The apparent specific heat of different milks varying in fat mass contents from 0.1% to 35%, were determined in the temperature range 1-59 degrees C by means of a continuous differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) method. The DSC measurement procedure was tested for reliability with distilled water before applying it to the milk samples which varied in fat content. The influence of temperature and fat concentration on the specific heat of the samples was investigated; the apparent specific heat of milk was found to depend not only on the moisture level but also on the fat content, especially for milk having a high percentage of fat; a set of empirical equations was established by regression analysis to correlate the results and predict the apparent specific heat of milk within the studied temperature and fat content ranges. Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.