Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Sweetened condensed milk contains a high concentration of lactose, which exceeds its solubility limit at room temperature, leading to supersaturation.
To prevent the formation of large, sandy crystals that ruin the texture, "forced crystallization" is carried out by adding lactose seed crystals and cooling the mix rapidly.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The objective of forced crystallization is to encourage the rapid growth of a very large number of extremely small crystals (less than 10 microns in size) rather than a few large ones.
The rate of crystallization and the solubility of lactose are determined by the concentration of lactose in the water phase of the condensed milk.
This concentration is expressed as the Lactose-to-Water ratio (or the supersaturation coefficient).
The optimum temperature at which crystallization proceeds most rapidly without forming large crystals depends directly on this lactose-to-water ratio.
Typically, the mix is cooled to approximately $30^\circ\text{C}$ to $32^\circ\text{C}$ (the temperature of maximum crystallization rate for standard mixes) before seeding.
Therefore, the optimum temperature varies mainly with the ratio of lactose to water in the condensed milk.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The optimum crystallization temperature varies mainly with the ratio of Lactose to water in the condensed milk.