Can milk be frozen and stored in the freezer: expert explanations

At home, the easiest way to preserve milk is to freeze it. Not so long ago, in the northern regions of the Russian Federation, this product was sold on the winter market in the form of “bowls” - the day before the planned sale, they poured it into a stainless steel bowl and waited until the liquid crystallized, and then put it into a bag. Nowadays, such exotics can be found less and less often, but long-term storage of milk in the freezer remains popular in everyday life to this day.

Organization of the process

There is nothing difficult about freezing milk and liquid products made from it in the freezer. All that is needed for this is adherence to technology, as well as a refrigerator that can provide temperatures from -18°C and below.

Basic rules for freezing

To preserve as many nutrients as possible in milk, you need to adhere to the following rules:

• The maximum possible crystallization rate. Ideally, a 1 cm thick layer of milk should freeze in 8 minutes. It is difficult to achieve such indicators using a household freezer, but the duration of the process can be reduced by reducing the thickness of the layer.
• No sudden temperature changes. Before placing food in the freezer, it should be cooled in the main compartment of the refrigerator.
• Avoid proximity to products that have a strong and specific odor. It is better to store fish and any products made from it in another compartment or put it in vacuum bags.

Selection of containers

On the World Wide Web, you often find advice to freeze milk in plastic bottles from water and other drinks. This is certainly convenient, but you can’t do it this way:

• Such containers are not intended for use at temperatures below 0°. While in the freezer, plastic releases phthalates and other harmful substances that pass into the product. In addition, the freezing process takes a long time and the milk loses its beneficial properties.
• Another reason why you should not use bottles is the inability to defrost their contents in doses. If you need 100 ml, you will have to return all 500, 1000 or 1500 ml to a liquid state, remembering that re-freezing is prohibited.

The most convenient containers are special plastic bags with a zip-lock fastener, designed for freezing. Milk is poured into them in a thin layer (no more than 5 mm thick), and the bags themselves are laid out so that cold access is provided from all sides. This makes it possible to relatively quickly obtain layers of frozen milk, which can then be broken into pieces and transferred to a storage container or packaged entirely in one bag of a suitable size.

For those who like to add milk to tea or coffee, the freezing method in silicone ice molds is suitable. The finished pieces can be stored directly in them or moved to another container.

What kind of milk can be frozen?

From a quality point of view, there is no difference whether you freeze boiled or raw milk. If it has already undergone heat treatment, then after defrosting you can eat it immediately; otherwise, bring to a boil before drinking.

However, you should not place hot liquid in the refrigerator. If there is a need to freeze boiled milk, it must first be cooled.

• Absolutely any milk can be frozen, including breast milk and plant milk.
• It is not forbidden to freeze milk with various additives - berries (both whole and chopped in a blender), pieces of fruit, sugar, jam. True, this is not done for the purpose of storage, but to obtain a delicious dessert that can replace industrially made ice cream during the hot season. The texture of such a product resembles ice - in fact, that’s what it is.

What happens if you freeze sour milk?

• It will separate into liquid and protein-fat fraction. Simply put, after defrosting, you will obtain whey and a product that is very similar in taste and appearance to cottage cheese.
• If sour milk was boiled, you should pour it out rather than try to save it by freezing, since you still won’t be able to get rid of the bitter taste.

Shelf life

• In a household freezer at a temperature of -18°C, milk can be stored for about 10 days without loss of quality and taste. Then the amount of vitamins and other useful substances will begin to decrease, and the taste will deteriorate, but the product will remain usable for 3-4 months. If the temperature is reduced to -25°C, the milk will be safe for human health for 6 months.
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• Temperature fluctuations in the freezer significantly reduce the shelf life of frozen foods.

How to defrost milk?

The best, albeit rather time-consuming, way is to leave the milk overnight in the main compartment of the refrigerator.If it was frozen in the form of thin plates, and not huge blocks, then by morning it will return to its normal state - liquid.

If you need to defrost urgently, a microwave will come to the rescue. True, there is no longer any need to talk about the benefits of such milk.

When adding to coffee, tea, or porridge, you can do without pre-thawing and add a piece of frozen milk directly to a hot drink or food. However, you need to take into account the fact that the temperature of the dish will become much lower.

Freezing milk is a great way to consume this product if you cannot regularly purchase it fresh. And preserving breast milk in this way makes it possible not to transfer the child to artificial feeding when the mother needs to leave for a long period of time or take medications that affect the lactation process.