Did you know that there is so much milk produced by grazing cows in the spring that sometimes they end up dumping gallons of it?
High levels of CLA occur at no other time of year except possibly in the fall if the rains come and replenish the grass, so we jump at the chance to get this milk if it is just going to go to waste.
You may already know how beneficial raw milk is. It has been a stable food source for thousands of years. Milk or milk products are mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible, usually in connection with unusual fertility and provision from God.
Want raw milk?
Have you thought about finding a raw milk source near you for the health of your family? Well, it is getting easier to get raw milk than it used to be after heavy government crackdown.
In 7 states, it’s still illegal to sell raw milk without special arrangements like the ‘cow share program‘ or a ‘farmshare’.
States where it’s still not available either for sale, by cowshare or herdshare, or as pet milk include Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. (source)
When A Campaign for Real Milk started in 1999, that number was 27.
Raw milk is a great way of getting one of God’s most amazing healthy foods to your table.
Late spring is the time of year, especially, that raw milk drinkers look forward to.
Raw milk is fabulous, but spring is best!
Spring grass is fast-growing and lush, extra rich in nutrients; spring milk from totally grass-fed cows has the most cream which contains the highest levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid, Vitamin A, D, Vitamin E, and other nutrients.
Pasteurization (source):
- destroys Vitamin C, and Alters Lactose
- makes Calcium Unavailable to us
- destroys some Iodine
The butter made from this milk contains what Weston A. Price called the ‘x’-factor, helpful in rebuilding health.
Studies showed that CLA made a marked decrease in disease activity and increased quality of life for patients with Crohn’s Disease and colitis.
Our milk comes from cows like these Dutch Belted (source)
L.M. Montgomery, in her book Anne of Green Gables, often writes of cream. Instead of it being unhealthful as many think today, it was actually considered the best part of the milk. This gives us a little idea of what earlier generations seemed to know instinctively.
Cecily’s Aunt Janet gave her cream, instead of whole milk, because she was the weak child of her family.
Cream was given like a fortifier for sick to stimulate vitality and robust health. A “mean” character in the village would give her family skim milk (milk without the cream), so that she could profit by selling the cream. Her children were undernourished because of it.
Interesting, is it not?
Cream Line
We did not shake this gallon jug to show you how much cream there is in whole milk on April 20.
In late May, it may be as much as 1/3 of the gallon of rich, pesticide-free, CLA-rich cream!
Can you see the line of separation? The cream line?
Freezing Excess Raw Milk in the Spring
The Milk Maid, Winslow Homer, 1878
In a cow share there is an unchanging number of paying members, so in the spring everyone can get more than enough and in the drier times there is often not enough to go around. There is a challenge for the grass-based dairy farmer, and it is having enough milk for all the cow-share members during the drier summer months and during the winter.
Freezing is one way to solve it.
Does freezing raw milk harm it’s goodness?
But does freezing the milk make it less good or harm it in any way?
Could it still be vastly better than store-bought conventional pasteurized milk coming from unhealthy feedlot cows? For some some comparison, go here to see the levels of decline in the beneficial properties of raw milk once it is frozen.
Other benefits
- In the winter, when we drink the thawed milk, there’s no travel time to pick it up.
- Winter milk has less CLA (less green grass, more hay), so we feel we are getting better milk even though it was frozen.
- We work it out to get some of that excess milk the farmer would have dumped due to temporary oversupply.
- There is more for everyone else since we are using our own frozen milk stash.
One Good Way to Freeze Raw Milk
“I like to keep a supply of organic whole raw milk in my freezer. I label wide-mouth glass containers like my grandma used for freezing with the words “Whole Milk” and the date. After losing too many quarts of valuable organic milk to burst jars, I now leave plenty of headroom, cap tightly, and lay them on their sides to freeze as quickly as possible, and store them upright after they are frozen.
I was surprised to see good quality raw whole milk is yellow when frozen. I think this is because we now see the butter suspended clearly in frozen liquid.
Don’t be concerned if fast thawing results in slight separation of the butterfat from the milk. These are just luscious lumps of Vitamin A & D-rich cream that can be whisked back in — real delicious superfood. I mainly use defrosted organic raw milk to make smoothies, to make kefir (an ancient cultured milk beverage) and for cooking, but it is perfectly tasty by the glass, too.” (source)
Our method may be more time consuming. Our farmer only fills the gallon container to around 3/4 full and caps tightly. You will need extra clean empty gallon containers in which to freeze what you pour off. We like to have a fairly full freezer (colder) as it helps it freeze faster. My husband shakes them (this takes dedication) every half an hour to keep the cream from separating. When you thaw them the cream is evenly dispersed. *This spring we may do it in like the method above and scoop out the cream or stir it back in. That will avoid the shaking which can take 8 hours or more and one tired arm! Does this tell you how much we love what raw milk does for us?
I encourage you to find a local farm and see what they offer. Talk to other cow-share owners and check references.
Real milk can save family farms. If we want to protect our right to enjoy real and traditional foods, then we need to support the small family farms that are producing them.
For the true story of raw milk, I recommend The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid, ND. It is an eye-opener.
In an excellent post on raw milk, Stephanie at Keeper of the Home, states, “Much of the negative talk that you’ve heard about milk, and raw milk in particular, is simply fraught with the tensions that exist in modern agriculture, between smaller, family-run and sustainable farms and large-scale corporate agriculture, with its focus on profit and marketability. So little of it is actually about consumer safety and health, but rather about protecting the massive ‘dairy industry cartel’ and its profits.”
Raw milk can be a gateway for small-farm prosperity with consumers purchasing meat, poultry, eggs, produce and other products once they set foot on the farm to obtain milk. Invest in the future of small, sustainable farms and in the future of your family’s health.
Raw Milk Resources:
How to Find Local Sources of Raw Milk — scroll down and click on your state!
Three times more CLA than grass-fed hamburger!
Shop for Local Grassfed Meat, Eggs & Dairy
Jedidja
Raw milk can sometimes be dangerous by certain bacteria.
Therefore raw milk products here in Europe almost all are banned
Jacqueline
That is so sad. If they ran a clean dairy operation it would not be that way. My husband was raised on an old-fashioned dairy farm and most everyone drank it right out of the bulk tank. It was thoroughly cleaned every day…hard work, but healthy living!
Sue
Sorry but this commentator is totally misinformed. Jacqueline, do not be sad there is no reason to be! Raw milk is not only alive and kicking in Europe, the whole of its Dairy enterprise couldn’t exist without it. Not only are the finest and most famous European cheeses made from raw milk, they have to be by law otherwise they wouldn’t be the cheese they purport to be. There are now extra covered labels, i.e. for Camembert that is made purely of raw milk from rare breed Normandie cows! I should know, I live right in the middle of the beautiful Normandie countryside, we have not only a local organic dairy farm just down the road where we can get raw dairy but just in case we needed a drink at an unusual hour – in the nearest town there is a raw milk vending machine. A few minutes away there is also an organic goat’s milk farm, with great cheese all RAW. Funnily enough some years back, Tony Blair tried to ban raw milk in England but that backfired on him as the Queen has her own Jersey dairy herd and the whole of the royal family drink raw milk. I also have a explanation of how we freeze raw dairy on my site with photos of the vending machine and some of our great Normandy breeds if you are interested to take a look. Your article has really great information and you are totally correct, there is no problem with raw dairy, except you have to be small and have healthy stock and good dairy practices to produce it, which makes it impossible for industrial intensive agriculture to do so. All the very best, from France, Sue
Lisa
Thanks for this post, Jacquie. We just recently purchased dairy goats, and I was wondering if you can their milk the same way you freeze cow’s milk? We are drinking it raw and love it. 🙂
~Lisa
JES
Three cheers for RAW milks! Thanks for sharing the freezing tips! So far, we have only frozen our excess into ice-cream… Don’t really mind that either 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend ~JES
Jacqueline
Thank you, dear JES. Give your family my warmest greeting in the name of the Jesus, and have a restful and worshipful Lord’s Day!!
Renee
I was happily surprised to read this article! We have been on the raw milk bandwagon for about a year or so now, and I’ve wondered about freezing it. Sometimes, it’s easier to buy more of it at once, than as needed, because of finances. I didn’t even think of “spring milk!” We are so blessed here in WA, because we can freely purchase raw milk. I will definitely be investing more in milk when we can, and freezing it!
Toni
I enjoyed this article immensely and totally agree. God bless our ethical farmers. I love fresh milk and detest that stuff from the stores. It causes so many health problems. Cowshares is one of the few ways many of us can have fresh milk!
I don’t believe there was pasteurization or homogenizing going on in the Garden of Eden, and there certainly wasn’t any Spectracide there. It’s all political, but I am thankful for the share program.
Hannah
I was interested to see this article, as our local farmer is going seasonal with her cow share program, thus suspending milking during the winter this coming year. As a new member, I was suggested the following method of freezing milk:
“The way I freeze milk is to freeze about a pint in a quart ziplock back. The bag has to be put in the freezer in a dish or in such a manner that it remains sitting up so the milk does leak out. Once the milk is frozen, I then take several bags and vacuum seal them together to make a packet of milk. Milk frozen in this manner will last for a year. “
Jacqueline
Hannah,
Thank you!! I just told my husband and we will investigate it. We are open to learning all we can and to change! Blessings to you!
Faythe @GrammyMouseTails
thanks for the freezing news about milk. Like the tip about freezing it on it’s side first. and thanks for id on the type of cows. I was beginning to think someone painted or photoshopped those stripes! enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Jacqueline
Hi, Faythe!!
Long time no see 😉 I hope you are much better than last time we ‘talked’! Yes, we had the beef Belted Galloways and those pictured are the dutch Belted milkers! Beauties! God bless you :0
[email protected]
I just wrote a blog post about this not too long ago as well! We freeze milk and I have found the best way to get the ‘clumps’ left from the frozen cream which never really incorporates back into the milk fully with shaking is to pour the desired thawed milk into a blender for a quick whirl. The results are smooth creamy milk. {http://www.simplefoody.org/?p=335} <– my raw milk post.
Angela
This is very interesting…I’m hosting a new linky party at http://hickorytrailblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/efforts-and-assets-linky-party-1.html
I would love to have you!
Angela
Penny Lane
We live in Houston, TX and have a hard time finding *affordable* raw milk here. So when we travel back home to KS we pick up a dozen gallons or so and freeze them for our two little girls to drink. It saves LOTS of money and keeps them so healthy. And, you’re never out of milk for longer than it takes to thaw a gallon!
Jacqueline
Penny, that is a great thought…pick it up when traveling. I bet many summer vacationers could take advantage of that. When we do a fast longer than a day, we do milk instead of anything else. It is probiotic and keeps us from feeling faint if it is a busy day. Blessings!
aura deyong
I really enjoy reading what you post on your site! As for raw milk or milk in general…Have you heard of the documentary “forks over knives” it tells a different story about milk products…It seems you enjoy researching so i thought it might interest you and i would love to hear your thoughts on it. I am confused by the constant differing of opinions that exists out there today!
lovesthelord
Look up Dr. Mercola on his site you can get more info on this. Forks over knives was poorly researched. There is a very thorough critical review that is well researched and shows all the left out info and reviels misinformation. it is lengthy but well worth the time. You can access the review from the mercola website. It all comes down to Gods design and plan for us. I look at everything against the word to make since of things today. There are definitely times in life that cleansing and abstaining from meat can benefit the body especially with the toxic overload we face in our environment making sure that what we eat is produced in a truly kosher manner is a great thing and eating meat daily has not been possible threw out history the way it is today. But to say it is wrong and at the root of all sickness is from pure ignorance. There are so many reason s that people get sick stemming from mans ignorance and greed but many people thrive on high animal protein diets and that is fine. Dr Weston A. Price traveled all over in search for a culture that was without animal protein source and thriving thinking he would surely find one but he did not. You should read about what he did find…. So believing God I say whatever you do do it to the glory of Our Father in Heaven not letting your stomach your be your god as many do and giving glory to the creation instead of the creator. Our Father in Heaven has made all good things for us for our good
Julie
??
Julie
I have a question about freezing raw milk cream. Will the consistency be the same after freezing. We buy raw milk from a person who doesn’t desperate the cream, but I know another raw milk farmer who sells the cream for making butter. If like to get a large amount and freeze some. Also make some ice cream.
Julie
I meant seperate* the cream
Jacqueline
No, the consistency, ‘for the most part’, will be the same frozen or not (at least not for us). And it is AMAZING for ice cream, Julie!! Have fun!
Jeannette
Interesting post, as usual. I had to chuckle at the references to Anne of Green Gables. I finally understand Marilla’s jab at someone being “meaner than second skimmings!”
Jacqueline
Haha, Jeannette! Yes! 😀