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Lisbet
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 10:11am | IP Logged
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I've been reading up on this a bit, but I was looking for some 4Real opinions on this! ;) Milk around here goes on sale often for $1.79-$1.99/gallon, but when it's not on sale, it runs around $2.89/gallon. We go through an average of 8 gallons a week. I'm looking to see if I can freeze it in the deep freeze without having any effect on the taste. Anyone do this with good results?
We are also looking for ways to really optimize our deep freeze. We hope to buy 1/2 a beef in the spring, and I would like to try a bit more Mega Cooking. Any tips on really getting the most out of the deep freeze? Thanks so much!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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Tami
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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Lisa, I've frozen milk, and it does change the taste. I tried to pass it off for a while, but finally stopped freezing it. 
One thing I have done to stretch the milk, that went unnoticed by anyone, was to add powdered milk (mixed with water) to a partially empty gallon. I mix the powdered milk in the blender, to eliminate lumps, then added it to regular milk. I did this at night, so it could chill well before morning. OH, and I would give the jug a good shake in the morning, just to make sure it was mixed well.
I never let on that I was doing it (made sure it happened when no one was in the kitchen  ) and no one noticed.
Oh, and I have used powdered milk in recipes that call for milk. This helped to stretch my store-bought milk as well. And of course, later on, as I cleaned up the kitchen... into the gallon jug it went! 
Hope this helps!
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Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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chicken lady
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 11:23am | IP Logged
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I freeze Organic milk all the time, know one has ever said to me the taste changed! I don't drink it so I don't know for certain. We too, go through so much that I don't think they notice. Than again my dc will drink powdered milk and not notice.....odd I know, I may not be helpful here 
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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When I was a kid, my dad froze milk regularly. I don't remember any problem with the taste. The one thing that happened was that it was no longer homogenized. There were little particles of cream floating throughout the whole milk. It was not a huge problem - we just shook the jug before pouring.
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Nancy
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Fuzzy
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 11:38am | IP Logged
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I tried to freeze milk before, and as I served it to my dc, they complained of the "ice" in their milk, as it was still thawing. I don't drink it myself, so I am unsure of the taste, but I did have a harder time serving it to my children.
God bless,
Fuzzy
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 12:13pm | IP Logged
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I've frozen it before, and not noticed any difference in taste. I will add that once I forgot to take a bit of the milk out of the gallon, it all expanded, and we had a milky mess to clean when it thawed.
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Noreen
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St. Ann
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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I too have put milk in the freezer. I prefer to use this milk for cooking...such as puddings, cream of wheat or bechamel sauces...
It certainly is possible to freeze milk, but personally I don't use it afterwards for a cold glass of milk.
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Erin
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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We froze milk all the time when I was a child but it was milk straight from our own cows and goats. Therefore it was not homogenised and pasturised. I didn't think you could do it except with raw milk
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Martha
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| Posted: March 11 2007 at 10:56pm | IP Logged
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whoa hijacking here...!
Lisbet wrote:
We go through an average of 8 gallons a week.
What? That's all?! 
Oh man, I'm in trouble. I go through 2 gallons a DAY! We have seriously considered the value of owning a dairy farm. All we allow our kids to drink is water and milk. Once they hit age 4, they only get milk with meals. And still we go through 2 gallons a day. Easy. It's actually closer to 2 1/2.
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Lisbet
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| Posted: March 12 2007 at 6:54am | IP Logged
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Martha, They can only get water between meals, and only milk with meals. The 2 year old gets orange juice in his sippy after breakfast and milk in his sippy after dinner. I drink 2-3 glasses a day plus milk in my smoothie. I'd say we average 8 gallons a week, it is probably closer to 10. I'll pay better attention this week though. (I hear ya on the dairy farm idea, we've talked about a milk cow when we get out of the city!)
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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doris
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| Posted: March 12 2007 at 7:45pm | IP Logged
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We often freeze milk, and I haven't noticed any difference in the taste. Mind you, it's organic (don't know if that makes a difference) and semi-skimmed (half and half??) and also no-one just drinks it on its own.
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extremeknitter
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| Posted: March 15 2007 at 11:20am | IP Logged
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i used to freeze milk with no ill-effect.
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Lisbet
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| Posted: March 15 2007 at 11:40am | IP Logged
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Thanks all, I just put a 1/2 gallon in the deep freeze. We'll see! (milk was $2.99/gallon this week ~ we've already been through 8 gallons!)
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: March 15 2007 at 4:29pm | IP Logged
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Very interesting that I should happen upon this post! I was JUST looking this up online tonight. Our twins recently switched from formula to milk. (I had nursed them and used formula since they were ravenous.) Now, we go through so much milk that I am running to the store all the time! I read online that you can freeze it, but like others have mentioned, you should let a little milk out of the jug first so it can expand, shake it prior to use, and one woman said she lets it sit out on the counter for 12 hours to thaw, and then puts it in the fridge to get rid of the ice crystal, and long thaw time problem. So, I guess we could all experiment with ONE jug to see how it works out, and share our experiences.
I have a deep freezer too, and we recently purchased a 1/4 cow from a family member. So far, the meat is very superior to store bought beef, and there is little or no fat in the hamburger! Sometimes there is literally nothing to drain, whereas with the meat from the store, I can sometimes drain a cup or more! So, I would highly recommend it. This meat came from a cow that was raised on our relatives farm, but they took it to a local place to be processed and everything came neatly packaged in plastic, vacuum packed containers. Hope this helps.
Mom to Seven and baby due August 2007 makes 8
Wife to Bob
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Lisbet
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 6:57am | IP Logged
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I wanted to update all of you on how this has been working for us. I tried it with one gallon, and no one even noticed. So the next week it was on sale $1.88/gallon, I bought 16 and froze half. The next week milk was up to $2.99/gallon again, but, we didn't have to buy any!!!!!  This week it is $1.99/ gallong, and I bought 18 this time. Our chest freezer is full of milk, cheese, and bread. We have been able to get our hands on another bigger deep freeze for free, we just have to go pick it up. The new one will house the 1/2 beef we are saving to buy in the fall. Cool!
Thanks for all of the input!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 8:14am | IP Logged
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Just for stretching the milk, one thing my mom did (in addition to the powdered milk sometimes - which I was only who tasted it), was to buy whole milk and pour half into an empty gallon jug, then add water to both, making 2 gallons of 2%. Apparently I didn't notice this as a child because I only recently learned that she did this.
Right now, I only serve whole milk in our house, and I don't pay for the milk, so I haven't tried this myself yet to see if it really works.
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Maturemomg
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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YIKES Martha!
We are (by choice, not necessity) a dairy free family here. We go through ZERO gallons of milk a week! Cost is exorbitant at nothing!
Yours in Christ,
Kathy
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MarieC
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 3:17pm | IP Logged
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How is the best way to thaw the milk? I have frozen it in the past but sometimes the taste is funny and I wonder if it is because it doesn't all seem to melt...there is usually a chunk of ice left in the jug.
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asplendidtime
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 8:27am | IP Logged
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I do the powdered milk thing... That way I never roll my eyes when baking and it calls for milk, and I sneak it into the fresh milk to stretch it.
We used to freeze milk growing up, (bags-they don't have bags of milk in Alberta ), and frequently the bags would tear, then there was leaking. The bags would often have a sort of haze of cream, that looked really unappetising to me. The thawing was also a pain, we always ran out and had to wait or try to quickly thaw more using the microwave or throw it into a sink of warm water. 
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Freezing Milk
