Chevre - Not Spreadable?

[hindley]

I used 1 quart of reconstituted whole dry goat milk, added a little vinegar, and 1/8 rennet tablet solution.
It set up pretty well in not much time; I cut the curd and cooked for 5-10 minutes... at a temperature less than boiling. (I don't have a thermometer).
Curds were small and well formed. Squeezed out the water. The cheese is soft but retains its curd. Definitely not spreadable.

I read in a few places that rennet coag should not be used if you want a spreadable cheese... that you should use acid instead. But then I also read some chevre recipes that said to use rennet plus a fromage blanc culture.

What's the deal?

[BigCheese]

I ahve never made chevre but I imagine it is probably identical to fromage blanc. Some recipes are acid coagulated and some use acid and rennet. That was not necessarily your issue. Rather, you prepared the cheese like one would a hard cheese by cutting and cooking the curds.

For fromage blanc you heat to 86F, add culture and incorporate, add a very small amount of rennet as the objective is to coagulate the milk over 12-24 hours, not 45 mins. Then you just set the pot aside at 72F (I can never be so specific with my temps, so I often have a little higher) for 12-24 hours. After that time you should be able to ladle the curds into a cheesecloth and hang to drain. For fromage blanc, I drain from 12-24 hours, then turn the curds out into a bowl and leave them to dry out a bit for another 12-24 hours, unless it is very warm and I do not want them to get too acidic. Thats about it.

I suspect chevre might have some differences in the draining/drying stages, but probably pretty similar. If chevre recipes actually do call for cooking the curd, you have cooked to high or too fast and caused the curds to form a shell preventing them melding together later.

Others will no doubt be more helpful.

[hindley]

Hey, thanks for replying!
After I posted this I read that for chevre you aren't supposed to cook the curds. Oops.

Anyhow... what would be the difference in the final product depending on what I use to coagulate? If I used just a fromage blanc/chevre culture, does the bacteria make it creamier or something...?
If I used rennet only, what does that do?
Or acid only?

[Oberhasli]

Whenever I make chevre I use a bacterial culture (MM100) and 6 or 7 drops of rennet dissolved in a 1/4 cup of water.  I have never tried using vinegar with this recipe.  The first recipe you used definitely makes a harder cheese.  You can soften that ball up by adding more milk back to the curds and stirring it in well. 

The consistency of chevre when it has set up for 24 hours is that of yogurt.  It has to be drained in cheesecloth for about 6 hrs. at least to get the soft, spreadable consistancy of cream cheese.  The curds are not cooked for chevre.  The milk with the culture and rennet are heated to 85 deg. and then left to set up for 24 hrs. 

There are quite a few threads on chevre on this forum. 

Bonnie

[sandhollerfarm]

Sounds like I use about the same recipe as Oberhasli.  I use generic "mesophilic" from the brew supply store and usually only let it set for 14 hours.  Might trying setting it longer...

[hindley]

In the process of batch #2.
This time I am using 1/2 gallon raw goat milk, heated to about 85, added 1/8 ts of mesophilic and 1/5 drop of rennet. Gonna let it set up for a day or so and then NOT cook the curds... hah! And strain for a day or so.

Wish me luck.