# freezing milk



## lonelyfarmgirl

I was wondering about freezing milk. I have froze raw goat milk, and the outcome was, well, yuck. When I thawed it out, it was separated and even after putting it in the blender, was really not what I would call drinkable. 

Wondering how it goes with raw cows milk?


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## steff bugielski

I freeze raw goat milk all the time. I think the trick is freezing it as fresh as possible. I usually freeze day old and no older. I also do not keep it for more than 3 months. 
When thawed it is just like fresh.


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## Charleen

steff bugielski said:


> I freeze raw goat milk all the time. I think the trick is freezing it as fresh as possible. I usually freeze day old and no older. I also do not keep it for more than 3 months.
> When thawed it is just like fresh.


Lucky you Steff - I've never had good luck with this and I've tried it all different ways. IEven though the goat kids don't mind it, I just can't stand the separation. It's just fine to cook with or for soapmaking though.


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## springvalley

We have also froze both goats and cows milk, and it seperates for us also. I dont care for milk that seperates, some people dont mind. I have milk customers that freeze it and use it for yogurt and smoothies, and they get along fine, but seldom have anyone freeze it for drinking. So once again it is personal preferance. > Thanks Marc


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## loislanefl

I too have never had good luck freezing cow milk. It always has little flecks of cream in it that won't mix back in. Don't care for it myself.


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## KyMama

I don't know about fresh milk, but did you let it completely thaw before mixing it. If you try to mix store bought while it still has pieces of ice it won't mix back together. 

HTH


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## steff bugielski

To be honest for myself I have froze older milk, like 3-5 days old. I have never had any separation.
Maybe something about your milk?


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## Whisperwindkat

Sometimes I get separation and sometimes I don't. I wonder if it has anything to do with the amount of cream in the milk to start with. I know the milk from my 1/2 boer1/2nubian girls is loaded with cream and always separates. However my snubians milk is more likely to not separate except during a certain portion of her lactation. Before I got the goats I rarely had store bought milk separate. Anyway, just a thought and observation. Blessings, Kat


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## Jay

When it's mostly thawed out, warm it up (stirring once in awhile) to about 80-85 degrees, the fat (cream) will melt back into the milk. (Some say warm it up to 'cow' temp--100, but I've never had to take it that high.)
Do NOT put it into the microwave--use the stovetop.
Cool quickly (I use icewater or put it into the freezer for a bit).


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## lonelyfarmgirl

Thats interesting, the warming up comment. I think I will try that. And I have saanens, almost no cream. Always separates. Looks like throw up.


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## LoneStrChic23

I just tried some frozen milk today. I sterilized some sports drink bottles, filtered my milk directly into them & froze immediately. This milk was from the end of October. Let it thaw in the fridge, & prepared for the worst.... But it tasted great.  Really wish I would have froze more, but I wanted to test it out first. 

My mom was short on milk when her FF mini had triplets. I took her a bottle of milk I had froze after 3-4 days of sitting in the fridge (milk from late November). It was kind of funky, separated & tasted goaty...... But we thawed that one in hot water to get it ready for the kid's bottles.... So perhaps the heat/rapid thawing made it funky?

Mine is Alpine milk, both bottles from the same doe, so I think the late freezing & rapid thawing of the bottle I gave to mom had something to do with it, as the older bottle we tried tonight was yummy!


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## shepherdtim

Sheeps milk freezes great because of the smaller molecules.


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## Ken in Maine

We freeze our fresh goats' milk all the time. In fact I just had a glass of thawed milk this evening that was dated last April. Still tastes great.

We freeze it fresh in new 1/2 gallon plastic jugs with an air space at the bottle shoulder. We have found that freezing it in a manual defrost freezer gets way better results. We froze about 80 gallons this past year.


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## SusanneTewes

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> I was wondering about freezing milk. I have froze raw goat milk, and the outcome was, well, yuck. When I thawed it out, it was separated and even after putting it in the blender, was really not what I would call drinkable.
> 
> Wondering how it goes with raw cows milk?





LoneStrChic23 said:


> I just tried some frozen milk today. I sterilized some sports drink bottles, filtered my milk directly into them & froze immediately. This milk was from the end of October. Let it thaw in the fridge, & prepared for the worst.... But it tasted great.  Really wish I would have froze more, but I wanted to test it out first.
> 
> My mom was short on milk when her FF mini had triplets. I took her a bottle of milk I had froze after 3-4 days of sitting in the fridge (milk from late November). It was kind of funky, separated & tasted goaty...... But we thawed that one in hot water to get it ready for the kid's bottles.... So perhaps the heat/rapid thawing made it funky?
> 
> Mine is Alpine milk, both bottles from the same doe, so I think the late freezing & rapid thawing of the bottle I gave to mom had something to do with it, as the older bottle we tried tonight was yummy!


Never thaw out goat milk fast I take up to 24 hours and it is fantastic


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## Alice In TX/MO

Dear Susanne,
Please note that this forum has a very annoying habit of showing you "Recommended Threads" at the bottom of the page. If you click on one of those, it puts you in a conversation that may be a decade or so old. It's very frustrating.

Welcome to the forum.
Alice


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## SusanneTewes

Don't know why my goat milk frozen I can thaw make yogurt cheese and everything Everything is washed at high temp in my dishwasher before frozen


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## SusanneTewes

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Dear Susanne,
> Please note that this forum has a very annoying habit of showing you "Recommended Threads" at the bottom of the page. If you click on one of those, it puts you in a conversation that may be a decade or so old. It's very frustrating.
> 
> Welcome to the forum.
> Alice


Thank you Alice


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## JenMorri88

I often freeze milk and everything is fine every time. I have never tried to freeze a goat, I always freeze a cow. Maybe the goat can't be frozen, I don't even know what the problem is


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## SusanneTewes

steff bugielski said:


> I freeze raw goat milk all the time. I think the trick is freezing it as fresh as possible. I usually freeze day old and no older. I also do not keep it for more than 3 months.
> When thawed it is just like fresh.


I have nigerian goat milk in nmy freezer that is 6 months old and when thawed properly tastes and acts just like fresh milk


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## Pony

Yes, I know this thread is 8 mos (and a few years!) old, but still...

I've been told that adding a pinch of baking soda to the milk will help to keep it from separating, but haven't tried it yet. 

I did can some goat milk in one pint jars. Not too impressed with it, but <shrug> it will be okay for cooking or feeding to the stock.


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## muleskinner2

I have frozen goat milk, so I always have some on hand for new babies. For myself I get it fresh from the source all year round, so I don't need to freeze it. I have a doe that never dries up. This winter will be her third since she weaned her last kid.


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## Pony

muleskinner2 said:


> I have frozen goat milk, so I always have some on hand for new babies. For myself I get it fresh from the source all year round, so I don't need to freeze it. I have a doe that never dries up. This winter will be her third since she weaned her last kid.


I have been thinking about milking one of my gals through. Have to see if she'll cooperate.


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## muleskinner2

Pony said:


> I have been thinking about milking one of my gals through. Have to see if she'll cooperate.


Mine doesn't cooperate. I have to rope her, tie her to the fence, and tie her hind legs together.


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## Pony

muleskinner2 said:


> Mine doesn't cooperate. I have to rope her, tie her to the fence, and tie her hind legs together.


I am not going to say that my girls always cooperate, but more often than not, once they're trained to the stand, it's hard to keep them off of it. 

Had a miserable time with a FF this year. I intentionally left my sidearm in the house, because she ticked me off so bad, I figured she and I would be better off if I sent her to Kamp Kenmore. 

She settled down after a couple of weeks, but man! I was just THAT done with her.

If a goat won't stand calmly to be milked, she has no place on this farm.

Our farm motto is, "Be nice, or be food." We stand by it.


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## muleskinner2

As long as they are good mothers, I really don't care how they act. I need the rope practice.


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## Big_John

loislanefl said:


> I too have never had good luck freezing cow milk. It always has little flecks of cream in it that won't mix back in. Don't care for it myself.



My best friend's Dad had been through two triple bypass surgeries.... Doc told him to drink Skim Mike. They lived way in the country and couldn't get Skim Milk at either of the little Groceries that were within 30 miles. Once a month, they would drive 2.5 hours to the nearest Sam's Club and purchase about 10 gallons of Skim Milk in 1 gallon jugs, bring it home and freeze it. With Skim.... freezing worked really well, as long as they drank it with 1-2 months. 

They did try to freeze whole, as my friend was an athlete and consumed 3-4 gallons a week. He said the frozen whole milk was completely nasty.....


.........


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## Forcast

I dont have good luck freezing whole milk. In bags or jars they seem to bust even with lots of room..gallon jugs take days to melt.
.


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