Freezing milk?

[michickenwrangler]

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.

 

[Shoshana]

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!

 

[Marta]

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

 

[nifftiness]

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?

 

[nmred]

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.

 

[Ariel301]

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...