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