50% isn't bad for a gut feel guess!  you remind me of a guy i used to work with.

My last name  begins with a K and has a lot of letters in.

No passion for running though.

Peter - does your last name begin with a 'k', and you enjoy running, by chance?

Vast majority of milk chocolate in the world is made using spray dried milk powder.

The difference between roller dried and spray dried milk powders (apart from taste) shows in the the mixing. If both milk powders have the same fat content more fat will be released in the mixer from roller dried milk powder than from spray dried milk powder. Fat from spray dried milk powder will be released in the conche.

This works both ways:

If you use roller dried milk powder you use less additional fat (cocoa butter) in mixer prior to refining to achieve the same consistency.

If you use spray dried milk powder you can use more fat in the in the mixer prior to refining. Fat may come from increased cocoa liquor content, more cocoa butter or different mix ratio between whole and skim milk powders.

Im looking to do a milk chocolate but in South Africa its pretty hard to find the roller dried milk powder which seems to be the way to go.  Is spray dried also acceptable.  Apparently the spray dried powder, apart from the taste, doesnt have the same amount of fat free particles as the roller dried powder.  What will the implications be if using the spray dried?  Any alternatives to milk powders? Thanks. Dirk