The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: little blue on August 06, 2011, 10:21:16 pm

Title: freezing and defrosting goats milk?
Post by: little blue on August 06, 2011, 10:21:16 pm

Help please...

Whenever I freeze then defrost the goats' milk, it is ... well ... pretty grim!
  What am I doing wrong?!

Should I pasteurise it first?
how should I defrost it?
how long will it keep in the freezer?

Or is it just a "thing" with goats milk?!
 ::)      :goat:

Title: Re: freezing and defrosting goats milk?
Post by: wytsend on August 07, 2011, 06:51:29 am

Goats milk may separate a little on defrosting... depending on how long it has been frozen.... but it should completley re mix on being whisked.

There should be NO change in taste what so ever.

I have frozen milk for over a year and it was perfectly good for human drinking... needed whisking.

Does your milk have a goaty taint... thus can affect the tawing... your goats are possibly short of cobalt in their diet,  this causes the goaty flavour & can change the character of the milk.
There are many goats in UK that are short of cobalt... it is dietary.  2 ways to cure,  1 - is a cobalt bolus into the rumen, goes down the throat.   2 - change the diet for a cattle dairy nut.  All cattle food is higher in minerals than goat/sheep/general purpose mix.   The area they are grazing may also contibute... hence why I always recommend a soil analysis being done, it is very cheap usually but gives peace of mind.  Don't forget your hay , if bought locally, could be short of the same minerals.

Title: Re: freezing and defrosting goats milk?
Post by: Anke on August 07, 2011, 09:44:11 am

I slowly defrost in the fridge - it takes well over a day, and yes sometimes it needs whisking up a bit.

If the goats have a touch of (subclinical) mastitis it will also make separation on defrosting much more likely.