You can technically freeze anything that you want, but it may affect the texture, taste, and quality over time. Goat milk has a variety of health benefits and if you have a lot of goats, you might have too much to use all at once. So can you freeze goat milk?
Goat milk can be frozen, although it may separate a bit due to its high fat content. It holds up better than most types of milk though. It’s best to freeze goat milk in a small, airtight container, dethaw it in the refrigerator, and use it within 6 months.
Freezing goat milk is a good way to wave extra liquid, prevent bacteria growth, and keep a large stock on hand! For more information about frozen milk, storage tips, and goat milk benefits, read below.
How To Freeze Goat Milk
It’s easy to stick something in the freezer and wait for it to turn solid. But if you want to preserve as much taste, texture, and quality as possible, there are certain steps you should take. Freezing goat milk is fairly simple, but there is an easy process you can follow to ensure it stays as good as possible.
First of all, you should consider whether or not to pasteurize your goat milk. It’s usually safer to pasteurize your milk and it doesn’t diminish the quality to do so. However, some people like to keep their goat milk raw. If you want to pasteurize your milk, do it before you freeze the milk.
Next up, you need to strain the milk. This is applicable to both pasteurized and unpasteurized goat milk. Straining helps to remove any loose hairs or thicker portions of the milk. Strain it through a cheesecloth or a fine sieve.
Next, you should pour the milk into small, freezer-safe containers. This could include small canning jars, Tupperware, or Ziplock bags.
You need to cool your milk before you freeze it, so place the containers in the freezer and stir them every 10 minutes. This cools the milk but also prevents it from separating. Once it’s fully chilled, empty the small containers into large canning jars or freezer-safe plastic bags.
Finally, you just need to label the containers with the month, day, and year. This will help you to keep track of when you froze it and help avoid confusion if you freeze batches regularly. Now your goat milk is safe to freeze and store for the next 6 months!
When you’re ready to use the milk, you just need to place the frozen containers in the refrigerator. This will dethaw them gradually and preserve the texture better. If you notice any separation you can stir or shake the milk before using it. Try to use the milk within one week once it’s been thawed.
Tips For Freezing Goat Milk
Goat milk is easy enough to freeze. Using the steps above, you’ll be able to safely preserve the milk for several months with no need to worry about spoiling or bacteria growth. However, if you want to keep the milk’s quality as high as possible, while also protecting your freezer from damage, I have a few tips for you.
1. Place Containers in Plastic Bags
If you’re freezing a liquid, there’s always a chance that the container could break or leak in the freezer. No one likes dealing with a sticky, frozen mess, especially when it’s covering the rest of the items in the freezer. To prevent this issue, you should place all your milk containers inside plastic bags.
You can either use sealable ones or even plastic bags from grocery stores. They provide a second layer of protection for your freezer and it only takes a couple of seconds.
2. Leave Room in Jar for Expansion
When you fill the containers with milk, don’t fill them to the top! If you leave a bit of extra room, the milk will be able to expand more easily as it freezes and thaws. Your container won’t be under as much strain either, which is especially helpful if you’re using glass.
3. Try to Avoid Plastic Containers
There are a variety of different vessels you can use to freeze milk. People have used canning jars, Ziplock bags, and Tupperware containers. Each of these can do a good job of keeping the milk safe, but some of them can actually affect the flavor of the milk.
Plastic tends to affect the taste of milk, especially if it’s stored inside it for a long time. If you’re using plastic Tupperware, you should be aware that your milk might have a bit of an off-taste. If you’ve used the Tupperware to store food in the past, the milk might pick up a hint of that leftovers taste too.
Glass is generally the best container because it doesn’t transfer different tastes. Try to use large canning jars if possible, because these have a lower risk of cracking as the temperature changes.
4. Taste is Best Within the First Month
Goat milk can be safely stored for up to 6 months, but most people have found that it tastes best if you use it within the first month of freezing. When you consume milk within this window, you’ll find that the taste is pretty similar to when it went in. There’s also less chance that the milk has become freezer-burned and bland.
Goat Milk Benefits
Goat milk is a popular choice for people around the world. It’s easy to obtain (either from your own goats or from the store) and has a variety of health benefits. According to WebMD.com, a single 1 cup serving of goat milk contains:
- Calories: 168
- Protein: 9 grams
- Fat: 10 grams
- Carbohydrates: 11 grams
- Fiber: 0 grams
- Sugar: 11 grams
Goat milk is also a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorous. The nutrients are also available in a dissolved and easily processed form. We don’t absorb all the nutrients from the food we eat, but goat milk is nourishing and easy to digest. In fact, even though it’s currently less popular in America, goat milk is even easier to digest than cow’s milk.
Due to this combination of elements, goat milk can even increase platelet count in humans who drink it. It’s even been recommended by nutritionists and doctors. With all these different benefits, it’s easy to see why goat milk has become so popular as a health food!
For more information about the health benefits of goat milk, check out our post here.