Canning Milk for Food Storage

[BarredBuff]

So according to my Jackie Clay canning you can can milk for storage. My question is how much should you can for SHTF storage scenarios? Each gallon would make 8 pints, and DEFINITELY save you money on buying canned milk already. So any ideas?

 

[Bettacreek]

Hmmmm... Interesting question. Not sure I can help, but I wonder if you could kind of condense it without destroying the good stuff in it... Then you could save a little room as well. As for SHTF, I probably wouldn't stock much up. Since you're already planning on getting more goats eventually, I'd say to save up however much would get you through from the time you dry a doe up until you can start milking again.

 

[BarredBuff]

No I don't think we will be getting anymore goats. I was so relieved when they left so I doubt I will be anytime soon....

So for a year's supply what would be your opinion Bettacreek?

 

[cheepo]

I have been meaning to try it myself...
here is a utube clip on how

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzP68X3U_HY

good luck...

 

[BarredBuff]

You can waterbath or pressure it actually.....

Thanks Cheepo!

 

[SSDreamin]

First off, BB, don't ya just LOVE that woman?! I have the canning book and the pantry cookbook, plus I check her 'Ask Jackie' column at least once a week! She is just loaded with great info and I always learn something new from her! Just wish her books weren't so expensive

I have yet to can milk. I got all geeked up about doing it, then read that it turns tan and should only be used for cooking So I put that on the back burner. Right now, I can get evap milk from Aldi's for $.69/can, so it isn't worth my time to do it myself. I would say, everybody's 'perfect amount' is different. How much do you use in your cooking right now? Keep track for a month, times that by how many months you want to stock for plus a little extra for padding, and that's how much you'll want to put by

By the way, I haven't tried HER method of canning butter, but I do can it (in case you decide to give that a try). Just as a test, I made our bread with it, and used it throughout the week for toast, etc. Works great, tastes great, no issues! There's nothing like pulling 'fresh' butter off the pantry shelf!

 

[Bettacreek]

Honestly BB, I think in a true SHTF situation, I wouldn't have milk. We go through four gallons in a week, and it's not uncommon for us to go through five in a week. So, say average of 4.5g/week, and that'd be 234g/year! I'd have to buy another house to store enough milk in for a year, lol. For normal people, maybe 52g? Or maybe normal people go through less. Then again, I don't make cheeses or anything, so if you're buying raw, you'd have to store the fat as well as the milk. For me to save enough, I'd probably be bordering 500g of milk/cream.

 

[the funny farm6]

Id say for my family, 1 gallon every week for cooking only. That does not include eating cereal and such. Or drinking.

 

[moolie]

Sounds interesting, but milk isn't a necessity for our family--hubs doesn't drink it, I'm mildly lactose-intolerant, so it's only the kids who drink it. I do make yogurt that we all eat, but we could do without if the price of milk was too high or it became unavailable.

I grew up on an island that got one grocery barge per week, and sometimes winter storms meant no groceries. We kept powdered milk and a couple of boxes of tetra-pak milk in the pantry in case we needed it--I hate the taste of both and it sounds like the flavour of canned milk would be similar, so it's just not something we'd bother with.

 

[FarmerJamie]

all good comments....and it's not like the shelf life is indefinite. I could picture building up a stash, but then at some point, you'd have to keep rotating out the stock if it's not being used. If you are using it heavily, at some point you'd be better off getting that cow or some goats?