I don’t think of them as the same, and they aren’t labeled that way. Where I’ve shopped ( NYC, DC, L.A., San Francisco Bay area), condensed milk has added sugar. A lot! It’s practically frosting! Perhaps what I call condensed milk is usually labeled “sweetened condensed milk”. I guess I just know what I’m shopping for.
Here is what ATK says about why they don’t curdle.
Why Don’t Evaporated Milk and Condensed Milk Curdle?
"We use evaporated milk in one of our macaroni and cheese recipes and sweetened condensed milk in Key lime bars because it guarantees a silky smooth texture and is impervious to curdling. The secret is the process by which the milks are made. The gentle heating of the milk (called fore-warming) helps to condition the proteins to make them more resistant to curdling. The main proteins in question here are large molecules called casein. When exposed to heat, casein molecules tend to clump together. During fore-warming, the big casein molecules are surrounded by smaller molecules of whey protein, and the whey proteins get in the way of the clumping of the casein molecules.
Also interfering with the clumping of the casein molecules are additives in the evaporated milk. Salts, in the form of disodium phosphate and/or sodium citrate, are added to improve the ability of the proteins in the mix to retain water (the release of water is another symptom of curdling). A gum called carrageenan may also be added to prevent fat separation in storage"
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I don’t claim they are “healthy”, and outside of a few tsp a month of evaporated, rarely have either anymore. Can’t say the same about bacon, and I’ll eat good pastrami as often as I can!
