As a mother, you have noticed that there is a leftover amount of breast milk that you’re baby hasn’t managed to finish. If you keep this out in the open or in the fridge, it’s sure to spoil. Given the difficulty of collecting breast milk, can it be kept and preserved in the freezer?
This question is not one that is asked just by mothers, since in general, being able to preserve milk can lead to a lot of savings.
The answer as to whether or not breast milk or milk in general can be preserved through freezing is yes. There is a change in texture that causes most people to not want to drink it, but it can be frozen for use in recipes or as a coffee creamer.
Can You Freeze Milk?
When frozen, a fresh carton of milk will stay fresh until around three months as compared to the usual one week if left in the refrigerator.
Breast milk on the other hand, can be frozen for as long as three to five days as compared to the several hours it would normally last at room temperature and in the fridge.
While stored in the freezer, milk fats have a tendency to separate from the liquid, which is what causes the strange grainy texture.
The grainy texture is what deters people from drinking the milk once thawed, and so using it in a recipe is recommended.
When freezing, it is also worth taking note of the milk’s change in color, and although yellow, does not mean that it has spoiled.
There are other ways of preserving milk such as canning and dehydrating, although dehydrating will make the milk lose vitamins and its flavor.
How to Freeze Milk
Compared to other food items and dairy products, milk is fairly easy to store in the freezer. There is little to worry about aside from what to use when storing and how much milk to put in each container.
- If the milk has just been bought from the store and is still in its paper carton, transfer it to a plastic container.
- Make sure that there is at least an inch of space to give way to expansion while freezing.
- When thawing, place the milk container in the refrigerator or in a basin of cold water.
- An alternative storage way is to keep the milk in an ice tray, which will make it easier to get small portions of milk for recipes.
- When it comes to storing breast milk, it is highly recommended that you store them in specific commercial containers meant to keep breast milk in during freezing.
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