A Little Extra Milk

March is rapidly escaping the cold clutch of winter; the iced over blue skies are giving way to the dull grey that marks April in Upstate New York, where cold rain, and mud puddles glazed with a thin skim of ice, herald in the few brave flowers of May. The baby goats are growing rapidly, and as they grow their appetites begin to look for more than just their mama's milk. They are munching on hay and grain with much zest these day, leaving us with extra milk from the does. What to do with all that extra milk? Well, we do have a rather large spotted pig named Biscuit who currently lives on Haney Hill Farm with our friend Steve, so some extra milk goes there for Biscuit and her friends. We are still left with more than we can use for cereal, cooking, and our one bottle baby: what better time than this to start making cheese? Since we live in the middle of nowhere (and even if we didn't, most stores don't carry cheese making supplies) it's great to have access to Amazon! I ordered up some rennet, cheese cloth, and after a bit of research, a thermophilic culture, C101, which seems to be a good all-purpose culture for goats' milk cheeses. The plan was to make a raw milk Chevre, the traditional soft goats' milk cheese that we produced in quantity on the larger farm. Although I was definitely not the regular cheesemaker there, I had made the Chevre on a fill-in basis on different occasions; however, scaling things down, and working with raw milk, puts a bit of a spin on things.

The first step to great cheese is great milk, and great milk comes from well fed goats, and from clean handling. I chill all of our milk immediately, straining it into glass jars. Instead of spending money on throw-away filters, I strain my through a reusable screen coffee filter. It works great and saves money! The next step is gathering up everything you need, so that you aren't scrambling half-way through the process: to start off you will need a stainless steel pot, preferably around 3 gallons, a candy thermometer, a hot water bath, (the kitchen sink works great) a measuring cup, and a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon.

Once your milk (in the pot...in the hot water...in the sink) reaches 88 degrees Fahrenheit, it's time to add one packet of culture for 2-4 gallons of raw milk. Stir the culture into the milk using fourteen strokes, being sure to stir in different directions. Maintaining the temperature of the milk, mix 1/2 tsp rennet with 1/4 distilled water, (I used tap water and it seemed fine) and stir for approximately two minutes. And...you are pretty much done until tomorrow! I put a cover on my pot and left it on the counter. Don't place the pot anywhere too hot or too cold...it needs normal room temperature to work properly (so, around 55 degrees F to 78 degrees F).

The next morning it's time to dip the curd (the chunky part) out of the whey (the liquid). For this you will want a fairly large slotted spoon, a colander, cheesecloth, and a pot to collect the whey (don't put the whey down the sink. 1) It's useful, and 2) It could mess up the plumbing).

Once the curd is in the cheese cloth, tie it up in a nice little bundle, either using string or a rubber band, or simply tie the ends of the cloth together. Find a good place to hang it for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, depending on how dry your curd is, and you are ready to walk away again. I hung mine on the clothesline in the basement. Again, it needs to be somewhere with a nice even room temperature. When it looks ready, untie the bags, put the cheese in a bowl, and add any kind of non-iodized salt to taste! Your Chevre is ready to eat! I made a little patty with some and covered it with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and olive oil. A delicious and nutritious snack.

The leftover whey can be used in place of either water or milk in bread recipes; it can also be fed to piggies, chickens, or fed back to the does (mine go nuts for it).