Canning goats milk-will it destroy nutrients?

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Ok, before anyone decides to flame me by telling me it isn't a good idea to can milk--lots of folks do--I'm just wondering if the long processing time would destroy too many of the nutrients for it to be an effective food for bottle fed kids? I know some freeze the milk, then reheat, but freezer space is at a premium here, so before this becomes an issue, I'm just wondering if anyone does this? Thanks, Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), January 08, 2002

Answers

Jan, I can milk that is used for household and extra kid milk. If you pressure can the milk the goats (and people) don't like the taste. It has a really cooked taste that no mater what you do with it. I use a hot water bath and the milk is just fine and kids do great on it. It's nice to be able to just open a jar sometimes instead of thawing frozen milk.

Put the fresh strained milk in to sterile quart jars and fasten on the lids. Poor boiling hot water into the pan up to the neck of the jars. Don't cover the top of the lid with water. Bring back to a boil and boil very gently for 60 minutes. I have some thats 2 years old in the pantry that is still just great. The milk will seperate but you just shake it up before you use it.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), January 08, 2002.


Thanks, Shari! I've been canning regular milk using that same method, but wasn't sure if goats milk would still retain enough nutrients for the kids. Nice to know it does! Thanks, Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), January 09, 2002.

And I sure hope that this list will be pleasant and nobody would flame you! I am going to can my milk this year also, have two infant doe kids at home who are on frozen milk, and once again though I pasturised some of it, and did some raw, it has all sperated and has small flecks in it, they do not melt when heated like butterfat, they will settle and clog the nipple, thank goodness tommorrow they go on the mini lambar! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 09, 2002.

Vicki, I had some of my frozen milk seperate also and I couldn't get it to mix back in. It's hard to convince a 4 year old girl that there is nothing wrong with the drinking milk. One nice thinkg about canning. You don't have to pasturize before canning. A big plus for me since I just hate all the extra work.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), January 10, 2002.

I have canned mine for years, the extra, and used it for cooking, making puddings and fed it to goat kids and calves. I open kettle it. I have never cared for drinking any goats milk but fresh (nor cows milk for that matter) If it sets on the shelf for more than a few months it does have a bit of a color change and it needs a lot of shaking to mix the cream back in.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 10, 2002.


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