cheese help!

[Ariel301]

I am new to making cheese, and have tried making several different kinds now from my goats' milk. The problem I am having is that no matter what cheese I try or what recipe, it all comes out exactly the same: a big, rubbery, crumbly, tasteless mess that sort of reminds me of tofu. I've tried ricotta, chevre, mozzarella, feta, and asadero, but even though I follow the directions exactly, every one makes exactly the same cheese! Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

[DeejayDebi]

Sounds like you thermometer might be off. To much heat will make the cheese curds rubbery. Try calibrating it in a cup of boiling water. Also keep in mind that altitude will change the temperature at which water boils.

[Ariel301]

Thanks. I am already a bit suspicious of my thermometer, so I will test it. I am encouraged now after checking the cheeses I have in the works. The asadero from yesterday isn't quite asadero, but it's pretty tasty nonetheless. And the chevre I made a couple of weeks ago, but never tasted like chevre, that got lost in the back of the refrigerator is starting to develop holes in it and tastes something like swiss now. I may let it keep aging and see what happens. At least I have plenty of milk coming in, and the goats love getting all that whey and messed up cheese!

[homeacremom]

Raw goat milk cheeses are my current hobby. THE goat milk cheese may be chevre, but all the other types can be made as well.
If you start by posting  your chevre recipe and I can help you trouble shoot. 

[Ariel301]

Thanks for the help, H.A.M. I am using a chevre recipe from a goat dairy called Fias Co Farm. Here's the recipe.

1/2 gallon raw goat milk
1 ounce mesophilic culture
rennet (their recipe calls for liquid, but I've got tablets so I used that, dissolved in cool bottled water)

Warm the milk to 72 degrees. Add culture and stir well. Add rennet and stir well. Let sit covered in a warm place for 18-24 hours. (I let mine sit about 24, in the oven-turned off-as suggested by the farm) Pour off any whey that has separated from the curd. Ladle curds into molds set on a rack over a pan to catch the whey that drips. (my molds are homemade from plastic containers) . Mix in herbs if wanted (I added some garlic and herbs to mine) Let drain for two days at room temperature, covered. Remove cheese from molds and sprinkle with kosher salt. Store in refrigerator wrapped in plastic.

It came out probably the best of any cheeses I have made, but didn't taste right, and would not melt (I'm not sure if it's supposed to or not?). Actually, I have found that none of the cheeses I have tried will melt at all, they just sort of shrivel up into little chewy balls and all the liquid oozes out of them. Not very tasty. My last attempt at mozzerella, I tried to use the microwave to heat it for stretching (in a microwave safe bowl), and the cheese started making sparks! It also tasted horrible.

[homeacremom]

Ok, I think I can help. First a couple questions.... You'll be making awesome cheese soon!

What are you using for your mesophilic culture?
On the rennet tabs... do they say anything about double strength? What does the package recommend per gallon of milk? How long have you had them?

oh, and check your PMs....

[Ariel301]

My mesophilic culture is one I purchased online from New England Cheesemaking Supply. I got the mesophilic and thermophilic from them; it's the kind that comes as a powder and you culture it in a jar of sterilized milk. The place I bought them didn't give me good directions on how to make them, so I got instructions from Fias Co farm's website, and followed them exactly. I don't know how to tell if the culture is good or not.

The rennet tablets don't say anything about double strength; they call for 1/8 tablet per gallon. I have had them for about a month; I ordered those and the cultures at the same time.

[jillyphish]

The mesophilic that I use (from a Leener's kit) just has me sprinkle it into the milk as the powder.  Should I be making a culture in milk instead?  I think maybe I'm missing something here.  Even Rikki's book just shows sprinkling it in directly.   any suggestions? 

Jill

[Ariel301]

Jilly,
You probably have a DVI culture, which is sprinkled in directly. I opted to go with the kind that you keep culturing, as that way I only had to buy it once and it keeps replenishing itself.

[homeacremom]

Jill, there are direct vat powdered cultures like you are using and mother culture powders that are meant to be reculturable. Sounds like you have access to Ricki Carroll's book. Look on pgs 20-22 of Home Cheese Making for an explanation.
PS...ariel beat me to the explanation. 

Ariel,  the directions you followed for the mother culture should work. For the culture to be strong and healthy all the temps need to followed carefully and everything has to be sterile each time.

Chevre takes very, very little rennet. 1/8th tablet would equal 1/4 tsp/ 20 drops of the animal rennet I'm using.
I use 1/2 a drop per gallon of milk when making chevre by diluting 1 drop in 1/8th cup of cool, unchlorinated water and then using 1 tbsp of the dilution in my gallon of milk.
There are several ways to dilute your 1/8th tablet. You probably want about 1/40th of it for 1 gallon.  Hard to say as different rennets vary in performance. Use the culture packs when you get them as per the directions and you should get an idea of the curd texture and finished chevre texture that is optimal.  That will give you a baseline for comparison.

I add my culture and rennet to a gallon of milk at approx 86* let stand approx 10 hrs. ( I do this last thing at night with milk that has cooled since the evening milking) The curd will have pulled away from the glass slightly and there will be a thin layer of whey above the curd.
For the best texture you want to ladle out layers of curd about 1/4-1/2" thick. I like chevre/fresh cheese molds as they drain uniformly, but you can use butter muslin or coarsely woven cloth (sterilized of course). Don't hang more than a gallon of curd in one bag. It won't drain properly.
Lay your cloth  in a colander while ladling out the curd. If your curd breaks up into tiny pieces it has set too long or you had too much rennet to begin with and the finished cheese will be rubbery and dry. After all your curd is in the cloth hang it for 3-6 hrs. You can turn the mass over partway through into a new section of cloth for a better drain. When it gets close to the texture you want stick it in the refridgerator to cool so that you won't lose cream as you mix to add the salt. After it cools, add 1 tsp of salt per lb, and other goodies as desired.

If you aren't getting the flavor you want try another mesophilic blend such as the farmhouse or flora danica. They make a difference.
The absolute easiest way to make chevre is the direct set culture pcks with culture and rennet all ready to go. I either buy in bulk personally or through a coop to get the cheaper price. (cheesemaking.com 12 (5pcks) bulk price).

I wish I could promise pictures of different recipes using raw goat milk. Working on it, but without a working cam  ....Having so much fun right now with cheesemaking! Turning milk into these rounds of cheese... amazing...

[jillyphish]

Thank you... so many options.  LOVE it!

Got a couple of gallons today (I get it locally, but I don't have my own cows or sheep).  Will make ricotta for some "quick rewards" while I wait for the other cheeses to age.  Maybe set another pressed cheese into motion next weekend.

Thanks again - love reading all the posts.
Jill

[MrsKK]

My guess was going to be too much rennet, as well. 

Thanks, H.A.M. for such a good, detailed explanation of the chevre-making process.  I've never tried this one, but have raw cow's milk - Can I use that to make chevre?

[homeacremom]

My guess was going to be too much rennet, as well. 

Thanks, H.A.M. for such a good, detailed explanation of the chevre-making process.  I've never tried this one, but have raw cow's milk - Can I use that to make chevre?

The cow's milk version of chevre is called Fromage Blanc.
The individual culture pcks of fromage Blanc and Chevre from cheesemaking.com are identical or nearly so. I've interchanged them in an experiments as some say one makes better chevre than the other. I say they are the same. 
Based on that I think you could use the same meso culture and miniscule amount of rennet in the chevre recipe to make fromage blanc. I'd go by the curd set to see if the setting time or temps need to be altered for the cow's milk.

[FRANCOIS]

Watch out with fromage blanc, it can be tricky.  If you add too little rennet and the set takes too long your cream will seperate, yield will go down and your texture will be off.  I always try and get it a bit firmer than chev.  If you want something chev like, try creme fraiche.