Freezing Milk...

Southern by choice

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After we milk we strain and put the milk in the freezer to chill it faster then remove it and put in the fridge. Welllllllllll........... there are days I forget the milk is in the freezer and by the time I remember it is either slushy or frozen.
:barnie :confused: :rolleyes: :he :hide

So my questions...

If I keep the milk frozen can I pull it out in a few weeks and make cheese? Will it alter the flavor? Will it set right?

So far when I thaw the milk it's consistency is different and I give it to the dogs.
Any suggestions?

I also am having a hard time getting through pasteurizing all the milk. We do not have a home pasteurizer so it is all done with a pot. ( I have to pasteurize for health reasons, although I often drink it raw it is still what we need to do for the family.) It is best when I do one gallon at a time. But it takes almost an hour for the whole process to include cooling quickly.

Pouring gallons down the drain is making me sick! We are down to 2 girls that we are milking so it is alot less milk right now but we are still wasting alot of milk. If I can utilize it frozen that would be great.

I am soooo tired of not getting to the milk and pitching it. The dogs LOVE it though! :rolleyes:
 

babsbag

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Ok, the freezer is great, but I forget mine too. For just my household to use I don't put it in the freezer, I do it the WRONG way and chill it in ice water and then the fridge. Does it get to 42 in 2 hours or less...probably not. Does it taste great...definitely. Would I give it to friends and family raw...NOPE.

A quick way to chill the milk is to find an old chest freezer, a small one, and make a mix of 1/2 alcohol, 1/2 water and put it in a tub in the freezer. Put your jars of milk in the slurry. AND SET A TIMER :)

I have read that you can make cheese from frozen milk, and I have read that you can't. I haven't tried it but with almost 3 gallons a day maybe I should. I keep thinking I will dry the gals off and then I don't. It would be an interesting experiment I guess. I know that once you make chevre you can freeze the cheese and then thaw it and season it and it is as good as fresh. Making chevre is almost a make it and forget it process. Heat the milk, add the culture, wait 12 hours ( I have gone 24 hours) and drain it. Done. I usually make it right after the pasteurizing so I don't have to chill the milk as low.

Pasteurizing is a pain; even with the pasteurizer you have to stay within ear shot. But it does 2 gallons at a time so that is nice, but the chilling...UGH. Definitely the alcohol mix in the freezer is the way to go.

I gave a lot of milk to my pigs last year...
 

OneFineAcre

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We've found that the frozen milk doesn't do as well for cheese at least the chevre we make the most.

I was going to suggest maybe you should get a couple of feeder pigs. Now that we have moved we are going to do that.

We put an ad on CL and have sold quite a bit of milk this year. Whenever someone gets milk, we give them a "sample" of the cheese. Most then end up getting some of that.
We are paying for a good portion of our hay with milk and cheese sales.
 

Southern by choice

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We actually can utilize all the milk, right now it is just a time thing. We can use 3 gallons per day easily. We are a big family.
Hoping I can get into a good schedule to utilize the milk for cheeses.

Your wife's cheese is awesome! Best chevre I have ever had.

We have friends that do a feeder pig here and there and we will give excess or milk I can't get to but NO pigs for me. The only piggy we have here is a guinea pig. LOL

Thanks all for the advice. Shame I can't freeze it. I need about another month before I can really get on the ball. :rolleyes:

We are looking at the laws pertaining to sale of cheese.
I will be meeting with a few people that legally sell their cheese and hopefully can glean a few things.
 

OneFineAcre

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From my understanding you can legally sell raw goats milk if labeled not for human consumption. You see ads on CL fairly regularly that use very specific language.

Beyond that I believe you have to be a class B dairy.

You let me know if you find anything different.
 

animalmom

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I freeze extra milk and use it during the winter when production is lower. I've used it for chevre and yogurt and have not noticed any difference in taste or texture.

I grew up as a Marine brat and the folks only did a commissary run once a month. We drank thawed frozen milk. I recall the common cry of "go get a carton of milk out of the freezer or you won't have breakfast in the morning." (sorry, musings of an old woman :) )

I really don't know why some folks balk at the idea of freezing milk.
 

OneFineAcre

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I freeze extra milk and use it during the winter when production is lower. I've used it for chevre and yogurt and have not noticed any difference in taste or texture.

I grew up as a Marine brat and the folks only did a commissary run once a month. We drank thawed frozen milk. I recall the common cry of "go get a carton of milk out of the freezer or you won't have breakfast in the morning." (sorry, musings of an old woman :) )

I really don't know why some folks balk at the idea of freezing milk.

We don't balk at it. It's just the cheese didn't turn out well for us.
Maybe we aren't doing something right? Seems the milk separates into water and solids, and when you shake it up doesn't mix back properly.

What we have started doing, is making the cheese and freezing that. But like I said, this year we have been able to sell most. We are getting $7/gallon for milk if you bring container or $8 without. We sell the chevre for $8/lb.

SBC should try it out for herself. :)
 
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babsbag

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$7.00 for a gallon of milk...I could buy hay with that kind of money. My goats and I would be thrilled. Unfortunately I am in CA and don't DARE try to sell milk, they would be on me like the "tick on a dog". And since a grade A dairy is in my sights I don't want to do anything to get them hot on my trail right now.
 

OneFineAcre

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$7.00 for a gallon of milk...I could buy hay with that kind of money. My goats and I would be thrilled. Unfortunately I am in CA and don't DARE try to sell milk, they would be on me like the "tick on a dog". And since a grade A dairy is in my sights I don't want to do anything to get them hot on my trail right now.

We could sell more if we had it. No one questions the $7/gallon price. We have one lady who gets two gallons a week, and wants it until we dry ours off after the fair.
Good luck with that class A dairy.
We know some people with a class B here in North Carolina, Spinning Spider Creamery.

We will see them at the NC Mountain State Fair this weekend. Their son will be the favorite for "premier exhibitor" in the youth show. Always is. They milk 100 per day. Mostly Saanens, with some Alpines and Recorded Grades.

http://www.spinningspidercreamery.com/
 
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Mike CHS

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we only have one store in our area of SC that carries goat milk and it's in half gallon containers for $4.87. We pay it because we prefer the taste of it to cows milk. We are already scouting out a couple of dairy goats for our permanent move to Tennessee in the spring.
 
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