First Chevre attempt with pH meter

[doabbs]

Last night I started working on a Chevre using the following method.

Ingredients:
1 Gallon of Raw Goats milk (Nigerian Dwarf)
1/4 tsp MM100 (LL, LLC, LLD)
2-3 drops of double strength vegetable rennet (meant to just use one drop)

Method:
Heat treated milk to 165 degrees for 30 seconds
Cooled down to 82 degrees and added the DVI culture - pH was 6.40
Waited about 2-3 hours pH had hit 6.0
Added rennet
Left overnight (about 8 hours) @ 78 degrees
pH was then 4.53

I just ladled it all into molds and the rest into a cheese cloth to hang.  I was surprised how low the pH had gotten overnight.  Are these targets acceptable for a Chevre?  I read a couple different recipes and some posts on this forum and the pH targets seem to vary widely.

http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:fresh-chevre-howto&catid=35:fresh-cheese-acid-coagulation&Itemid=59

http://www.cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Chevre.htm

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4802.msg37044.html#msg37044

According to the last link, I hit it dead on, except for the over use of rennet.  Any comments?

[linuxboy]

Chevre is a very diverse cheese. Everyone has their own tweaks

For the style you're making, that is spot on.

The easier (add it all in) farmhouse recipe I wrote in the first link makes the assumption that people will drain the chevre at room temp, so I suggest targetting the drain pH at the highest end possible, which is 4.65-4.7. It uses very little rennet to help retain the lactic curd nature even at the higher drain pH. And it should finish at a milder 4.5 to avoid that classic fault of too sour, too flinty chevre. So the technologies are very different for the two approaches, hence different pH targets.

How do the curds taste?

[doabbs]

I'm currently draining these at room temperature.  Should I have refrigerated?

I tried some of the curd and to me it didn't taste like Chevre yet and was a little tart.

[linuxboy]

For that make style, most makers I know who use it will refrigerate either right away or after 6-12 hours. It depends on the pH targets they're aiming for and how much acid they want to develop. Cold crashing will help prevent excess acidification.

[doabbs]

Just out of curiosity, given the pH targets I've already hit, what would be a normal range of finishing targets?

[linuxboy]

4.3-4.5. Some say all the way to 4.25 is OK, but I like it a little milder.  I thought about it some more and I don't know of anyone who makes chevre this way who doesn't drain at least part of the time in the fridge. Many use more rennet than that and will drain for 1-3 days. Vermont butter & cheese, cypress grove, etc, they all drain in the fridge at least part of the time

[doabbs]

Just got a confirmation that the pH is now 4.36 after being out @ 74 degrees for 7 hours.  Moving to fridge.

[linuxboy]

Good call. It is acidifying way too fast. By this pH, your moisture content should be in the low to mid 60%. 1/4 tsp culture for a gallon of that very rich Nigerian milk is too much.

[doabbs]

I'm sure it doesn't help that all of our does are late in there lactation either.

[linuxboy]

Just the opposite - you get higher proteins in late lactation, yield goes up and your coagulation is better.

[doabbs]

Got home and tasted the cheese, I would say it is almost identical in taste to the whole milk cream cheese I made.  Not surprising considering the method was nearly identatical.  I've got it in the fridge in a makeshift high humidity cheese cave, hopefully it develops that chevre taste.

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4619.0.html