Thursday 23 April 2009

Freeze fresh milk to always have it at hand

Did you know that you can freeze fresh milk?

I learnt this whilst living in West Africa where the only way of getting fresh milk was having it shipped in from South Africa. It came frozen and we would put it straight in our freezer. We'd buy enough for two weeks to last until the next shipment came in.

Now I am back in the UK, we still freeze milk as it is so convenient. Once it is defrosted, it looks and tastes exactly the same way as it did when it was bought. We have kept frozen milk in the freezer for a few months sometimes.

In the picture above, the frozen milk is on the right. Notice that the container has expanded a bit and it goes a creamy yellow colour compared to the liquid-state milk on the left.

I would suggest freezing milk in plastic containers - this way the container can take the small bit of expansion that occurs during the cooling of the milk. I would also suggest freezing a few different sizes. You at least then have the choice (e.g. if you know you are only around for a couple of days, there's no point breaking out more than a pint or so).