Freezing Milk...ever added baking soda?

17 years ago

I helped an acquaintace who was no longer going to get the large dairy order she usually gets and I was afraid I was going to have 2 gal of milk. Phew ...it was only one, but as we don't use much milk till it gets to be oatmeal/cream of wheat weather...I hope to freeze at least half this gallon.

I was told that adding some baking soda keeps if from going strange (?) after thawing. Has anyone here done this??? I usually just freeze it as it is, and yes, you have to shake it a good bit when thawed but...

btw, this milk is not pasteurized tho it seems homogenized.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

lindac
17 years ago
Eww!! No! Just freeze it.
Baking soda would serve to neutralize any acid from the beginnings of sour milk....but if frozen it won't be going sour!
That's an old trick to make milk beginning to sour OK to use in hot things without curdeling.
Frankly if it's "real milk" I would rather a little sour than with baking soda!
Linda C
grainlady_ks
17 years ago
I'd just freeze it, too.

Other things that can cause milk to sour quickly:

- NOT placing refrigerated milk in the coldest place in the refrigerator. The door is generally NOT the coldest place and is the one place that's exposed to warm room temperature air each time the door is opened.

- Having your refrigerator warmer than 40Â°F to begin with will cause the milk to degrade quicker.

- Taking the milk out of the refrigerator and leaving it on the counter/table for long periods of time while in use will cause it to degrade quickly. Even more damaging is doing this day after day...

- Yes, the soda reduces the acidity and slows down spoilage, but so do other proper handling techniques.

- Defrost the milk quickly SUBMERGED (not floating on top) in a pan of COLD water, or overnight (or longer) in the refrigerator. Never thaw it sitting at room temperature on the counter.

- The liquid portion of the milk thaws quicker than the fat portion and causes some separation - a quick shake usually takes care of that, but spoiling isn't cause by the separation, so no soda needed for freezer storage as far as I can see.

- If you are purchasing gallons, you may find 1/2-gallons or quarts containers work better for freezing/thawing. They won't take as long to freeze, nor as long to thaw.

-Grainlady
Related Discussions
Anyone baking yet?
Q
Comments (56)
I dunno. It can be made with either walnuts or pecans. My recipe for pecan puffs is from my friend's italian grandmother, but I don't know where she got the recipe. The measurements are american, so it's probably from here someplace. It's just your basic flour butter nut concoction. I heard the same about pecans. Too bad I don't like them all that much. Pecan Puffs 1 cube butter (4 oz) 2 T sugar 1 C flour 1 C pecans/walnuts, chopped fine (or processed) 1 t vanilla fine sugar for dusting/coating Cream butter and sugar. Add chopped nuts and flour. Roll into small balls, bake at 325F for 40 mins. Roll in sugar after removiing from oven. I prefer the nuts hand chopped rather than processed, but it adds significantly to the prep time. While I'm at it: Tea Chiffon Cake 3 tea bags (or 3 bags worth of tea leaves, ground/chopped fine) 5 egg yolks 7 egg whites salt 70 cc (2.35 fl oz) vegetable oil (anything that doesn't smell) 100 cc tea (3.4 fl oz) 140 g (5 oz) sugar 120 g (4.25 oz) flour and 1 t baking powder, sieved together Beat egg yolks, salt and half the sugar until white. Add tea and tea leaves. Gradually mix in the vegetable oil. Mix in the flour. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Beat in the remaining sugar 1/3 at a time. Fold the yolk mixture into the whites, 1/3 at a time. Pour into a tube pan. Bake for 40 mins at 170C/340F. Hmmm... That doesn't look like enough for a 16 C pan. I bet those are Japanese size eggs too. Might be easier to find a US recipe and add the tea. One of these days I will start eating rhubarb again. It still brings back memories of the rhubarb crumble with watery custard that my catholic school in the UK served for lunch.
...See More
Soda Bread
Q
Comments (13)
This is the recipe for the Irish Soda Bread made famous at the Lowell Folk Festival in Lowell MA. Every year it is sold at the Irish food booth along with other Irish dishes. It's a little different from most and makes more of a cake like bread and uses sour cream as the acid, but it still goes perfectly with corned beef and cabbage on St Patricks Day. it also makes a wonderful bread to serve with tea, especially if it's warm. My family prefers to eat the bread warm with dinner or with tea, coffee or hot cocoa. It warms up well in a microwave. The recipe was printed in the Lowell Sun newspaper 10 years ago, coutesy of the creator of the recipe, Mary Noon. I've been making it since 1997, serve it with dinner, as a desert warm with butter and some Jam, and a friend's daughter has served it with ice cream on top. A very adaptable Irish Soda Bread, sweet, but not really sweet, very moist, not dry. How sweet it tastes seems to be how and what it is served with. MARY NOON'S IRISH SODA BREAD 2 1/2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder (not level) 1 teaspoon salt (not level) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not level) 1/4 cup margarine or shortening 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg beaten 1 pint sour cream 1/2 cup raisins caraway seeds if you like. original recipe does not call for them because her family doesn't like them, nor does mine. Preheat oven to 375. butter an 8 inch round cake pan or use cooking spray to coat. Sift flour, baking poweder, salt and baking soda together and set aside. Cream shortening or margarine and sugar. Add egg and sour cream and mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fold in raisins. dough will be very sticky. Put dough into 8 inch pan, make a cross in the dough and bake for 50 minutes. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool some in pan before removing. Serve warm or cold. My changes. I use mazola unsalted stick margarine instead of shortening and leave out the salt. I find it tastes better without any added salt. I always serve the bread warm, fresh out of the oven and cooled a bit before serving. wrap leftovers if any in aluminum foil and then slip into a ziploc bag to store. Reheat sliced in microwave on a plate with a cover vented just a little until it is as warm as you want it.
...See More
Is there anything you bake with strawberries . . .
Q
Comments (20)
I made this last year and it was very good! Originally posted by Suzytwo STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COFFEE CAKE ** FILLING ** 3 cups sliced rhubarb, -- 1 inch pieces 1 quart fresh strawberries, -- diced/mashed 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup cornstarch ** CAKE ** 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ÃÂ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup butter or margarine, -- cut into pieces 1 ÃÂ½ cups milk (buttermilk is even better) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ** TOPPING ** ÃÂ¼ cup butter or margarine ÃÂ¾ cup all-purpose flour ÃÂ¾ cup sugar Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Combine sugar and cornstarch, stir into saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened; remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I used my hands, pressing the butter into the flour. Use cool butter) Beat milk, eggs, and vanilla; stir into crumb mixture. Spread half the batter evenly into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Carefully spread filling on top. Drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over filling. For topping: melt butter in microwave over low heat, stir in flour and sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Lay foil on lower rack to catch any juicy fruit spillovers. Place coffee cake on middle rack, bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into squares. Posted 6/10/08 by Susytwo Linda
...See More
How About Sharing Your Favorite Cooking/Baking Hints?
Q
Comments (64)
Thank you for that tip to use an instant read thermometer for baking. That never occurred to me. I mean, duh! Question for the experienced bakers - do you think a pecan pie would be the same temp as pumpkin pie? I stopped making pecan pie at Thanksgiving because for some reason it just never seems to set anymore. No idea why. I used to make it every year, used same recipe every year, and then one year it was liquidy in the middle. The next times I would cook it longer and longer but it would never set. I'm thinking maybe I'd try again this year and use my instant read thermometer.
...See More
msazadi
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the thoughts. I'm going to freeze just a half gallon or if I had two containers, I would freeze it all right now.

Any suggestions for using up milk? Too hot for a hot milk cake, nor am I interested in ice cream. (Well I AM interested, but only in eating some!)
grainlady_ks
17 years ago
Uses for milk:

Purple Cows - a refreshing drink using milk and a portion of grape juice in it. We also drank Orange Cows (using orange juice) and Orange Julius. (Google it, you'll find all kinds of recipes.)

Rice Pudding (easy to make in a slow cooker)

Me, I make 1-2 quarts of homemade kefir every week, so finding a use for milk around here is simple. Before I got my kefir grains for making kefir, I made "tons" of yogurt.

-Grainlady
Terri_PacNW
17 years ago
I just put 3 half gallons of milk in the freezer..I was told to put in on it's side to help prevent the bowing on the bottom..we'll see...

Freezing Milk...ever added baking soda?

Comments (5)

lindac

grainlady_ks

Related Discussions

msazadi
Original Author

grainlady_ks

Terri_PacNW

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Freezing Milk...ever added baking soda?

Comments (5)

lindac

grainlady_ks

Related Discussions

msazadiOriginal Author

grainlady_ks

Terri_PacNW

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

msazadi
Original Author