# Storing Milk



## Triple J Farm (May 7, 2017)

For those of you who have a family milk cow, how do you store all of that extra milk? Where did you get the containers to store it? We are currently using 1 quart mason jars but are running out quickly. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, any suggestions on finding cheaper equipment would be appreciated (websites for cheap glass 1 gallon jars, stainless steel buckets, lids etc.).

Thanks everyone!


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

the great thing about owning a cow is you have a steady supply , I use a glass ice tea jar and drain the skimmilk from the spout to feed a pig saveing the cream for butter, turning the excess into great pork . I also share with the calf to raise my beef . . local resterants are a great place to get gallon pickle jars there also on ebay but cost shipping ect. usally new gallon glass jars sometimes called fermenting jars are around 13$ . I found Ebay a great place to find milking equipment .just go there and type in" Stainless steel milk pails" they are there often at a deal if used . I peaced together a electric milker from ebay ,


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## Triple J Farm (May 7, 2017)

Thank you Arnie, I will be on the look out. And hopefully this will help me finally convince the misses to let me raise some hogs! Any more advice from others is still welcome.

Thanks


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## danil54grl (Mar 10, 2014)

I got friends and family to save old milk and juice jugs. Washed out with bleach water. A frie d gave me some old glass gallon wine jugs. They smelled of wine still but put bleach water and left in the sun for a few days to remove the smell. I skim off cream after setting overnight. Put the excess cream into IceCube trays and once frozen into ziplock bags. That way i can just defrost when needed for cooking, coffee or butter. Especially nice when i am not milking. With excess milk, I make cheese.


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## DaisyDuke (Nov 21, 2017)

How long should raw milk store? I have been buying a gallon a week from a local Amish farm. It seems like the last quart goes bad each week. I break up the gallon into four quarts, make kefir out of one quart and use the other three for drinking. Is a week too long for milk to store in the refrigerator? Should I use that extra quart to make yogurt right away? Is a quart too small of an amount to make cheese?


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## danil54grl (Mar 10, 2014)

My raw milk last about a week and a half stored in the dairy fridge which is set a little lower in temp than the main fridge. I would make yogurt with the quart. My personal experience is that a quart is too little an amount to make cheese. I normally used about 6 gallons at a time when making cheese. If anything, use the sour milk in a bread starter or biscuits, pancakes or something like that.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

I have quite a few 2-quart mason jars which would be what I might use if I were trying to can the milk for later use. (I wasn't sure if that's what you're doing or not.) In the past, I've used the 2-quart jars for canning juice of various kinds. 

If you are so inclined, you could venture into cheese and butter making but those would have to be stored, too. And it wouldn't solve your problem of having milk when the cow was dry.

Another possibility might be adding a second cow and breeding it such that you would have them freshening far enough apart that you would always have at least one of them giving milk. But then you'd have even more milk to deal with when they were both giving.

A question I don't know the answer to is whether milk will freeze. It could take up quite a lot of freezer space if you did it that way and would require electricity to keep if frozen. But I wondered.


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## danil54grl (Mar 10, 2014)

You can freeze raw cow milk, but when it thaws it separates. You will have solid particles left in the milk. I learned this the hard way, but i drained off the liquid and basically had cream cheese so not a total waste. The only milk I do freeze is goats milk because it is naturally homogenized and doesn't separate.


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## marsharini (Dec 31, 2011)

DaisyDuke said:


> How long should raw milk store? I have been buying a gallon a week from a local Amish farm. It seems like the last quart goes bad each week. I break up the gallon into four quarts, make kefir out of one quart and use the other three for drinking. Is a week too long for milk to store in the refrigerator? Should I use that extra quart to make yogurt right away? Is a quart too small of an amount to make cheese?


If I keep the raw milk in a cooler with plenty of ice, it will last anywhere from 1.5 weeks to 2 weeks. If I keep it in the fridge, which is set at 37 degrees, I'm lucky if I can get a week. 

I use two gallons to make cheese, but only because that's the quantity the recipes I use call for. I wouldn't bother with anything less because it's a lot of work making cheese.

And lastly, if you remove the cream you can freeze the milk with little change in consistency. I just freeze it in Ziploc bags (stood up in a bowl/container until it's solid).


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

Here is an idea from a supplier I have used in the past and would do business with again:

http://www.thecarycompany.com/glass-economy-jars-30wej1


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

The initial amount and type of bacteria will determine how long it lasts. Rapid deep cooling reduces the speed that the bacteria multiplies.


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## royB (Dec 15, 2004)

I no longer have the cow, but when I did I got 1/2 gal mason jars through Ace hardware. If there is one near you they will ship to the store free and usually had the best price. As for how long it keeps, I agree with haypoint, cooling it fast is the best way to make it last. you can always make buttermilk with the extra and it will keep a good long time


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