# Freezing milk?



## rollingmeadow (Dec 21, 2009)

Has anyone tried freezing extra goat milk?  Will frozen milk work for making cheese?  If frozen correctly how long can you store frozen milk and still be suitable for drinking?

I am trying to decide on a standard or mini breed mainly because I think a standard would produce too much milk for our family of 3.  I do intend on learning to make cheese but at first I think 1 gallon or more per day is too much to handle.  A mini would give less per day on the same lactation cycle.  

Here's my thought.  Could I get away with milking a standard for a shorter cycle and freeze the milk to use as needed after the doe is dried up?

If this is possible I could keep our family trips and not be milking year round.


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## ksalvagno (Dec 21, 2009)

You can freeze goat milk but sometimes it does separate when defrosted. Sometimes just putting in the blender will work to get it all back together and sometimes it doesn't. The frozen milk will probably work best for cheese. Goat milk is good for a year in the freezer but I don't know if I would want to personally drink year old frozen goat milk. But it does work great for feeding goat kids or alpaca crias.

If you don't need a whole lot of milk, the smaller breeds will work out well. You need to have at least 2 so they have a buddy. The Nigerian Dwarf gives about a quart per day. Look for good milking lines and buy from someone who milks their goats and can tell you how much milk they get per day.


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## Roll farms (Dec 21, 2009)

I only milk mine for 8-9 mos out of the year...you can plan the breedings / drying off around your vacations (Dry one up right before you leave, have another due to kid when you return).

I freeze milk for cooking and for kids only...I don't care to drink it after it's been frozen / once it seperates.  My head knows it's ok, but my mouth thinks there's a difference, LOL.

I have noticed that the milk I double strain for cooking (through a mesh screen AND paper milk filter) seems to seperate less than what I strain for the kids (just the mesh strainer)...dunno if that's a coincidence or if it's because of the second filtering...


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## FarmerChick (Dec 22, 2009)

I freeze goat milk.....and then use it for my natural goat milk soaps I make.   works great.


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## lilhill (Dec 22, 2009)

FarmerChick said:
			
		

> I freeze goat milk.....and then use it for my natural goat milk soaps I make.   works great.


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## helmstead (Dec 22, 2009)

We freeze our extra milk too, and as said before only use it for bottle babies or cheese because of the 'mouth feel' of separated milk.  Blegh!


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## Shoshana (Jan 15, 2010)

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> You can freeze goat milk but sometimes it does separate when defrosted.


I've been reading about buttermaking with goat's milk and the need for an expensive separator in order to efficiently make it.  When you say that freezing goat's milk can sometimes cause it to separate, are we talking into skim milk and heavy cream?  Has anyone on BYH used a freezing and defrosting method to make butter before?  Thanks!


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## Roll farms (Jan 16, 2010)

I just ordered a hand crank seperator on Ebay (from the Ukraine) for $100 shipping included....however, I won't crow about it too much until I see if it works well or not.

I've never tried to see if I could get the cream from the skim when it seperates, I've just always shaken it up and fed it to the kids....
Sure wish I'd though of that idea before I ordered the seperator...


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## freemotion (Jan 16, 2010)

Please let us know how it works!  I would love to have more butter than the little delicious taste I get by saving a few tablespoons of cream off the gallon jars.


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## dkluzier (Jan 16, 2010)

We've made cheese from frozen goat milk, doesn't curd up quite as well but it makes the same quality of cheese as fresh.


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## michickenwrangler (Jan 16, 2010)

With separation, some of the globules will stick to the glass you drink out of, a minor cosmetic disadvantage.

Remember to freeze in plastic! The neighbors had a bad experience with freezing in glass and yes, they did leave headroom.

Look for a Nigerian Dwarf or mini-breed if you don't want a lot of milk. Nubians have higher butterfat (good for cheese) but give less than a Saanen or Toggenburg.


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## Shoshana (Feb 3, 2010)

Just wanted to bump this and see if anyone has a method for making butter that involves freezing goat milk to get it to separate.  Thanks!


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## Marta (Feb 3, 2010)

Dont know if this will be of interest to you but I go here http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/board,4.0.html for anything to do with making things from goats milk, interesting site and the owner know that some only go for milk products only


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## nifftiness (Sep 4, 2010)

Does anyone have an opinion on what is the best to freeze the milk in? Im planing on freezing a bunch for soapmaking and wondered If using a canning jar would work. I found a plastic container to get alot of freezer burn on the top. Im hoping to have it last up to 6 months since my plan is to only breed once a year?


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## nmred (Sep 5, 2010)

I freeze in gallon ziplock bags.  Squeeze as much air as possible out before you zip it closed, lay it flat in freezer until frozen.  Works great and then you can stack them up so they don't take up so much freezer space.  Make sure you thaw them in a pan or bowl as the bags tend to leak after being in the freezer   I admit to not being an expert in this (this is our first year milking!) but so far the few I've thawed have been great.  No freezer burn (but remember, mine were only in there a month or so, not 6 months) and tasted fine.  This is an easy, cheap way to freeze the extra milk.  I, too, am trying to get a good supply in for when the does are dried up before kidding.  We drink it, though, not make soap.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 5, 2010)

Shoshana said:
			
		

> Just wanted to bump this and see if anyone has a method for making butter that involves freezing goat milk to get it to separate.  Thanks!


When frozen milk separates (at least at my house) it isn't that it separates nicely into cream and skim milk. You get slightly watery tasting milk with weird little solid chunkies floating around in it; the fat separates out, but you don't get a nice cream rising to the top. Really the only way to get much cream separated from goat milk is a cream separator...which are expensive...a pain in the rear to disassemble, clean, and put back together...and the hand crank ones will give you a workout! I can get a few spoonfuls of cream off the top of a quart jar if it sits in the fridge for a few days, I spoon it  out into a smaller jar and save it up in the freezer. I haven't made butter yet, I have only managed to save up maybe a quart of cream since February...


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