Often I hear about people freezing milk. I am never quite sure why people do it on a large scale. I’ve tried it just because milk is what usually requires me to go to the grocery store. Some say to let it defrost in the fridge but no matter what I try, it tastes different to me. I’m not a milk drinker so maybe it’s just me. Even when I use milk on cereal, I don’t drink the milk. A milkshake – yes! That’s about the only way I’ll drink milk. I can drink buttermilk all day though.
When we have milk about to go bad, I’ll freeze it in 1/2 cup portions.
These little containers are about perfect. Once they freeze solid, I stick them in a bowl of warm water for a second or two to get them to “let go”, then I vacuum seal them and keep them in the freezer. I like to keep 8 or 10 of these around so that if I need them for cooking or baking, and I don’t have milk or if we have just a little milk that’s good for us to use, I can use the frozen milk for cooking or baking. I use a good bit of milk making sausage gravy for Addie and Vince. I don’t like it!
I keep it in a container in the freezer so it doesn’t get lost in there.
I stack those containers to take up less room. I also will free marinades in the same size containers for two reasons. (1) If vacuum sealing something with a marinade, the vacuum sucks the liquid out and messes up the area that needs to be clean in order to seal so if I put a frozen cube or two of marinade in the bag, then vacuum, I don’t get a mess and (2) When I buy ingredients to make marinades, often it’s ingredients I don’t use for anything else and those bottles clutter up the fridge so if I make up and freeze the marinade, the containers can be tossed. I have way more freezer space than I do fridge space.
By the way, for milk, I don’t go by the expiration date. I go by smell. I’ve had milk go bad days before the expiration date and I’ve had milk stay usable for days after the expiration date. One thing I’ve learned . . when you pour milk there’s always some residue at the top of the jug and on the lid and smelling that area often stinks even though the milk is ok so I pour a little milk into a glass, smell that and if it smells fine . . we’re good.
Tee says
What you do with marinades is genius! I am going to go into the kitchen right now and make/freeze some marinades right now. Clean out my fridge.
Judy Laquidara says
I only figured that out after being so frustrated with trying to get bags with liquid to vacuum seal and making a huge mess. Even if I have some weird ingredient and I am fairly sure I’ll never use it for anything else and I have 10 containers of marinade in the freezer, I toss the rest jut to get it out of the fridge.
Tee says
If you would, please do a blog on the marinade recipes you use. I would love to get some new ones. I tend to go to the same thing (one Asian I do and another more BBQ-ish).
Judy Laquidara says
I will do that!
Becky Louise Rhodes says
My Accu Slim unit arrived yesterday. My husband thought it was pretty interesting. We already use the vacuum seal bags so we need to adjust to doing the seasoning and all prior to sealing the bags for freezing. We’ll be ready for the next trip to Costco for buying meats.
I can’t drink milk anymore – upsets my stomach. I used to drink it all the time when I was a kid but the older I got the more it started bothering me. Figured it must be related to how they process it now. Even ice cream I can only each a small amount. Sigh.
Rosalie says
I agree with you about the smell test for milk. The date is just a guideline. I’ve used buttermilk a month (or more) after the date – I just bake with it.
Joyce says
I was trying to drink a glass of milk each day for the calcium, but I don’t drink enough to use up a gallon before it goes bad. This spring once when milk was scarce, I bought a gallon and froze it in 1/2 cup amounts with the idea I would use it for cooking if I wanted to make pudding or a milk-based soup. Right now I’m thinking milk is not agreeing with me to just drink it, so I’m about to go back to freezing some to use for cooking, and not really keeping it otherwise. I really dislike the flavor of re-constituted powdered milk unless I use it for something like pudding where the flavor is totally masked.
Claudia Duke says
My husband bought some powdered milk alternative earlier this year. It is called Morning Moos by Augason Farms. It reconstitutes really nicely and the flavor is good. I am lactose intolerant (stomach cancer) so I only use real milk in small quantities and take Lactaid to help. They also have a regular powdered milk product. The only thing is, it comes in cans large enough to make 5 gallons, of course we make it in smaller amounts. An opened can is good for a year.
Linda Garcia says
The date issue is true with sour cream and cottage cheese also. I only use clean spoons to remove from the container and place back in the fridge immediately. Contamination is what makes them go bad. I have used sour cream and cottage cheese weeks past the date on the carton with no problems.
If you are using powdered milk, and not frequently, you can also store it in the freezer to keep the powder viable for longer. I keep my nuts in the freezer also and they last longer. I love, love, love my freezers. I guess that’s why I have 3 of them, LOL!!
danielle says
We started freezing milk back when the kids were young – some days they could go through a gallon/day; some days I would end up throwing milk away.
We found the most important thing after thawing the milk was to make sure you shook it up really really well.
Now we are back to freezing milk to help reduce the amount of grocery store trips we make!
Lee Young says
I don’t drink milk either, and when milk was in short supply due to panic buying last spring, I got a gallon (I usually buy only a 1/2-gallon) and froze in 8-oz containers. My husband uses milk on cereal, I use it in cooking and our son no longer drinks it, so even a 1/2-gallon can spoil before it’s used. I’ve noticed that different brands tend to spoil faster than others – not sure why—Great Value does not last as long as First Street, and a recent purchase from Trader Joe’s has gone bad 5 days before the ‘xp’ date. Thankfully there was less than a cup left. When in Oregon, I always marvel at how long the time is between purchase and the xp date on the carton. So much seems to be either the proximity to the dairy and time to market, and/or in how it’s processed in between, but I don’t know. Also, the different brands have different tastes, and smells when they go bad. I’m guessing that’s in part due to the breed of cow it comes from or the blending from different dairy supplies. My grandma had a few cows in the 1950s/60s and sold milk & cream to the local dairy. Her cows were Holsteins, and maybe a Guernsey, and I recall that one or the other produced more cream than the other and one a sweeter milk.
Joanne M Perry says
I buy Fairlife milk, advertised as an ultra-filtered milk which is lactose free.
UNOPENED the use by date is generally 2 months from the date of purchase. Once opened, the 52 fluid oz (1.5 litre) bottle has a shelf life similar to regular milk.
It’s available as fat free, 2%, whole, and chocolate. The chocolate is wonderful.
Wal-Mart carries this brand in Massachusetts and I found it there in Tucson, AZ. I have also found it at Market Basket and Wegman’s in Massachusetts.
Kat says
When I lived with a large family in Illinois they would just leave gallons on the porch to freeze and bring them in as needed. I never noticed a difference in taste, but I am notoriously un-picky about those things.