ok so how do i go about freezing milk?

[mothersmilk]

i have three 4pints waiting to go in my feezer but i dont know what to do....
do i have to take the seal off? take some out? there is obviously that little bit of room they leave at the top, or can i just stick them in? also when they are defrosted is it just like starting a fresh use by date whise?
many thanks

[PocketMouse]

Don't take the seal off, just bung them in the freezer. They'll expand, so make sure there's room for that. The milk will also go yellow when it's frozen.

Not sure about use-by dates as I never look at them on milk anyway, just go by the smell

[mothersmilk]

thanks

[MollysChambers]

I do this all the time but I always empty a bit out for expansion. If you can't freeze upright then leave seal intact to prevent leakage. Better to defrost in the sink if you can just in case. Takes AGES to defrost btw.

[Seabright]

I have frozen them just as they are and also decanted into other containers or frozen once open, with some taken out. All worked fine.

Defrosting does takes ages, as MollyC says, but you can speed it up a bit it you put the bottle in a bucket of cold-ish water. Not sure why that works, but it seems to.

[taffetacat]

I freeze it every week. As said, you don't need to take any out or break the seal, I never do this. Leave room around it in the freezer for expansion though otherwise you won't get freezer open! It does indeed go yellow, don't let this put you off. I give it 24 hours to defrost, keep it in the half sink or drainer as its a bit wet as it defrosts.

I would then make that milk the one I drank first, iyswim. This is primarily because I never remember how old it was when I froze it. If I know I froze it the day I got it and it had a week or so use by date I would be more casual probably.

[taffetacat]

....oh and once its defrosted, make sure you give it a good shake as its very watery on top otherwise.

[JaxTellersOldLady]

I freeze milk and just bung it in the freezer upright. It does go yellowish, but nobody seems to notice apart from me and recently I have been buying Organic milk. It doesnt seem to go as yellow as non organic milk.

[Boohooyou]

Glad others do this.
I got told it was a very old fashioned thing to do the other day !
I think it's just a very organised thing to do.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

just never ever do it in a glass milk bottle

[CointreauVersial]

Does it taste any different when thawed? I often think I should keep an emergency pinta in the freezer, but I have always imagined it would separate or taste odd when defrosted (I'm a bit "funny" about milk).

[taffetacat]

It tastes no different whatsoever - if you shake it well. I keep defrosted bottles next to fresh in the fridge, have a very acute palate ( if I do say so myself ) and can never tell the difference.

I suspect it is old fashioned - I had never heard of it til I met DH whose mother does it all the time. I too was highly sceptical, but now freeze it every week. It means one supermarket delivery weekly, with no worries about milk going off.

[ravenAK]

I find it easier to freeze the last bit of previous container when the new one is delivered - I tip it into an old ice cream container/yoghurt pot depending on how much there is.

The frozen milk then gets used up when I make anything like custard or cheese sauce or yorkshire puddings - where it will be used & eaten quickly, as it was already a couple of days old when frozen!

Mind you I'm weird about milk - I have it in things, but the thought of it as a drink or on cereal....

I blame school milk in the '70s

[CointreauVersial]

yy ravenAK - 1970s school milk sitting by the radiator all morning has definitely scarred me for life too!

I can have milk on cereal but it has to be skimmed and ICE cold. Anything approaching room temperature - bleurgh!

[virgiltracey]

I always do this. we always have four pints of blue and four pints of green in the freezer. Literally put it straight in when I unpack the shopping. BF was very when we were both snowed in and she couldn't get to the shops!

I freeze all essential dairy (milk, cheese, butter) just so that we never run out. Chedar is often very slightly crumblier when defrosted. I know lots of people grate it first but I never bother. Straight out of the shopping bag and into the chest freezer.

[cecebloom]

Sorry to sound dim but what sort of milk do you freeze as I have noticed that not all milk has a "can be frozen" symbol on it.

Morrisons full fat and cravendale certainly dont (or dont you worry about the freezer symbol)

thanks in advance as I have just started doing this myself and any answers help

xx

[virgiltracey]

Any milk will freeze. Don't worry about the symbol, its probably because they've not thought about the fact that people might want to freeze it. It will be absolutely fine I promise!

[cecebloom]

thanks virgiltracey and Jajas,

had heard about freezing cheese but not butter,

x

[virgiltracey]

Butter freezes perfectly. You'd never know it had been frozen. Not tried blended spreads but normal butter can just be chucked in the freezer when you unpack the shopping. Always handy to have in there just in case!

[Boohooyou]

Butter - good to know

[Catsmamma]

ideally i think it should be semi skimmed and homogenised for freezing, but I freeze all sorts!

especially the channel island milk, for rice puds

a four pinter of semi skinned takes forever to defrost though....a couple of days in the fridge.

Butter is fine too...I buy loads when it's on offer

[notskiving]

to the person who defrosts in microwave - 10 minutes on full? how is the milk after? We have 6 pinters btw if that makes a difference