Freezing Raw Milk

Why would anyone want to freeze milk?

REASON TO FREEZE MILK #1:

STOCKING UP

If you have the freezer space, milk is a fantastic candidate.

Since Covid-19 hit, all sorts of people are freezing things like butter and milk – not just the preppers and weirdos (yes, I include myself in this group).

The cold hard truth is, depending on what is happening in the news, it is possible that Kroger may not have milk next week.

REASON TO FREEZE MILK #2:

THE DRY SEASON

If you are the owner of a milk cow, you know that a family cow does not provide milk 12 months of the year.  There is a dry season.

Family milk cows are usually ‘dried off’ 3 months before they calve.  This allows the mama cow to focus on making a healthy calf instead of milk those last couple months of pregnancy.

While the family cow is dry, there is no fresh milk.  Frozen milk is wonderful to have during the dry season.

REASON TO FREEZE MILK #3:

SPRING MILK

Raw milk is healthy, but SPRING raw milk is the healthiest of all.

Does your family drink raw milk?  It is easier than ever to purchase raw milk.  In 1999 it was illegal to purchase raw milk in 27 states.  Today that number has shrunk to seven (although many states require a ‘cow share’ or ‘milk share’ program).

Raw milk is one of the healthiest foods you can add to your table.

Spring milk is even better

Spring grass is fast-growing, lush, and rich in nutrients.  Milk from grass-fed cows in spring has the highest quantity of cream, contains the highest levels of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), it’s super high in vitamin A, D, E, and overall the most nutritious of the year.

Did you know that gallons of milk get dumped in spring?

It’s true.

In spring when the grass turns green the cows go wild.  They absolutely love it.  After a winter of eating dry hay, it is no surprise that this change in diet and appetite causes an increase in milk production and quality.

Many smaller operations and owners of family milk cows simply can not handle the excess milk that arrives in spring.  Without hogs, customers, or the ability to sell and share extra milk, it can get dumped.

If you have more milk than you know what to do with, instead of dumping the milk, consider freezing some of it.

This spring we found ourselves renting a condo while our new home is being built.

I was thrilled to find a friend willing to keep Daisy and milk her for me while we are in-between farms.

Daisy is temporarily living a couple of hours from where we are so I don’t have access to raw milk for the time being.  When I found out that I would be without fresh milk for a few months, I started filling the freezer.

FREEZING MILK THE EASY WAY

Freezing milk is as simple as it gets.  If you do some research, you’ll find that people go to great efforts before freezing milk and use special containers for this process.

Not me.

I freeze milk in ziplock bags and didn’t do anything special to the milk before freezing it.

The only step that you really need to take BEFORE freezing milk is to make sure you skim off ALL the cream.

Cream does not freeze and thaw well.  It gets clumpy and does not incorporate back into the milk once it’s been frozen.

This is no big deal – just skim off all the cream and make 20 pounds of butter.  Butter also freezes perfectly, so shove it in the freezer next to the milk.

🙂

How to skim milk HERE.

How to make butter HERE.

Once all the cream has been skimmed off, simply pour the milk into gallon freezer bags and pop it in the freezer.

I put the bagged milk into small cardboard boxes.  This kept the milk upright and allowed it to freeze uniformly.

Once it was good and frozen it was easy to stash into every nook and cranny of the freezer.

When you are ready to thaw a gallon of milk, just set it on the counter.

To prevent a mess on the counter, it’s best to plop this into a bowl.

By placing the bag of milk in a bowl, if your ziplock bag happens to spring a leak, your milk will still be contained.

The things I learn the hard way.

Once the milk is liquid, pour into jars and refrigerate.

I have been without my milk cow for a month now, but thanks to the frozen milk, we are still drinking raw milk!

There is literally no difference in taste or consistency.  And studies of frozen and thawed milk have shown no deterioration in nutrition.

Boo Yah!

XO,

Candi