Made my first batch of cheese

[Melody]

Hi everyone,
I just found the cheeseforum and am pretty excited at the wealth of knowledge here.  I've been reading up on cheesemaking for a few years but was never able to quite take that first step and 'just do it'.  Then a friend called me up and and mentioned that her not quite established milk market couldn't keep up with her goats production and her freezer was almost overflowing.   So...I took the goat by the horns and made a basic fromage blanc with goat milk and vinegar.

I followed two different recipes.  The first said to heat the milk to 168 deg F and then slowly stir in the vinegar.  I let it sit for 15 minutes but it never did separate into a recognizeable golden whey with curds.  I didn't throw it out though.  I strained it through cheesecloth and did end up with about 1 1/2 cups of what looked like very fine pieces of curd.  I let it drain and at some point it did look like 'cheese'.  I added a bit of salt some sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and some fresh basil from my garden.

Then I did a second batch but brought the temp to 200 deg F as the 2nd recipe recommended.  Success!  I did the same with the tomatoes and basil.

My french mother-in-law gave it her good housekeeping seal of approval when we cut into it at dinner and my huband and son have been chowing down on it little by little since that time.

One question.  I was really after a creamier type goat cheese like I buy in the store since we make bruschetta and this stuff never did have a creamy stage...not even before hanging.  The curds were a bit...chewy.  Someone told me this might be due to the vinegar and that rennet would probably make a creamer cheese.

.

[Melody]

Well, went off to Zingerman's Creamery to pick up some rennet and managed to catch the cheesemaker.  I may have my answer.  Apparently, 1/2 c. vinegar to 1 gallon of milk is a lot of vinegar and recipes calling for this much are doing so in order to speed up the process. 

Now that I have a real recipe to work from, hopefully I'll get a nice spreadable goat cheese.

.

[newbie001]

Wow that is a lot of vinegar. Most of my recipes say only 1 tbsp per liter. I actually use lemon or lime juice and have had a flavor that I like more. I use about 2 TBsp of lime juice per liter.

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome Melody and congrats on taking the first steps to becoming a real cheese making addict. We have several goat cheese makers here that I am sure would be more than happy to lead you down the right path.

[Melody]

Wow that is a lot of vinegar. Most of my recipes say only 1 tbsp per liter. I actually use lemon or lime juice and have had a flavor that I like more. I use about 2 TBsp of lime juice per liter.

I picked up another book while at Zingerman's and now understand what he meant about 'too much vinegar' and 'they're trying to speed up the process'.

I'm going to try a soft goat cheese next and this one says it will take about 12 hours to setup and then hang for another.  I haven't figured out how to keep the temperature at 72 degrees though.  It sounds like I'm going to be babysitting this cheese with a hot water bath.  Haven't figured out how I'm going to regulate that temp while it's hanging.

[DeejayDebi]

Melody - I would offer suggestions about temperature control but I don't know if you need heat or cold to achive the 72 degrees!

[Megan]

I warm up the oven on the lowest setting, turn off, and let it sit there, with a pan that I periodically drain. Just make sure everyone knows Not to turn the oven on!
Megan

[Melody]

The cheese I'm making now doesn't require anything more than room temp so I guess I'll face the temp problem when I get to it.

I just put aside a batch of chevre which is supposed to sit at room temp for 12 hours and then hang for 6-12 hours, depending on how dry I want it.  Here's hoping this one stays spreadable!

.

[DeejayDebi]

Good luck hon!

[goatherdess]

I hope it came out well for you. A couple of temperature tips: if your room is only slightly less than 72, it won't matter too much, but if it is in the 60's you can put it on top of your fridge as the fridge gives off some heat as it runs. I always found this to be adequate, right down to about 60 degrees. If your room is warmer, you may need less time than 12 hours. At 90 degrees my chevre is done in about 7 hours.

Let us know how it turned out for you.