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eggs milk cheese on a wood board headed or the freezer

Eggs, Milk and Cheese … in the Freezer?!

/Updated /17 Comments/in , /by Mary Hunt

I’m sure my supermarket is not the only grocery store with an area in the back similar to the one I call My Bargain Bin. It’s refrigerated and almost always features a few dandy bargains, especially on perishable items approaching that “sell-by” date. There are no limits on the number of items I can load into my cart—all of them with ridiculously low, rock-bottom prices.

eggs milk cheese on a wood board headed or the freezer

You may be asking, but Mary, what can we do with all of these perishables to ensure they don’t, well … perish! The answer of course, is to freeze them. Yes, even the eggs, milk, and cheese.

How to Freeze Eggs, Dairy Products, and More

Butter

Freeze margarine or butter in the packaging and containers they come in, for up to six months. Thaw in the refrigerator to return to their original texture and quality. You will never know the difference!

Heavy cream, whipped

Once whipped and sweetened, the cream freezes well for 1 to 2 months!

Freezing cream in its liquid state is not recommended because it affects the quality of the product. In most cases, freezing causes changes to the fat, which can lead to poor texture. It’s going to curdle, separate appear quite unappetizing

Eggnog

Unopened eggnog may be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and shake well before serving, as there may be some ingredient separation during freezing.

Eggs

You can freeze eggs provided you remove them from the shell first. Do not freeze whole eggs in the shell. Simple break them into an ice cube tray if you want them in single-egg portions. Or whisk a number of eggs in a bowl, then portion in your small containers of choice and freeze. Raw eggs can be frozen for up to one year. Thaw in the refrigerator.

Pro Tip

Separate the whites from the yolks and freeze them separately for easy use.

Milk

Milk may be frozen for as long as 3 months, provided the sealed container is frozen before the “best before” date. Skim and low-fat milk freeze better than whole milk. Thaw frozen milk in the refrigerator. The milk will still have the same nutrients, but it may separate. If it does, shake well and consume as soon as possible.

Cheese

Hard cheese freezes well but changes texture making it nearly impossible to slice. Frozen cheese is great for cooking and to grate. HINT: Grate first, and then freeze.

Meat, fresh

Fresh beef roasts and steaks can be frozen for up to one year if wrapped well to retard freezer burn; pork and lamb up to six months.

Meats, processed

You can freeze bacon, hot dogs, cooked ham, luncheon means and sausage for up to 2 months before these items begin to lose quality and taste.

Poultry, fresh

Whole turkey, chicken, duck, and goose can be frozen for up to one year, provided their original packaging is intact. Poultry pieces, however, should be used within 9 months.

Flour

All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and other baking staples, including baking powder and baking soda, stay fresh and bug-free indefinitely in the freezer. You will experience no change of texture or taste. Even better? You can ignore the expiration dates.

Coffee and tea

Storing coffee beans in the freezer has long been the method of choice to preserve freshness. But die-hard coffee lovers tell us never to freeze coffee beans or grinds because it changes the flavor from fresh to “freezer stale.”

No one argues, however, that freezing leftover brewed coffee in ice cube trays to make blended coffee drinks or iced coffee is a great idea. Freeze leftover tea in the same manner and you’ll have “ice” for your iced tea that will not dilute the drink.

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17 replies
  1. Gayle B says:

    We buy a good quality shredded Parmesan cheese at Costco but couldn’t finish it before it got moldy. Now, I freeze it in one cup containers as soon as I buy it and thaw a container in the fridge as needed. Once it’s thawed it lasts for a month or so. We don’t see a difference in quality or taste and we can finish the entire container of cheese without worrying about wasting the last part.

    Reply
  2. Gary says:

    When I was in the Military I was assigned to Okinawa from ’64 to ’66. Our milk was re-constituted after arrival and the eggs frozen, they came by boat and took at least 30 days. The milk was terrible so we mixed it with half Chocolate & half regular so we cold tolerate it. The eggs had a funny taste so we ate them scrambled and with Ketchup on them. The bacon had a funny taste also so we ate a lot of SOS at Breakfast or Midnight chow before going to work on graveyard. So I would follow the directions for how to handle this so you are happy with the result. Now we couldn’t change much since we ate in the Mess hall, we got what we got.

    Reply
    • Mary Hunt says:

      Interesting info, Gary. But I would keep in mind there are a lot of potential variables in your story! Who knows what processes those food items originated and then went thru before hitting the freezer! (Several possibilities come to mind.) Thanks for your service to our country! God bless America.

      Reply
  3. Jane Sanders says:

    I freeze milk and cheese all the time. Freeze cheese in the original package and thaw in the frig. It will slice just like it was newly purchased.

    Reply
  4. Red says:

    Rather than buy crumbled feta cheese we buy solid in bulk, slice it into smaller amounts and freeze the shrink wrapped slices. When you take the feta out of the freezer it naturally crumbles and is less than half the price you pay for the convenience of pre crumbled. It really doesn’t take much effort to crumble either!

    We always have some frozen feta in the freezer as it thaws in no time when sliced fairly thin.

    Reply
  5. Donna R says:

    Mary – In the late 90’s I had a 15-year-old son and a 25-year-old daughter (with 5 children under 10 years old), we lived in Tulsa Ok and the Safeways there would mark gallons of milk down to half price the night before the buy by date and we would buy as much as possible and open each one and remove 1 cup of milk and put the rest is an upright freezer. for about 2 years we only paid half-price for our milk. I bought all of our meat at reduced prices (early in the morning of the buy by date thay marked it down by 20% to 50%) I was working as an RN and got off at 7 am and I’d stop at the grocery store on the way home and buy the packages with the best price = then go home and freeze any we couldn’t use within 24 hours. I also took advantage of cheese sales – I don’t think we ever froze it as it got eaten too fast.
    During the summer I’d stop at the fruit/vegetable market and the guy who owned it would sell the fruit/vegetables that were overripe and I’d go home and can or freeze what we couldn’t eat that day.

    Reply
  7. Cally Ross says:

    freeze those eggs in an ice cube tray… when frozen, pop them out of the tray and store in an airtight bag or container.

    Reply
  8. Cathy down on the farm... says:

    I am eating eggs frozen from last year in the deep freezer right now. A neat trick is to freeze them in muffin tins and then store. They look like hockey pucks and they cook up nicely! I’m also using up frozen cheeses as well.

    Reply
  10. Lorrie says:

    And if you don’t have the freezer space, or live with frequent blackouts to your electricity, pressure canning meats is a great option. Invest and learn how… it’s well worth the effort!

    Reply
  11. rsg says:

    Frozen milk, even whole fat milk reconstitutes very well if you just pop it into a blender after thawing to re-blend the fat into the milk. I learned this from freezing my goat’s milk and have since tried it on regular store milk. If you don’t use the blender the milk will be grainy with non-homogenized butterfat.

    Reply
    • Sandra C Wegmann says:

      I grew up in Canada where you can buy milk in plastic bags and freeze. When thawed, you just snip off the corner of the bag and plop it into a pitcher and pour! I buy a gallon now and freeze in quarts. I only buy 1% as then it does not have so much separation as whole or even 2% milk does — but a good shakeis all it takes!!

      Reply
  12. Sue says:

    This is intriguing… I always have a supply of meats, shredded cheese, bread, butter – the usual – in the freezer. But never knew you could freeze milk and eggs! This will save me from going to the grocery store before a snow storm. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  13. Linda D Radosevich says:

    I’ve found it easier to grate cheese with my Cuisinart after it’s been in the freezer for an hour, then freeze it grated.

    Reply

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