I wanted to share a very easy goat cheese recipe.

[country freedom]

Will this work for cow milk also?

 

[Patchesnposies]

I make cheese from 7-10 day old milk a lot, but I rarely make cheese that is pasteurized. I think it is more the heating that makes it goaty. That is probably why most people add herbs and such.

Are you using "real" cheesecloth, or that gauze stuff that is sold in a package at grocery, hardware, and fabric stores as cheesecloth? Real cheesecloth is a muslin.

Do you mean that you make cheese that you don't have to heat the milk? Could you share some recipes?

Thanks!

 

[freemotion]

The recipes I use come from the "200 recipes" book that I can never remember the title of! It would be pages of typing and it is more about learning a method, so you really need to get the book. I also have Cheesemaking but that is not geared to goat's milk at all and I like the first book better.

Most of the recipes I use call for warming the milk to 85 F or so and keeping it there. I do this in a sink of warm tap water, in the bottles/jars that I store the milk in.

Most cheese recipes were developed to take the milk right from milking and make cheese. If the day is hot and you don't use AC, you don't have to fuss with the holding temps. If the day is VERY hot, then I get out my thermophilic cultures and recipes.....learned this the hard way after losing a few cheeses.

Like breadmaking, cheesemaking (not talking about straining clabbered milk as in the vinegar recipes, I mean using cultures and rennet) is mostly about learning a few basic methods and then only slight variations in recipes will result in vastly different cheeses.

We are finishing up the caerphilly from that book and after 9 months it is so sharp! We had some on pasta last night, and I had feta on popcorn the night before. To die for!

ETA: The title is 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes and the book is worth every penny, imo!

 

[Patchesnposies]

The recipes I use come from the "200 recipes" book that I can never remember the title of! It would be pages of typing and it is more about learning a method, so you really need to get the book. I also have Cheesemaking but that is not geared to goat's milk at all and I like the first book better.

Most of the recipes I use call for warming the milk to 85 F or so and keeping it there. I do this in a sink of warm tap water, in the bottles/jars that I store the milk in.

Most cheese recipes were developed to take the milk right from milking and make cheese. If the day is hot and you don't use AC, you don't have to fuss with the holding temps. If the day is VERY hot, then I get out my thermophilic cultures and recipes.....learned this the hard way after losing a few cheeses.

Like breadmaking, cheesemaking (not talking about straining clabbered milk as in the vinegar recipes, I mean using cultures and rennet) is mostly about learning a few basic methods and then only slight variations in recipes will result in vastly different cheeses.

We are finishing up the caerphilly from that book and after 9 months it is so sharp! We had some on pasta last night, and I had feta on popcorn the night before. To die for!

ETA: The title is 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes and the book is worth every penny, imo!

Thank you! I was just getting ready to write and ask for the title...this is one I will be getting. (On your recommendation!)

Thanks again!

 

[freemotion]

You might enjoy the thread called "Intermediate Cheesemaking: Beyond Chevre" over on www.sufficientself.com. I expect that thread to pick up again in a few weeks once everyone's goats are going full-tilt and kids are weaned or sold and we are making cheese again. Lots of learning and sharing going on over there on homesteading stuff.

 

[Patchesnposies]

You might enjoy the thread called "Intermediate Cheesemaking: Beyond Chevre" over on www.sufficientself.com. I expect that thread to pick up again in a few weeks once everyone's goats are going full-tilt and kids are weaned or sold and we are making cheese again. Lots of learning and sharing going on over there on homesteading stuff.

Thank you, I'll do just that! I'll see what I can aspire to, someday, since I am definitely a beginner. (With high hopes!)

Do you use the dairy connection for your cultures, too? Seems that is the place to go for quality at a good price.

 

[freemotion]

I prefer The Dairy Connection. They will spend time on the phone and answer your questions as if you are a big customer. Smart business practice, if you ask me! I tell everyone I can and post their link often.

www.dairyconnection.com

 

[country freedom]

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[elevan]

I just tried this recipe. I used 1 gallon of milk (I used cow's milk) and 6 Tbsp of vinegar with a splash of lemon juice. All of the milk curded up leaving a tinted (not milky) whey. I added salt, pepper and parsley between layers.

The result = YUMMY!

You could easily add some cream to the curds and have homemade cottage cheese. I may do that next time since my boys love cottage cheese.

 

[PattySh]

We make our goat cheese like that but use vinegar. We added fresh chives and garlic to the latest batch. My son made dinner tonight, fresh homemade pasta sauce over stuffed shells using the goat cheese, Awesome.