Hi. I'm new to the forum and I've not seen this question addressed. My friend has been having trouble when thawing her frozen (raw) goats milk. It appears curdled and is sometimes in thick, tough lumps that won't separate when shaken. Blending it breaks up the lumps but does not make it smooth. It won't go through her baby's bottle nipple. I tasted it and it tastes ok. The texture was like the cheese we make by putting vinegar into hot milk and curdling before straining. We've tried bleaching the jars and plastic bottles we freeze it in, we've tried thawing slowly and thawing quickly. Nothing seems to make a difference. Does anyone know what causes this and how to avoid it? She's been using the thawed milk for cereal and it seems ok and tastes ok but it's not pleasant to drink with all the curds. I don't freeze milk very often so I haven't had the problem except with milk that's been pasturized for the kids in the spring, which I never drink. This problem is with raw milk. Is it how it's frozen or how it's thawed? Any suggestions? Thanks, Ann

-- Ann Evans (mjanes@ compsol.net), March 04, 2001

Answers

Our milk does the same thing. The fat solids and the liquids freeze and thaw at different temperatures and then are separated. I don't know what you can do to avoid this or anything better than blending to partially remix it. Sorry. I know it's unappetizing to have blobs of milk fat on top of the cereal, or floating on top of your coffee. If the baby is older, she could enlarge the hole a bit. Wish I could help more, Nancy

-- Nancy in CA (sonflower35@icqmail.com), March 04, 2001.

Our milk freezes sometimes in our freezer, and I've often recommended freezing it to my milk customers,and I have never had this happen. How fresh is the milk she is using? Our milk is always raw, so I don't think that's the problem. Raw milk does not stay fresh very long, especially if it's not cooled in a water bath quickly after milking.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 04, 2001.

We have never experienced this problem when we defrost the frozen goat milk we use on our puppies (we don't own goats ourself). I was wondering if it has anything to do with the way they are defrosting it. We usually let the jug sit on the kitchen counter (not in the sun) for awhile until about half of it is melted and then finish it in the refrigerator. I'm just wondering if they are microwaving it and if that would matter. Just a thought.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), March 07, 2001.

I have to agree, goats milk just thaws that way. I think it depends on how long it has been frozen. Milk that I forget about when I put it in the freezer to cool quickly thaws out without separating, even when frozen solid. But, milk I have frozen because it is getting ahead of us, and then not thawed out for a month or more has always separated but only little tiny curds or cream globules. It tastes good though.

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), March 08, 2001.

I put my milk in the freezer also to cool quickly and it thaws out fine, not lumpy at all, when I forget about taking it out and it freezes overnight. Does she heat up the milk before freezing or just put it in there fresh?

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), March 09, 2001.