Author Topic: using chevre culture using cow's milk  (Read 1352 times)

Flourmom

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using chevre culture using cow's milk
« on: October 16, 2013, 01:43:47 AM »
I just attended a cheese making class last week and one of the cheeses we made was Chevre. The teacher said we could make it with cow's milk instead of goats milk and use the same instructions. I have the book "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll and was comparing the instructions for Chevre to Fromage Blanca. I noticed the temperatures that the milk is heated to differs, i.e. Chevre- heat milk to 72 F/ Fromage Blanca- heat milk to 86 F. So I'm wondering if I'm using Chevre culture with cow's milk, should I just heat the milk to 72 F and proceed as if making Chevre? Is the culture different for the two cheeses or the same? Or, is there some reason cow's milk has to be heated up to 86 F? Full of questions and trying to understand what and why I'm doing what I'm doing instead of just blindly following directions. Thanks for any insight!

WovenMeadows

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Re: using chevre culture using cow's milk
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2013, 02:45:26 AM »
The "chevre" culture will work with any milk. It is probably a blend of bacteria similar to Flora Danica or MM100, containing LL and LLC along with LLD for extra flavor, and I think perhaps more "body" (polysaccharides or somesuch). I think IIRC that LLD grows better at the lower 72 F range, while LL and LLC at the higher 86 F range. The two different temps simply favor slightly different growth patterns of the culture, and in turn imparts slightly different characteristics to the finished cheeses. I think also I see more cases of a 72 F set with a fully lactic-set cheese (no rennet), while 86 F goes with the mostly-lactic-with-a-couple-drops-of-rennet.