Aliceincolo's Chevre - Lumpy & Bitter Taste?

[Aliceincolo]

Hello,
     My name is Alice. I live in Grand Junction Colorado. I made my first batch of Chevre two days ago, followed the recipe to a tee and my cheese is very lumpy at this draining stage. Is this normal does it correct itself or should I intervene? Thank you for your help!

P.s. Just tasted it... tastes nice and clean, but has the foamy texture of a Matzo Ball! Yikes!

[Cheese Head]

Aliceincolo, welcome to this forum, sorry but my only try at Chevre didn't work out, this Chevre Recipe has lumps!

Hopefully some Chevre makers can advise, meanwhile, can you give some details of the recipe you used and ingredients, ie what type milk, raw or store bought ultra-pasteurized and homogenized, type of rennet and amount and how added etc?

[FRANCOIS]

I have never experienced lumpy chev, all made with pasteurized goats milk.  More details would be needed.

[DeejayDebi]

You don't mean curds do you?

[Aliceincolo]

I used 2 gallons of fresh raw goats milk and vegetable rennet that was diluted in water. After I warmed my milk to 86 degrees I added the rennet and let it stand 24 hours. The next day I ladled the curds into a cheese cloth and let drain one day. The texture began to finally smooth out, but the taste is very bitter... I tried making some Gjetost from the whey today and it also had a bitter taste...possibly the milk? I just bought a share this week and this is the first I have done with it. The ice cream I made turned out ok... I need more practice, and any other tips is very welcome. Thanks.

[Cheese Head]

Alice, I moved this thread temporarily to this board hoping it will get more notice and advice.

Although I haven't tasted it myself, my understanding from others is that excessive rennet will taste bitter, where did you get yours and how much used?

Also, before you ladled the curds into cheesecloth and I assume then hanged to drain, how was the curd? Did you get a good curd set like this?

I don't make Chevre, but when I make similar Neufchatel, I find I have to scrape walls of bag and mix in to get smooth consistency as curds against bag dry more than curds in middle. Is the sort of lumpy you have?

[FRANCOIS]

all things being equal I would suggest you have a very acidic curd based on the set and drain times you posted.  excess rennet in this cheese could cause bitterness but after a 24 hour the acid should overpower most anything.  Have you salted the curd?