Lactic Coagulated, Goat, Raw - Pink Surface Mold Before Penicilium candidum Bloom

[mainelycheese]

I am going to try to wait another week before I eat any more, but I will definitely take photos and post them. I think it is very helpful to see.

Finally found a raw goat milk dairy local to me (I have been trucking milk 4 hours from Maine) and will be making this cheese again tomorrow. I figure that will distract me from the others a little. Something else to hover over.

[iratherfly]

The nice thing about these is that they really don't need too much ripening time. Do a rocamadour/cabecu size and it would only need 10 days or so.

Where do you go to school? Is that a culinary school?

[mainelycheese]

Yes, I am in culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Boston. They used to do some cheesemaking as part of the curriculum and I guess it is getting ready to be started up again.

Bummed about the raw milk lead I had. I had called her yesterday and she knew I was buying for cheese. She sold me 5 day old milk that was on it's last "sell by" day.

That was a 2 tripper.... first, and last.

Guess it is time to start working with raw cow milk...

[OudeKaas]

Finally found a raw goat milk dairy local to me ....

So jealous! There is a raw milk co-op that delivers to NYC but on a very constrained schedule that often precludes me using them. So it's either that or a day trip out of town to secure raw milk, and I have only found cow's milk so far . . . . you lucky Mainer!

[iratherfly]

You in NYC? I can show you where I get really good milk. Where in the city are you?

I tried the home delivery raw milk co-op (Udder Milk). I was not impressed with the milk quality, they keep the identity of the farmers quite a mystery and you would not know what cow breed it came from and what was their feed, or when it was milked.  (though it was nice having it delivered).  My order was followed up by a call from a suspiciously strange women who had bizarre conspiracy theories about the government, milk and especially how cheese bacterias may be obtained from innocent human beings (which is why she stays away from dairy products).  At that point I heard enough and went back to the fantastic local organic grass-fed non-homogenize milk from Sky Top, Tonjes, Albert's Choice, Oak Knoll and Evans Farmhouse. (there are other local brands such as Milk Thistle and Ronnybrook, but their milk is more expensive, package is wasteful and the quality isn't nearly as good)

[mainelycheese]

Here is the last one, taken today. I ate the others. It seems I am a lousy wait and see type. I was hoping the paste would be more uniform, but given they are aging in regular fridge temps, I am not surprised.

The second batch I made with pre-draining is so different it isn't even like it is the same cheese. They are hard, only partially covered in mold. *shrugs* I pre-drained the curds for 1 hour. This is a different milk from a different farm, herd, feed, etc. though.

[kookookachoo]

It looks yummy!  I've actually been (kind of) obsessed with making semi-lactic cheeses lately.  I got to try some really good ones on vacation, when I got home, I couldn't wait to taste mine.  Of course, I thought mine was good, but I was still critical of them, "Hmm too salty?  I was hoping for a bit more pungent smell.  At least it's creamy & not chalky, right?" (talking to my hubby while we're critiquing the cheese).  I handled mine quite a bit, this was before reading this (thanks Yoav, for indirectly giving me a hint, too!  ) as it was the only way to get it out of the container I had them aging in.  I made sure I touched them in different areas, too, so my fingers wouldn't dent the same spot, causing a "wonky" side.  Well now, I will also tap them!  This forum is awesome that, in reading hints given to others, you will also find that it directly applies to your situation. 

I'm really liking the almost-instant gratification of these cheeses, apart from the smell, too.  I'm taking my kids to visit a friend of a friend's sheep farm sometime this week, I'm hoping to wheedle some milk from him! 

[iratherfly]

fr more pungant smell acidify them longer, drain them less and age them slightly more. This way they have more acid and you can age them longer with more moisture content so that they don't dry on you on day 21. Just be careful not to go crazy with humidity so that you won't get slip skin. Now that you have the technique down for these, just play a little with these variables so adjust the taste and aroma to your liking.  Aren't these awesome and so easy to make?

[kookookachoo]

How much "longer" should I be looking at, ideally?   I'm alone in the house who likes my cheeses a bit on the pungent side (don't even really mind the stinky ones, either!) 

[iratherfly]

What do you do now? 12 hours at 75F?  You can do 24 hours at 72F and put a little bit less starter culture. Heck, you can even do 36 hours but keep adjusting the temp to 68F-70F range and use 1/4 to 1/2 of the starter culture you usually use. Keep experimenting until you find your favorite spot.  Even when you find it, remember that it will change in the season as goat's milk changes.

One more suggestion is to pre-inoculate the milk. It's an old French technique meant to give pasteurized milk the feeling and flavor/aroma of raw milk and really focus its flavors.  To pre-inoculate, you will ripen your milk while it is still cold, keeping it refrigerated for 18-24 hours until cheesemaking (so yes, delay cheesemaking by one day). The next day when you are ready to make the cheese, heat up the milk and keep it at cheesemaking temp, then inoculate your bacteria as you usually would and make the goat's cheese as you normally do.  Some cheesemakers wait 30 minutes from ripening bacteria to rennet/CalCl2 (instead of setting them together at the same time) so that the new bacteria gets to work before coagulation begins.  That is because the pre-inoculation bacteria is not the same as your starter culture. Traditionally pre-inoculation is done with Flora Danica. Then for the cheesemaking - use whatever you usually use (MM100?)  This is a rather new technique for me which I only began using very recently so I can't give you the full report on the results yet, but maybe Pav or Francois can. (Though I know Francois can't stand Flora Danica...)