# frozen milk for cheese



## cmeyer1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I was wondering if you can use frozen milk for cheese making. It seems I have heard that you can but have to use some kind of additive. Also what method of sterilization would be the best for utensils. Boiling water or chemical,as bleach. Thanks


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

Frozen milk will work for cheese, but you need to thaw it slowly in the fridge. There are no additives that I know of that one can add to make frozen milk as good ad non. There is separation of the fats from the rest and that is what you see when you look at a bucket of frozen milk. Thawing in the fridge helps bring the fats back together with the rest with stirring.


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## linuxboy (Oct 26, 2009)

The other thing you have to worry about is the fat breakdown. I'm talking about the milk acidity, as indicated by the breakdown of fat as the milk remains frozen. If you were to titrate the milk 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months into it, and also compare that with the temp at which it is held, and the speed at which it is frozen, you would see that freezing duration and temp has a dramatic influence on breaking down fat. And fat in goat milk is extraordinarily vital for flavor development. The fat molecule in goat milk favors shorter chain fatty acids, from C6 to C12. When those break apart from the triglyceride base, they will cause all sorts of flavor and aroma formation in aged cheese. And they are supposed to break apart gradually in cheese if you want great flavor and aroma. If you break it apart in the milk, the cheese will not turn out as well. And, it may additionally have some texture defects.

So it's possible, but rather difficult. Easier to do it for chevre-type cheese than hard cheeses.

adding CaCl2 does help, but is not a magic cure.


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## cmeyer1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thank you for clearing that up.


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## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

linuxboy said:


> The other thing you have to worry about is the fat breakdown. I'm talking about the milk acidity, as indicated by the breakdown of fat as the milk remains frozen. If you were to titrate the milk 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months into it, and also compare that with the temp at which it is held, and the speed at which it is frozen, you would see that freezing duration and temp has a dramatic influence on breaking down fat. And fat in goat milk is extraordinarily vital for flavor development. The fat molecule in goat milk favors shorter chain fatty acids, from C6 to C12. When those break apart from the triglyceride base, they will cause all sorts of flavor and aroma formation in aged cheese. And they are supposed to break apart gradually in cheese if you want great flavor and aroma. If you break it apart in the milk, the cheese will not turn out as well. And, it may additionally have some texture defects.
> 
> So it's possible, but rather difficult. Easier to do it for chevre-type cheese than hard cheeses.
> 
> adding CaCl2 does help, but is not a magic cure.


So does this mean I can use frozen milk if I thaw in fridge and add CaC12 (is that calcium chloride or what?) and only make chevre?


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## linuxboy (Oct 26, 2009)

> So does this mean I can use frozen milk if I thaw in fridge and add CaC12 (is that calcium chloride or what?) and only make chevre?


Yes, but if you're doing that, why not make chevre right away and freeze the chevre?


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