pH of chevre

[Bernardsmith]

Started a chevre last night from raw milk I got from a colleague (about 3 qts). Raised the temperature to about 90 F and added about 1/4 cup of kefir then added a drop of rennet diluted in 1/4 cup of distilled water. I covered the milk and this morning I see that that there is a quantity of whey sitting atop the curds. Just for fun I checked the pH of the whey and it was a little above 4.2 (about 12 hours after I added the culture). Is that what I should expect? Is that not a little low? (for the record I also checked the kefir I have in the fridge and that was a little lower).  Thanks

[Gregore]

I am not exactly sure what it should be at for Chèvre  but 4.2 does not sound too crazy low .

I would go more by taste now and if it has a nice tang to it then it is ready to mold  or what ever the next step  is per the recipe you are following.

I assume the recipe called for more than 12 hrs of sitting before it was ready , if so I think you should use 1/3 less culture next time  or there abouts.

[Bernardsmith]

Thanks for the suggestion to use 1/3 less culture, Gregore I tasted the chevre this morning (I allowed it to drain 6 hours and then salted it and then allowed it to drain overnight and at 6 AM this morning it was lovely,  so I cut the cheese into thirds and rolled it in a cocktail of herbs - got just over 20 oz from the 3 quarts

[Gregore]

I think it is kind of hard to go wrong on a chèvre , as it is supposed to be tangy and sharp  so I suspect it can probably not get too low in ph.

My goat milk connection moved away from town. I used to pay 10 dollars a gallon for fresh raw , it was cheaper than the raw cow milk that I use .