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Goat cheeses in Northeast Ohio

Started by Spellogue, September 12, 2012, 10:24:28 PM

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Spellogue

We have assembled a menagerie of livestock on our little farmette in NE Ohio, the most populace being Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats.  Last year I started making chèvre type cheeses, yogurt, ice cream, and fudge.  This year, with more goats in milk, I've branched into making a number of different types of cheese and added kefeir to the mix. 

So far I've made my own versions of Tomme, Camembert, Stilton, Valencay, Pouligny-St-Pierre, Beira Bajxa, Pave, asiago, manchego, coloumier, and montasio to name a few; all made with raw goat milk (and a bit of sheeps milk stashed in the freezer last spring.). Many have been no particular name or style, reflecting only my whims.  I generally substitute goats milk with only minor adjustments in any recipe I want to try. 

The experimentation has been fun and the results of my efforts have been a delight.  I love all kinds of cheese, but the bloomy rinds have to be my favorite.  The 25 day old Pouligny I cut into last night nearly made me weep, tears of bliss.

Sure, a few of my cheese have been flops, especially at first, but we live, learn, and grow.  This forum has been exceptionally helpful on my path toward crafting great cheeses at home.  I hope I can share some ideas with others as I continue to learn from this community.

Blessed are the Cheesemaker.  ~Monty Python


H-K-J

sound's like you have allot under yer belt , I have a source for goat milk, was thinking
after reading your post. you have made a goat milk Stilton??  ;D  would love to see your recipe and think others would like to try (maybe)
OH sorry Welcome to the forum
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

Spellogue

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I've made lots of cheeses once and I have an increasing list of the ones I'll definitely make again. 

As for the 'goat Stilton,' it is still aging.  I have two 1 lb. wheels I made in July.  I used Steve Shapson's recipe with no alterations other than the substitution of goat for cows milk. I'm seeing here that most folks are aging blues for at least 3 months.  I figured I would crack one in mid October and see how they're progressing, unless someone might suggest I check sooner.   The rinds have been covered in blue for more than a month and there are now white puffy wild geo spot showing up that I have no plan to remove/control.  I wanted to let nature take its course on this one.  The curd was pretty firm and seemed to have molded with lots of pocketing, so I didn't bother to skewer them at all.  I expect the pate to be a touch firmer/drier than a traditional stilton, but we shall see. I'll post some progress once I can get some pics ready.

I'm getting a post ready on that Pouligny-St-Pierre I just cut.  That will probably be my first remake aside from all those chèvres.  I'm very happy with all the bloomy whites I've made with goat milk so far.