Frozen milk?

[wmsff]

A post on the SEP side got me thinking. I freeze extra milk for myself and now my inlaws. I have noticed some separation, but not that much. I was using rather new milk because I didn't dig too far into the freezer. My question is if it separates can you still feed it to the kids or will it clog the nipple? How old is too old? I have some from February (well before my MIL started wanting 2 gallons a week). Should I warm it to a higher temp to disolve the fats then cool? I dont want to kill all the good bacteria.

Sorry for all the questions, but I am new and will be breeding the does soon and I want to be prepared. Also, if all that milk I have in the freezer is useless for the kids, and going to be too clumpy for human consumption I'll just feed it to the dog and chickens and free up some freezer space.

Thanks

[Alice In TX/MO]

We just let ours thaw at room temp a while then in the fridge. Way over a year old might be too old, but Feb is fine. Yes, you can feed it to kids. Using it next spring when kidding season happens is fine, too.

It separates less if you freeze the milk IMMEDIATELY after milking and filtering.

Good luck!

[rootsandwings]

I don't use milk past 6 months because it is generally gone by then (although I keep colostrum up to a year because I figure if year old is all I have it probably won't hurt and might help. - I am trying to stagger breeding so that the last goat kids well after the first goat, but so far not there)

longer frozen milk does seem to separate more - I use it for cheese making - heating and stirring blends it back together nicely and the cheese is yum!

[Cannon_Farms]

fyi if milk is frozen for a year or even over 3 months it generally has lost its bacterial benefits. We used to use wild game to feed our dogs and we would freeze if for 3 months to kill any bad things that wild game can carry.

I also reheat and use, my human kids require chocolate in order to drink the separated stuff but its a visual not a taste thing with them. It also makes great soap. If you have a good bit you dont want to use if your laws allow give it away on craigslist several animal folks would love to have it to feed to their animals.

[wmsff]

Thanks all.

I'm glad cheese will be ok. With all that frozen milk I won't have to use the fresh for the vinegar cheese everyone wants in winter. This past winter I used 3-4 gallons a week for cheese for the extended family.

Making soap may be my next step.

[Lada]

It works great for soap. I just leave it frozen and cut it out of the ziploc bag then add the lye directly to it. That way the heat just melts the milk, and doesn't "cook" it and turn it as orange as if you use just barely frozen milk.

[saanengirl]

I add a tiny bit of baking soda to my milk before I freeze it, and since I have been doing that, so far, no separation.