Freezing milk for long-term preservation hasn’t always been possible, or the best solution. It only lasts a few months in the freezer, but I’m excited about freeze-dried milk which can last up to 20 years on the shelf! Whether you’re wondering how to freeze milk or make freeze-dried milk, this post is for you!
In this post (and video) I’m sharing with you two more forms of milk preservation that our family uses and loves. Plus, if you watch the video below until the end, you’ll find out what my very favorite thing to freeze-dry is!
Historically, if you had a lot of excess milk, you would make a lot of cultured dairy such as yogurt, kefir and clabber. But those don’t leave you with sweet milk you can drink, or put in your latte! And it only lasts for a couple of weeks that way.
You can turn your milk into hard cheeses, which is a great way to preserve your dairy, but then again you don’t end up with anything you can actually drink.
That leaves us with some of the methods that we have today such as canning, dehydrating, and freezing.
Canning is actually not approved by the National Center for Home Food Preservation as safe. Furthermore, when you can milk because it’s a low acid food, you have to pressure can it.
Canning milk under that type of heat actually changes the flavor and the color and it’s just not great. It tastes so different by the time you’re done.
There’s the option of dehydrating, but in a home setting, you can’t dehydrate milk fast enough to keep it from attracting bacteria. Whether it’s a good bacteria that you don’t mind drinking or a bad bacteria that’s going to spoil your milk, it will have an off-taste. So we want to avoid dehydrating milk at home.
That brings us to freezing milk, which is the method that I’ve used for years. Freezing milk is very easy to do as long as you have freezer space.
Flavor and keeping quality characteristics of freeze-dried milk are essentially the same as for spray-dried whole milk powder. Both dry milks have essentially the same flavor characteristics when fresh and both become tallowy in storage.
How to Freeze Dry Milk
Take fresh raw milk (or store-bought milk), give it a good shake, and pour it into your freeze dryer trays, filling them until they’re about half full. There’s no need to pre-freeze the milk, but don’t overfill the trays! Each of my trays holds about 1 quart of milk.
Slide each tray back into the freeze dryer, put the insulating cover in place, close the door, lock down the pump and press start.
Once your machine is running, you’ll then need to select the “Not Frozen” button since the milk is not yet frozen. This will first freeze the milk before the freeze-drying process starts. You’ll need to come back once the milk is frozen and run it through the freeze-drying process.
After it’s freeze-dried (this takes about 24 hours), that’s when it’s ready to come out of the freeze dryer to be packaged up for long-term storage.
You can simply crumble the milk with your fingers, then fill up half-gallon jars and vacuum seal them, or store the milk powder in Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber.
Freeze-dried milk powder is shelf stable for 20-25 years, holding onto 90-95% of it’s nutritional value.
How to Thaw Milk
When you’re ready to defrost your milk, immediately cut it out of the bag and lay it in a casserole pan to defrost in the refrigerator. It’s not recommended to defrost at room temperature as this could cause off-flavors.
Once it’s liquid, pour it into a half-gallon glass jar, give it a good shake, and it’s ready to use for baking or for drinking.
Frozen milk that’s been thawed can tend to be slightly grainy in texture, due to the fat globules that haven’t been able to mix back into the milk. The texture can be improved if you heat it just slightly, enough to melt those fat globules, then shake it vigorously, or blend quickly with an immersion blender to mix it back together.
While I’ve been freezing milk for a few years now, I’m so excited about this new form of milk preservation we’ve been able to do thanks to our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer!
Freeze-dried milk is the most delicious preserved milk I’ve ever tasted! There’s virtually no flavor or texture difference after it’s been freeze-dried and reconstituted. I can drink it straight, add it to my morning latte, or use it in baking and it’s just as good as our raw milk fresh from the cow.
Freeze Drying 50 gallons of Milk Freeze Drying Pantry Series #1
FAQ
Is powdered milk just freeze-dried?
Is dehydrated milk the same as powdered milk?
Is there a substitute for powdered milk?
What is the difference between instant dry milk and powdered milk?