Author Topic: Is it me, or...?  (Read 4920 times)

JeffHamm

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2014, 06:54:11 AM »
Hmmm, the cultures wouldn't jump from one cheese to the other, although moulds and b.linens will.  I think it must have been something about the goat, perhaps in some stage of milk production?  This is nearing drying off though, so it's not like you're getting colostrum or something like that.  Or, it still just may be the storing of the milk for a few days before making cheese.  All of these makes are made from a single days milking, correct?  If so, there must be something in the milk that causes it to intensify cheese wise when it is kept for a few days.  Some of the others on the boards who have their own goats will be able to give better suggestions.  But at least it seems that you're getting good cheeses these days.  :)

- Jeff

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2014, 02:29:10 AM »
I survived an Esrom sandwich which my mother packed for a school lunch, years ago. 
Hey, what's wrong with Esrom?

But I am facing a severe challenge with this cheese I've made--a lifetime supply of meal-dominating STRONG CHEESE, which begs to be partnered with a heaping platter of chopped liver, durian, and a topping of Chinese fermented fish sauce, to make my meal from hell.
Yeah, that brought a smile. :)

So, the goat is healthy?  Is it perhaps a corner of the pasture or green space that has wild garlic or something else that might have a concentrated flavor when the cheese is made?

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

chevre au lait

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2014, 05:36:26 PM »
Sorry for the late reply; chaos is rampant, here.  Yes, I'll go with "storage makes weirdness".  I assume the goat is healthy.  When someone else is in milk again, I will hoard her milk to make a batch, to see if the same thing happens.  No wild garlic here, I'd have found it by now!

Boofer, the Esrom sandwich would be a bit of an acquired taste, and I got some strange looks and comments, but it kept the kids who liked to bug me, away--I guess the smell was more than they could stomach, and I out-toughed the self-styled "tough guys".  Those other cheeses I made got heaved over the bank, for the bears and coyotes to eat.  They were beyond "acquired taste"; I had to hold my breath, to keep my lunch down.  But my dog still licked the residue off my fingers.  :P

The odourless Pouligny St. Pierre has been transferred to the fridge for ten days of aging.  It has the characterlessness of young, storebought, mould ripened cheese, but given the purpose of this exercise, I guess that's a good thing.

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2014, 09:48:10 PM »
Hi fellow goat owner,

A couple of questions/suggestions:

What breed of goat is yours?  Breed can make a big difference in milk flavor.
What are you feeding her?  Although the 'common wisdom' says not to feed strong-tasting veggies, like crucifers, I find that my goats can eat all kinds of (nontoxic to goats) veggies and plant matter without the flavor of their milk changing.  Even with bucks in rut (I have 7) immediately next to my milkers, the milk doesn't change at all in flavor.
I would suggest a couple of experiments -- make side-by-side batches of a simple lactic cheese using your milk (pasteurize after milking and before letting sit for more than a day) and some store-bought milk, even cow, if you can't get goat.  If you have horrible flavors with both, then it is probably your sanitation at some step.  If only your goat's milk produces awful cheese, it must be something that only that milk is experiencing.

Try this recipe for a simple chevre; :

•   Mesophilic culture (I use Choozit MMl00/101); others can be used, but this one has given the ‘taste’ that I like
•   Calcium chloride (30% solution of CaCl2; used with pasteurized milk as curds won't form as well as with  raw milk)
•   Rennet (can be vegetable or animal rennet) in liquid form—I am giving you the amount I’d use with calf/veal rennet. *Rennet solution (mix variable number of drops of rennet with 5 T. H2 0, and then use 1 T. of resulting solution for given volume of milk)
•   Kosher salt (this has no chemicals added)

1-1.5 gal milk   2-3 gal milk   3.5-4 gal milk   4.5-5 gal milk
1/8 t . MM100   ¼ t. MMlOO   ¼ t. MM100   ¼ t. MMlOO
¼  t. CaCl2
*2 drops rennet   ½  t. CaCl2
*3 drops rennet   ½ t. CaCl2
*4 drops rennet   ¾  t. CaCl2
*6 drops rennet

Acidifying (developing lactic acid) and heating the milk:
Warm the milk to 68-72F (20-22C) in summer if ambient room temperature is expected to reach about 78-80F, or to  78F in winter . Warm gently by placing the milk in a pot or sink of warm water or over very low flame, stirring very gently in up-and-down motion with cheese ladle as milk warms. Low
 
temperatures for semi-lactic cheese production slows the acid production and curd formation down for a more even-textured curd.

Add the culture, sprinkling over the top of the warm milk, recover the pot and allow the culture to hydrate for   s min. Then gently stir for 20 strokes in an up-and-down motion with the ladle. Add the CaCl2 and stir again, in the same manner, then add the rennet and repeat the stirring. Recover.

Coagulation and ripening (the period of time during which the bacterial culture does i ts work):  Let milk rest, undisturbed, for 6-12 hours during acid coagulation. The thermal mass of this milk should keep it warm during this period. It is OK if the temp drops a few degrees during this time. The longer the curd sets the more acid will be produced.

Draining and releasing the whey: When the curd is sufficiently coagulated, you will see a thin layer of whey over the curd mass and the curd may show cracks and separation from the sides. It will also show a 'clean break' when tested with a knife - using curd knife or bread knife, insert tip about 1” diagonally into the top of the curd and gently lift up.  If 'clean break' has been reached, a soft, solid mass will lift up on the knife, away from the clear whey.  If the whey is still milky, then 'clean break' hasn’t been reached.

Curd is ladled very gently (whether making very soft-curd cheese, such as chèvre, or any other cheese, especially with goat milk, which requires more gentle handling than cow milk due to its structure) into the molds or draining bag, using thin, shallow horizontal cuts through the curd mass. Chèvre curd is not cut into cubes, like firmer-bodied curd cheeses, for whey separation prior to transferring into molds.

The curd can now be transferred to a butter muslin lined colander with a ladle or slotted spoon to allow the whey to 'predrain' before molding, especially if using molds with few holes, so that final cheese will not be too soft . Alternatively, if using molds with many, very small holes, predraining isn't necessary, and the final cheese form will be more uniform. The amount of time needed for draining will be about 6 hours at 68-72F for direct-molded cheeses in molds with many holes. The shorter the time of draining before refrigeration, the sweeter and moister the resulting cheese (more time for a drier and tangier cheese). As long as whey is present (whey is where the lactose is found), lactic bacteria of the culture will continue to convert lactose to lactic acid, thus the more acidic the cheese with longer draining times. Refrigeration slows lactic acidification, thus the lower the temperature at which cheese drains (or is stored), the lower the final acid content of the cheese.

The time of draining and the temperature of the room determine how much whey drains from the curd . The draining period regulates the body characteristics and determines the final quality of the cheese.  This period can be as much as 12-36 hours at a temperature of 68-72°F (the ideal ambient temperature for cheese production). Too high temperatures promote gas formation and excessive moisture loss; lower temperatures inhibit whey drainage and produce a very moist cheese with very short shelf life. If ambient temperatures are higher than 80F, draining should be done under refrigeration.

Salting and finishing:  Two hours after forming, 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt is added to the top of each cheese in its form. Salt improves cheese drainage by releasing more whey from the curd. After 6-8 hr of drainage, the cheeses can be gently unmolded, turned and returned to the forms. Another 1/4 teaspoon of salt is sprinkled on top. Drain 2 hr more, or until firm enough to retain their shape for further draining on mat or perforated screen.  Commercially, the cheeses are now ripened (and further drained) set on open air shelving in a 60-65°F room with a fan to move air over the cheeses.  The hobby cheesemaker can use plastic containers (with draining mat or screen in bottom), covered, in the refrigerator .

For each gallon of milk used, a total of 1½-2 tsp. of salt should be used. Salting develops the flavor, as well as inhibiting the production of excessive lactic acid. Soft cheeses are typically salted by sprinkling on the surface of the formed cheese, while most firmer cheeses have salt mixed into the curd after it is cut and drained, and before molding the curd.  Fresh herbs or spices can also be mixed in with the salt and used to cover the cheese surface, if desired .

If not using molds to form the chèvre, the salt (and herbs and spices) can be very gently stirred into the curd once it is drained,and the curd then packed into covered storage containers and used for spreading. Otherwise, unmolded cheeses should be stored in a plastic, covered container with drainage (such as a bamboo sushi mat, or plastic draining mat or rack in the bottom of the container). Refrigerate and consume within 7-10 days .

Culture considerations for Chèvre

Chèvre is a 'mesophillic ' cheese, in that it is cultured and ripened with mesophillic bacterial cultures. These work at a lower temperature range than 'thermophillic' cultures. Mesophillic cheese cultures are often named with something using 'M'. The culture manufacturer should indicate the volume of the culture required to ripen a given volume of milk (either on the packaging or in the specifications provided with the culture). For example, X t. of MMl00/101 is used for a volume of 2-5 gallons of milk.

MMl00/101 culture produces a buttery flavor (from the Lactis diacetylactis bacteria in the culture) and a small amount of C02 gas production for a more open and lighter texture-more suited to the moister and sweeter versions of chèvre. Use this culture for a lighter more complex flavor (I use it for many other cheeses also, and consider it the most versatile of the cultures I use) .  100/101 designates phage variants of the culture; use these interchangeably .

MA011 culture provides a very close texture with the lactic flavor dominating and less buttery flavor . Use this one to focus on the milk character as its primary function is to convert lactose to lactic acid without adding additional buttery, creamy flavor.

The amount of culture used is the same for each of these cultures, but the amount of culture per gallon to use can be varied to lengthen or shorten the ripening time to regulate the 'body' and final moisture content of the cheese, and therefore, the flavor.
¼ t. for coagulation in 6-12 hr
1/16 tsp .for coagulation in 15-20 hr 1/32 tsp. for coagulation in 20-28 hr

The longer coagulation time will form a more cohesive curd and retain more moisture with draining. They should both be molded at about the same level of ripeness (acidity), which is measured by pH meter, usually, when the cheesemaker wants to use greatest precision .

The amount of rennet used affects the final 'body' texture of the cheese, and chèvre uses the least amount of almost any kind of cheese . The more rennet used, the closer the texture comes to being a
 
firm rennet coagulated cheese. You want to use the absolute minimum amount, to prevent a tough curd texture . If you get a spongy textured cheese, use less rennet next time.

Let me know how it turns out if you try it.

Kitren
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!

chevre au lait

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #19 on: October 31, 2014, 03:36:00 PM »
Hello Kitren (Botanist),
I would like to acknowledge the time and thought you put into your very detailed reply!  Unfortunately I won't be able to put your recipe to comparison test until spring, as I'm only getting enough milk to put on my cereal, at the moment.  I currently have only one doe in milk, a Nigerian Dwarf, first freshener at that, and she's tapering off.  Her fresh milk is wonderful to drink.  I should note that using milk collected no more than 24 hours prior to making a cheese, has yielded good results (as noted above in discussion with Jeff Hamm).  Also, making a vinegar cheese (Brousse), initially with storebought goat milk and then with fresh raw goat milk, yielded excellent results from both sources, though that of course is a different process, and may not be an effective test for adequate sanitation.  I'm leaning toward there being some organism in the raw milk which gets out of hand if I keep the milk in the fridge for several days, before making cheese.
Looking forward to spring, and more experimenting,
-chevre au lait

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Re: Is it me, or...?
« Reply #20 on: November 01, 2014, 05:05:40 AM »
Hi Chevre au lait,
I understand the lactation curve situation--I am only milking 2 does, drying up 2 and have most dry, awaiting kidding.  Not Niggies, so still getting 3.5+ gallons a day and still making cheese most days.  I wish I could look forward to a complete break in milking, but once my last girls are drying up, the first kids are due to arrive.

I would bet that the conclusion of out-of-control resident bacteria in your raw milk is correct.  I'm not a proponent of using raw milk for lactic cheeses, and although I've used raw milk at times in some of my semi-hard and hard cheeses, even held in refrigeration for up to 4 days prior to use, I prefer the predictability of defined cultures and don't want resident bacteria to predominate (nor would I want to eat raw milk cheese before the 'safe' time has elapsed).

Good luck with your endeavors and don't you miss the great milk when it's gone, even the little bit for your cereal?  I hate buying milk!

Kitren
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!