Chevre, means “goat cheese” in French. It is a soft, molded, fresh cheese. It has a texture similar to cream cheese, though slightly drier, and is lighter and fluffier. You can usually substitute chevre in recipes that call for cream cheese or ricotta.

It is quite simple to make and does not require a lot of special utensils. It also does not consume a lot of goat milk or time to make and it is one of the simplest.

You can make this cheese as “bag cheese” or molded. If you wish to mold it, you will need molds like in plastic containers with holes in the bottom, to make this cheese.

Once you have your molds, you are ready to make your very own Chevre.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon of fresh goat milk or raw, unpasteurized goat milk
• 1 oz. mesophilic culture
• liquid rennet

Special supplies:

• 5 Chevre molds, or
• Fine cheese cloth (butter muslin)

Remember to sterilize all your equipment before you begin.

In a stainless steel pot, warm the milk to 72°.

Add the culture and stir well. Now you need to add 1/5 of a drop of rennet. Or measure out 5 Tablespoons of water into a small cup. Add to the water 1 drop of liquid rennet and stir well. Now measure out 1 Tablespoon of the rennet dilution (this one Tablespoon contains 1/5 of a drop of rennet) and add it to the milk. Stir well.

Cover the milk and place the pot somewhere that it can sit undisturbed and will stay about 72° for about 18 hours. But, you can let it go for 24 hours. What you do is place the pot in the cold oven until the next day.

When the milk has coagulated, you are ready to drain the curds or mold the cheese.

How to make  “bag cheese” ?

Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander. Tie up the ends and hang the bag and let drain 6-8 hours. When it is thickened, salt to taste and enjoy. Unblended, this cheese substitutes nicely for cream cheese.

How to make  molded cheeses ?
Pour off any whey that has separated from the curd. Place your molds on a rack over a large baking pan. A lot of whey will drain from your cheese, and you will need a large pan to catch it. Carefully ladle the curds into the molds.

Let the curds drain for two days at room temperature or you could drain the cheese in the fridge if there is enough space.

After the cheese has drained you can carefully unmold them into your hand. Sprinkle all the sides of the cheese with a little Kosher salt and wrap them in plastic wrap. The cheese will keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

How to enjoy Homemade Chevre?

The best way to enjoy your homemade Chevre is on crackers. It can also be used in any recipe calling for “goat cheese” and can be substituted for cream cheese.

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This recipe is a full-fat version for making cream cheese that uses only goat milk cream. If you prefer a lighter version, you can substitute part of the cream with goat milk.

Anyway, I do not recommend using less than half cream, though, in order to get the best flavor and texture for homemade cream cheese.

The small amount of rennet used to make cream cheese is what gives it the additional firmness over other soft cheeses such as quark or cottage cheese. Remember, always add liquid rennet to a few tablespoons of water first and never directly to the milk.

Ingredients

• 1 quart goat milk cream
• 2 Tbsp. cultured buttermilk
• 1 drop double strength liquid rennet dissolved in 2 Tbsp. Water

In a stainless steel pan, warm the cream to about 70° F, stirring to ensure even heating. Add the buttermilk, and mix thoroughly. Stir in the rennet and water mixture, and again mix thoroughly.

Cover the pot and allow to sit for 24 hours at room temperature. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. salt over the mixture, and then whisk lightly to mix.

Pour the cream into a cheese cloth lined colander placed over a bowl to save the whey for future  use. Let drain for about 12 hours.

At that time, you can collect the cream cheese from the cheesecloth and place into a bowl for storage in the fridge.

Alternatively, if you’d like a drier, molded cheese, you can place the cream cheese into a cheese mold or a small plastic container with holes in the bottom to further drain and increase the body of the cheese.

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Feta is a salty Greek cheese, usually made with either goat or sheep’s milk. Feta is neither soft nor hard cheese but in-between. It is wonderful crumbled on salads and crackers, and can also be used in cooking.Unlike most cheeses, it is ripened in brine. Feta develops quite a strong flavor and if you like “hardy” cheeses, you must give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 gallons goat milk - ( use a little over 3 gallons for raw, unpasteurized goat milk)
• 4 oz. mesophilic culture
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Kid or Kid/Lamb Lipase powder
• 1 tsp. Liquid rennet dissolved in 1/2 Cup water
• Kosher salt
• Brine: 1/2 Cup Kosher salt per 1/2 gallon of water (boiled and cooled to below room temp.)

In a double boiler pot set up, warm the goat milk to 86°. Add the culture and lipase. Lipase is the enzyme that gives Feta that great Feta flavor.

Stir well and let ripen, covered, for one hour.

Keeping the milk at 86°, Add the rennet and stir briskly for 15 seconds. Cover and let set about 30-40 minutes, or until you get a “clean break”.

You can check for a clean break by sticking your knife, or thermometer, into the curd at an angle. Pull straight up out of the curd; if the curd breaks cleanly around the knife and whey runs into the crack that is made; you have a “clean break.” Once you see this for the first time, you will know just what I mean.

Cut the curd into 1/2″ pieces.

Cutting the curds can be the most confusing part, but just don’t worry so much. Use a long knife held vertically and cut 1/2″ slices in the curds. Then turn the pot 90° and cut across in 1/2″ slices the other direction, making a kind of checkerboard pattern. Now hold the knife at a sideways 45° angle and retrace your cuts. Turn the pot 1/4 turn and retrace the cuts. Turn it again and cut and then one final turn and cut. By the last turn you probably won’t be able to see the original cuts, but just do the best you can. It is alright if think you did not cut the curd perfectly.

Do not stir yet. Let the curds rest for 10 minutes.

After this rest period, stir the curd gently and cut any pieces that you missed when you first cut the curd. Hold the curd at 86° for 45 minutes, carefully stirring occasionally to prevent the curd from sticking together. This process of “cooking” the curd helps the curd “toughen up” as well as release it’s whey.

Place a big colander over a big pot and line the colander with a large piece of dampened cheesecloth. If you dampen the cheesecloth, it will stick slightly to the colander, holding it in place.

Carefully pour the curd into the colander. Tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang the bag to drain.

After 3-4 hours, take the cheese down and turn the cheese over in the cheesecloth, from top turned to bottom. This turning will “even up” the cheese into a nice form. Otherwise, it will have a rough form cheese; it is edible, just not so attractive.

Let your cheese hang and continue draining for about 24 hours, at this point it will start to develop a distinctive odor. Inform your family of the odor if you need to.

After your cheese has hung for about 24 hours or so, remove it from the cloth and cut it into usable size cubes (about 2-3 inches). Sprinkle all the sides of the cubes with kosher salt and place them in a sterilized, large, seal-able, container. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days to “harden up” the blocks. The blocks will continue to release whey during this time; that is normal.

Transfer the blocks (and their whey if you wish) to a large sterilized glass container. Add the brine. Do not add the brine too soon, the cheese sometimes starts softening up. The cheese is still good; you may just want to use it in cooking instead of for crumbling.

Age for at least I month before use in order to develop flavor. Your Feta cheese will keep in its brine (refrigerated) for a very, very long time ( up to a year), and will only keep getting better (stronger). On occasion, you may find some mold forming on top of the brine. When this happens, just skim it off, the cheese is still fine. If a piece of the cheese was sticking above the brine, it may mold. Just remove it, the rest of the cheese is still good.

Always remember that it takes a lot of milk to make a little cheese. And how much cheese you get will also depend on other factors, like type of milk used, fat content of milk, stage of lactation of the goat that produced the milk, handling of curds, temperatures during cheese making and hang time, just to name a few.

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]]> http://www.aboutgoatmilk.info/goat-milk/feta-cheese-recipe/feed/ http://www.aboutgoatmilk.info/goat-milk/ricotta-cheese/ http://www.aboutgoatmilk.info/goat-milk/ricotta-cheese/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:58:09 +0000 http://www.aboutgoatmilk.info/?p=464 Click Here!

Ricotta cheese is a soft, slightly sweet, mild fresh cheese. Ricotta is similar in appearance to cottage cheese, but has a much smaller, grainier curd and slightly sweeter taste. Ricotta in Italian means “cooked again,” a reference to the fact that it is traditionally made from whey produced from making other cheeses, like mozzarella, feta or provolone.

The original cheese-making process removes the majority of the casein protein from the goat milk (the cheese) leaving behind the liquid whey portion.When left at room temperature, the original inoculating bacteria continue to act upon the remaining lactose in the whey, converting it to lactic acid, and further lowering the pH of the liquid. The lower pH reduces the solubility of the small amount of remaining protein in the whey. Heating the whey then causes the protein to precipitate out as a very fine-grained curd.

As ricotta is basically the “leftovers” from cheese-making, it takes a significant amount of whey to produce a small amount of ricotta. In view of this, some recipes call for the addition of whole milk to the whey in order to increase the yield.

Ricotta may be best known in the United States as an ingredient in lasagna and ravioli, but it also serves as the basis for many desserts, like cannoli and cheesecake. Ricotta can also be served in a manner similar to a pudding by adding sweeteners and flavorings and stirring until smooth.

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Here are ways parents and caregivers can use to ensure their kids get the required amount of goat milk each day.  It is not always easy to encourage kids to drink goat milk, but it is good for them. Therefore, try turning plain goat milk into flavored milk to get kids to drink more milk. It has the same ingredients as plain goat milk. If your kids do not like plain goat milk try the other alternatives listed below.

1. Serve goat milk chilled, the way kids like it. Pour it right before serving and promptly return the container to the refrigerator so the goat milk maintains its flavor.
2. Be a role model. When children see you drink goat milk, they are more likely to drink it, too
3. Serve goat milk at meals. Set expectations ahead of time that goat milk is the beverage of choice at meal times.
4. Serve flavored goat milk at home like the addition of fruits juice, coffee or tea. Kids love it, and gramme for gramme it has the same nutrients as unflavored milk. Coffee and tea flavored milk has gained substantial popularity among adults. The most common and equally popular practice is the addition of milk in coffee or tea.
5. Stock the fridge with single-serve containers of goat milk that can be packed easily for when they have outings or go to school.
6. Serve goat milk in special glasses and with a straw. Let older kids use mix-ins to create a new milk flavor.
7. Let children use a straw to drink the goat milk left in the bowl after finishing their cereal.
8. Order Goat milk or low-fat flavored milk in kid-friendly, single-serve containers instead of soda when eating out.
9. Remind children to drink milk with school lunch. Studies show that when children drink milk at lunch, they have higher intakes of several critical nutrients, including calcium, zinc and vitamin A.
10. Pack a milk carton along with their food for school recess.
11. Heat the goat milk. If your kids are having trouble sleeping, make them a cup of hot milk. People say a glass of warm milk will help anyone sleep, so pour out a cup of milk and either put it in the microwave for a minute or heat it in a saucepan on your stove.

With the increasing awareness on good health, many people are switching over to goat milk and coffee-flavoured goat milk. The calcium, casein and phosphorous in goat milk may protect teeth against cavities.

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Homemade  Goat Milk Yogurt Recipe:

Yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of the milk sugar (lactose) produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and its characteristic tang.

Start with fresh, unpasteurized, goat milk that has been produced in a sanitary manner. Heat goat milk to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. As a starter culture (good bacteria), you can either use plain yogurt or a freeze-dried culture purchased from a health or natural food store. In addition, use yogurt from a new cup and use a clean spoon to add it to the goat milk. Use l Tablespoon per quart of goat milk or if using a freeze-dried culture, follow package directions. After the culture has been added, you must incubate the goat milk at 104-108 degrees.

To do this, you can use a home yogurt maker or devise something on your own. Some people use a heating pad wrapped around a jar, put it in the oven on low, or a jar in a crock-pot. What ever you use, experiment with water and a thermometer before you actually make the yogurt to be sure you can hold the goat milk at the required temperature. Incubate for 6-8 hours depending on your taste. When done incubating, chill the yogurt before eating being careful not to agitate or move the yogurt much until it is well chilled.

Goat milk yogurt will not get as thick as cow milk yogurt. One of the main problems in manufacturing of goat milk yogurt is weak or lack of consistency in curd tension or viscosity upon agitation compared with cow milk yogurt. This is due in part to the difference in protein composition between the two milks, especially in casein contents. Use a small amount of tapioca flour or you can use whatever suits you to thicken the yogurt or enjoy a yogurt drink.

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