first chevre in progress - is this right?

[hobbes]

I used homemade kefir and milk from my own goats and mostly followed the instructions for chevre on David Asher's website here: https://thewayofcheese.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/chevre/. The main difference was that I couldn't find my 1/4 cup measure so used 1/3 cup of kefir instead. My thermometer might be off, too, and so the milk may have been up to 95-100F instead of 90F.
He wrote that if the curd floats then there is probably bad bacteria in it. I don't know what it's supposed to look like though. I do have some stuff going on at the the surface, though the curd also sunk to the bottom. Could someone please tell me if this looks normal or should I be worried? It smells just like kefir to me, acidic and a little yeasty. It's been about 22 hours.

[lovinglife]

Looks perfect.

[hobbes]

Thanks! So far I think it's going well. Here's a pic of the curds right after straining.

Edit: Earlier I watched a Youtube video that mentioned that sometimes milk fat floats on the surface of the whey. Do you think that's what it was? Is there anything you can do to help it collect with the curds more?

I know you're not supposed to make ricotta from acid whey but gave it a try anyhow. Not good. I got about 3/4 cup of thick gray gunk that tasted like what might be glue. 

[SOSEATTLE]

Looks good  . Some of the fat will always tend to float to the surface. I have never found a way to keep it with the rest of the curd. Have a cheese for your success. 


Susan

[hobbes]

Thanks Susan! Not sure if I can call it a success. It turned out to be a pretty sorry cheese. The texture is all wrong and the flavor is too strong of kefir. It isn't creamy. It feels rubbery to the touch and turns pasty/chalky in the mouth. I let it hang too long after salting and may have added too much rennet. Used tablets and had a hard time measuring the tiny amount. Gonna have to turn it into something else to eat it. Any ideas?

[wattlebloke]

'Rubbery' certainly sounds like too much rennet. It is really hard to measure a small amount of rennet from a tablet, particularly if you are using something like Fromase, where a single tablet is good for 50 litres. Best way is to break it into half, or quarter, and mix that with a measured amount of water. You then use only as much of the solution as appropriate for your recipe, and throw away the remainder. I believe dissolved rennet only lasts a short while (an hour maybe) before it starts to degrade. Good luck!

[SOSEATTLE]

I would agree sounds like too much rennet. I have not used kefir to make cheese personally, so not much help with that part. I make chevre quite frequently and like to use this https://www.cheesemaking.com/shop/chevre-ds-culture-5-pack.html. It has the right amount of culture and rennet when package instructions are followed. I have found it to be pretty much foolproof. 


Susan

[lovinglife]

Those packets are fool proof for sure, but I got tired of buying them which is why I started the kefir.  I like to use a small amount of kefir or a small amount of flora danica, mix that in then add 4 drops of rennet in a small amount of water to mix in, this is for two gallons of fresh goat milk.  Try putting your cheese in your mixer and mixing it up, add some salt and other spices if you want and see if that helps the texture.

[awakephd]

Buying the individual packets gets old and expensive very quickly ... but I buy the bulk packets (50 to 100 DCU size) and keep them in the freezer, measuring out the amount I need for each batch. The packets last a good long time ....

[hobbes]

Thanks all! Wattlebloke - I'll do that with the rennet next time. Or maybe try to make a bigger batch.
Can previously frozen milk be used to make chevre? How long can it have been frozen?

My parents LOVED it. They were very impressed and their enthusiasm rubbed off on me a bit, too. It definitely needs improvement but isn't that bad. We used most of it to make eggplant parmesan, sans parm.

[SOSEATTLE]

Edible means success  . It is generally not recommended to use frozen milk, though I have heard some people use it with OK to good results. The only way to know for sure is to experiment. That is part of the fun of cheese making  .



Susan

[lovinglife]

If you are using frozen goat milk you can make chevre any day of the week, I even had a nice curd and knit with using thawed goat milk for goudas, I couldn't tell you which makes were from once frozen milk or fresh.