A system and method is provided for processing milk for spray drying. The system may have a pre-evaporator configured to receive and concentrate the milk stream producing an intermediate concentration milk. The system may also have a first buffer tank configured to receive the intermediate concentration milk and store the intermediate concentrate milk at a reduced temperature. The system may further have a first finisher evaporator configured to draw the intermediate concentration milk from the first buffer tank and concentrate the intermediate concentration milk producing a final concentration milk. The final concentration milk may be suitable for spray drying.