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Cheese making

3K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  goaties4me 
I make cheese also. I really enjoy it. I like the rennet made cheese best. You can use the buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, etc for you cultures as long as they are cultured. I also like the squeaky cheese. It's about the same as the buttermilkl/rennet cheese posted only after the curds are set they are cut up small and then the heat is turned back on low and over an hour slowly heated while stirring gently intermitently until the curds are cooked so they look like cooked egg whites. Then they are drained and YUMMY!!! This makes the best cottage cheese too!

A couple tips from the other posts.... you can't use table salt. You really do need the sea salt and it's popular now so easily found.

Also, if the milk tastes off, the doe may well have a copper, cobalt or other mineral deficiency. There is usually a reason for the off taste!

No bread making or sour dough use when or just before making cheese as the yeasts can get into your cheese and ruin it!

For straining milk, I found some mens hankerchiefs at the dollar store and they are GREAT! 4/$1 is a bargain in my opinion. A plastic or stainless strainer (flat bottom is best) is very convenient and something to sit it into that will hold that gallon of whey is also crucial.

Aged cheeses are the more difficult and also require extra equipment and such. The soft cheeses and mozz don't. Soft cheeses will drain out and can be carefully allowed to "dry out" some so they can even be grated to some extent.

Don't throw your whey out as there are lots of uses for it including baking bread, cakes, cooking veggies/pastal/rice, soups, feed chickens/pigs, water tomatoes, berry plants, and more.

I have a goat milk, cheese meat group if anyone is interested. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoatMilkCheeseMeat/
My fav (the best IMHO) cheese only group is Goat Cheese Plus on yahoo.

The simple cheeses are really easy to make after a couple times and fun too! The big thing is having the equipment to make them. (Stainless).

Have fun and remember the price the stores charge for a few ounces of what YOU can easily make on your own!

Shar
 
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