Freezing Milk

twiglet66

Hi,
I am sure I read somewhere that it is possible to freeze milk? Was just wondering how long it is safe to keep in the Freezer and then once you defrost it how long does it normally keep?

Thank you

Moorhen

Hi Twiglet,

I regularly freeze milk.
I freeze the 2 pint containers of semi skimmed for up to 3 months.
They need about a day to defrost when you get them out of the freezer and a good shake to mix the cream back in.
It doesn't last quite as long as fresh milk once you have defrosted it but it is a good way to take advantage of cheap milk offers.

HTH

lilbert

Yes, i have been doing so for years just be careful it expands and can sometimes split the milk bottle. Try and pour a little out so theres room for the expansion. Once you defrost it, it will keep as long as any normal bottle of milk once opened.

SnowyOwl_2

This is an excellent question - I'm surprised it hasn't been asked before. I'll definitely be buying extra milk and keeping a supply in the freezer from now on!

twiglet66

Thank you, will be doing that in future. Hoping to get me out of the habit of just popping to the shop to get some Milk, never come out with just milk :rotfl:

Darren_G

When I was in my teens, there was a budget supermarket in Leeds called Hobson's choice. They used to sell pints of milk in bags (like the ones you see now that are designed to go in jugs to save packaging). The bags had freezing instructions on them. We always had a couple in the freezer.

Milk does expand when it freezes, though, so I suppose there is a chance that if you freeze it in the carton or plastic bottle, they could potentially burst.

GreyQueen

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but as a grown-up woman in her late forties, I only discovered that you can freeze milk (and cheese) in the last few years.

It takes a lot longer to defrost than you would believe possible, however, so don't leave it in the freezer until just before you need it; a 4 pinter in plastic can easily take 24 hours, with the first several out of the fridge to defrost and even then it might have an "iceberg" in the middle.

If anyone goes camping, a pal of mine worked out that she could use frozen plastic bottle of milk as freezer packs when on shortish trips (a night or two away) and they would keep other perishables cool for several hours and then be defrosted by the time she needed to use them. She usually takes a couple of 1 pinters for a weekend trip for two. HTH.

PS, now I've twigged that cheese is freezable, too, I buy a few packs on special offer and salt them away until I need them.

MaggieBaking

My family regularly freezes milk. I'm not sure what I am about to say is any good for blue (full fat milk) as we only freeze red and green milk.

Buy milk, put into freezer exactly how it is. When you want to use it you can defrost on the worktop for a few hours, in the fridge for ages or do as we do - fill a sink with warm water and put the milk bottle in which should give you enough milk for a cuppa in 5 minutes (but make sure you don't lie the milk carton on it's side to carry on defrosting once opened or it will leak out!).

twiglet66

ohhhh I didn't know that you could freeze cheese as well! This is really helpful I really appreciate these answers, thank you.

zippychick

we have a whole thread dedicated to freezing milk and for those who just mentioned it a freezing cheese thread

hope this helps and we will merge this later

Zip