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Lots of milk, ideas requested

Started by lovinglife, March 29, 2020, 04:14:10 PM

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lovinglife

I have had dairy goats awhile, but decided to expand into mini jerseys as well.  I had planned to have a couple calves to use some of the extra but that has not happened.  So, now I am sitting here with sooo much milk!  Last week I made a small amount of butter, then a 4 gallon batch of butter cheese, my cultures and time are limited so any ideas to use this abundance is appreciated.  Wish one of you cheese makers lived close to me, I would share the bounty so I don't have to teach my chickens how to swim.. 

I have rennet, flora Danica, yogurt and buttermilk cultures, may have one or two others, I can't remember.  I plan to place an order for more cultures, just need some ideas of what the most useful ones are.

Thanks!

mikekchar

I find MA400X (where X is 1,2,3 or 4 -- doesn't matter) to be quite versatile.  It's nice for cheddars and anything you want to make that isn't super buttery (which you would use the Flora Danica for).  You may want to get a thermophilic culture if you want to make some alpine cheeses.  However, I guess if you haven't been making cheese already, you will a bit limited by ageing space (somewhere to store the cheese at 12 C/ 55 F).  Making some feta might be a good plan as it's pretty easy to do.  But apart from that, it really depends on what you like to eat.

MacGruff

As Mikechar said, it really depends on what you like to eat.

Some ideas to consider that do not require many cultures, or time: If you like any kind of Indian food - make Paneer. Alternatively, Farmer's Cheese is another version of a quick to make cheese (think Chevre, but made from cow's milk, not goat) and usable within 24 hours).

Are you into Cottage Cheese? There are recipes for that around that taste much better than anything I buy at the stores!

Lasagna with homemade Ricotta... yum!

For the goat milk, I would definitely go with Feta and even Halloumi. They take up little fridge space and last for a while. Of course, in my house, they take up no fridge space as we eat them almost as fast as I make them ... but that's a different story...


lovinglife

Oh!  Thanks!  I forgot all about those cheeses, I have made them all with the goat milk, also another one of my favorites is Finnish Bread Cheese or squeaky cheese, or also known as juustoleipä.  I made a beautiful wine infused cheddar I wouldn't mind repeating. 

Thanks, I just needed someone to kick start my brain.  I need to go fire up the cheese cave and find some time.

edit to add, I'm going to order that culture and a few random ones as well.