I just tried making chevre for the second time using the same brand of milk I successfully made it from last month. I followed the same recipe exactly, except that I left the curds to set 3 hours longer this time than last (just wasn't home at the right time). When I tried to drain them, I found they weren't even solid enough to be picked up with a skimmer.
Though it initially looked like I had curds and whey, the mixture seemed to turn back into milk as I poured it into the cheesecloth. I've only poured a bit out of the pot but whatever was forming has certainly been disturbed.
So, is there anything I can do to save it at this point? It is a whole lot of milk to just throw out.
Hi bigsearock, Chevre is a primarily lactic acid coagulated (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-cheese-milk-coagulation/) cheese, primarily meaning you normally only use a very small amount of rennet.
Our Wiki: Coagulation Defects (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-cheese-curd-coagulation-defects/) article lists some common problems with lactic coagulation. These being strength of lactic acid starter and temp of milk, are these different with this batch?
Assume you are using a store bought Goat Milk, they are commonly Ultra Pasteurized which are hard to get any rennet action.
Assuming you are not longer than ~ 24 hours (in which case I think you could have other unwanted microorganisms competing with your lactic acid) I would add some more mesophilic starter culture and warm and hold the milk at ~ 80F to accelerate the lactic acid production and soft lactic acid curd formation and then when you have a good curd set proceed as normal.
It's not ultrapasteurized, and I'm over the 24 hours. Can I heat it to 180 to kill any possible nasties, then bring the temperature down to 80 and add more culture and rennet? Basically start over?