brand still in recipes.

PET Milk, whose evaporated milk method was patented in 1884 and put into production in 1885, was supplied as rations to U.S. military forces and remains used today in dishes such as tres leches and flan.

PET Milk remains a familiar canned evaporated milk that appears in recipes such as tres leches, flan, and coquito. Evaporated milk is made by reducing cow's milk until about 60% of its water is removed and then sterilizing and sealing it in cans; it is distinct from sweetened condensed milk, which contains added sugar. The product's lineage reaches back to early 1800s canning innovations and to a patent by John Meyenberg in 1884, with production beginning in 1885. PET Milk was used by the U.S. military in conflicts including the Spanish‑American War and both World Wars and became a household staple in part through free company recipe books distributed from the 1930s to the 1960s. Key points: - Evaporated milk is made by heating and concentrating cow's milk until roughly 60% of the water is removed, then packaging it in sterilized cans. - Nicolas Appert developed early food canning and produced an early form of evaporated milk in 1810; later inventors further refined the process. - John Meyenberg patented a modern method in 1884 and began production in Highland, Illinois, in 1885; this line eventually became known as PET Milk. - PET Milk products were supplied as rations to U.S. forces in the Spanish‑American War and in World Wars I and II. - The brand's free recipe books from the 1930s through the 1960s helped make evaporated milk a common ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes. Summary: Evaporated milk sold under the PET Milk name has a long culinary and historical presence, shaping recipes where shelf‑stable dairy was useful and influencing midcentury home cooking. Its flavor and texture are still noted in certain regional desserts and comfort dishes. Undetermined at this time.