I'd been thinking about trying to make some bite-sized crottin and also about the versatility and similarity of many of the lactic cheeses, so a few weeks ago I did a one-gallon-ish batch of a lactic goat's milk.
4.5 litres goat's milk
1/32 tsp MM101
1 skewer tip Flora Danica
1 skewer tip geo
1 skewer tip P. Candidum
5 drops rennet
Heated milk to 25C, added cultures, cultured 30 minutes. Added the rennet and allowed to sit at temp for 24 hours. Placed in bag and drained 18 hours.
Then I split the curd: about 1/3 went into a Valençay mould, much of the rest went into crottin moulds, and the last went into two truly tiny moulds: just 5cm x 5 cm. These have been aged in an open container in the bottom of the cave, at 9C and 73-83% humidity, for three weeks. I broke into one with my dinner last night. Half a cheese makes three slices about the right size to fit on a small cracker.
I'm quite pleased with these. Nice softening and transparency under the rind, and still ever so slightly unripe in the centre. The more ripe cheese on the outside is tongue-tinglingly sharp, but I find that's a feature of this goat's milk. The interior is pleasingly grassy and mild and the contrast between the two is pleasing. I'm planning to age the larger crottin until they're hard but it will be interesting to see what the Valençay looks like. I may try that this weekend.