Kat’s Story
I tried goat cheese one day and knew I had to have more of it in my face. Buying it became expensive but lucky for me, Eugene is full of backyard goat farmers. So I began purchasing the milk at around $10-$15 per gallon.
I tried all the online recipes using vinegar and lemon juice as the coagulant – sometimes it worked great, usually it didn’t. But then I saw one that just explained the cultures – it looked so much easier!
I found a local store that sells your cultures, I purchased a package of chevre cultures, followed the directions and then I was hooked.
A couple of years later, I just went ahead and bought some goats!
I now teach other people to make the cheese and share my milk with them. Since the new baby goats are only a week old, it’ll be another 2-3 weeks before we can start milking the mamas again – my people are getting very impatient for their cheese fix.
I’m a self employed house keeper and my amazingly wonderful husband is a delivery driver for a chemicals company. He has a teenager from a previous marriage. I do love that kid – we have a pretty special relationship (right now we’re catching up on Wentworth before the next season comes out).
I have 2 teenagers from a previous marriage – 2 great kids and those aren’t even my words, they’re everyone else’s (but I certainly agree). They’re well behaved kids who never cause trouble and are quite helpful around the house/farm. The kids have their own lives pretty much, they’re independent creatures but they do all get along wonderfully and often go off on “social distancing” adventures together.
Most of my time at home is spent tending to my little residential farm – despite being well inside the city limits in a dense neighborhood where we have a half acre backyard. Our little farm has 22 very cuddly chickens in our little orchard of 4 large fruit trees (two heritage apple trees, a Bartlett pear tree and an Asian pear tree), 3 milking goats (although, right now we still have our stud goat on the property and 5 little sweet babies) plus a full garden.
I get around a dozen and a half eggs a day which are immediately donated to neighbors in need.
Now, we’re allowing families to schedule time with the baby goats, as a sort of “therapy” to break up the monotony of a quarantine. One family at a time arrives and I disinfect the gates in-between. All the animals are getting much enjoyed love and affection from people every day and I can see how much happier they are after a full day of love being poured all over them.
Between cleaning and farming, I find my time just vanishes but I still manage to crochet some blankets for the kids (the human ones) in the evening time. Honestly, the only thing that has really changed for me since the quarantine is that I’m cleaning fewer houses, but that was just in time for the goats to give birth so I’m not bored at all.
My husband just pointed out that I entirely left out my love to cook! I make EVERYTHING: noodles from scratch, breads, pastries, candies… the list goes on. Learning to make cheeses and all the other dairy products just make sense. My poor husband has gained 50 pounds since we got together and he’s flabbergasted that cooking didn’t come up in the things about me.
My step son just yelled “THAT’S LITERALLY MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU – YOUR COOKING, WOMAN!” I should’ve also mentioned our extreme sense of humor in this family – we can’t have “quarantine fights” if we’re laughing all the time.
I usually make chevre – dear Lord it’s my favorite. It’s such a versatile cheese! I make flavored rolls out of it: the favorites are pesto and herb, fig and honey (I grow the figs), and raspberry-cayenne (I grow the raspberries too).
I also make feta, mozzarella, sometimes halloumi cheese, yogurt, sour cream and goat milk soap.
I’ve been trying to make cheddar from the goat milk but I haven’t gotten it right yet – it would probably help if I had a real press instead of a stack of weights. I asked Santa for one last year, but let’s be honest, I haven’t been THAT good. I’ll get better pictures of the babies and family tomorrow. You’ll get a laugh at how tiny my little kitchen is – I am not tall but I can stand in the middle and just about touch every wall.
How does your yogurt do with goat’s milk?
It’s got such a rich flavor and it’s even creamier than regular yogurt. I find my whey comes out more like slime when I make yogurt out of it (I ALWAYS make it Greek style) and that only occurs when I make the yogurt specifically from goat’s milk. I have no idea why. Either way, it tastes soooo much better than cow yogurt, so it’s pretty often requested amongst my people. My favorite is to mix it with honey, pomegranates and granola for breakfast.
Advice for beginners?
Yes. Be ok with making mistakes because they will happen – it doesn’t always go according to plan. Go in to each batch trying your best but also knowing it could go south at any point. Be proud of each success, as there will be many.
Kevin says
I SO wish i had some land, or enough to have goats. That you have RAW milk is heaven to me. Its illegal here in Australia! I even thougth for a while a BUFFALO owner would supply me some raw milk, but she changed her mind because of STUPID laws.
I havent seen this mentioned, but i spoke to a proffesional cheese maker, and she said, find your favorite cheese. Then use that as your starter. cut off a bit, mash it, put into a small amunt of milk, and mix well. The place into the bigger batch of milk.
About the left over whey, this makes an incredible fermented drink.
there are recipes online. But put into taste LIME juice, and honey. Leave in a warm area for 2-3 days. It will ferment and use up the extra sugar from the honey, and you have an amasing drink.
The first time i had some, i was amased you could ferment whey just with extra honey and lime. It was just so amasing!
Like i said, just wish i had some goats, and id be in cheese heaven. Or a 1,0000lb Buffalo would be better. lol. Goats are WAY easier to manage.
Mandy H. says
I know it’s not raw milk, per se, but you can “undo” some of the sterilization of the milk by adding kefir (make your own from grains gleaned from some else who does this or buy dried grains and start your own, though the former is preferable) to your milk. Calcium chloride will put back the soluble calcium that is lost in pasteurization, too, for a better curd set. I HIGHLY recommend that you find a copy of David Asher’s book, “The Art of Natural Cheesemaking” and see how he uses kefir as culture for ALL his cheeses. I still use a few bought cultures, but generally the kefir is all I need to get great results from blue and brie to Wensleydale and cheddar. It’s a great approach to making cheese more sustainable, too, which is something that’s important to us. On the subject of goats, you really don’t need much space. Check out this video – it’s been my inspiration for years! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmTJkZy0rM
I made great yogurt from store cow’s milk, but made wonderful tasting slime stuff from our fresh goat’s milk. Rikki’s book says to add a drop of rennet in 1/4 cup water before culturing. No more slime and awesome Greek yogurt if strained some.
On the odd occasion I’ve complained about a lack of like-mindedness, my hubby has been known to remind me that I can’t expect everyone to think the way I do, to which I’ve replied, “I know! But just ONCE I want to go somewhere where people already DO!” Your post was a trip to just such a place, so THANK YOU!
You may well have written my life. We homestead on two acres with chickens and ducks and goats and rabbits. We and our three “teens” (14 – 21) all live peaceably and very independently in our old Cape farmhouse with it’s tiny tumbledown barn, permaculture gardens, and encroaching wetlands. Going to the store is a rare occurrence these days. Who needs it when eggs, milk, meat, bread, cheese, yogurt, kefir. kombucha, jams, pickles, ferments and fresh produce are all readily available in the backyard?
It’s a beautiful way to live.
I know you already know that, of course, but it warrants saying.
I love what you do and wish i could do some of the things you do . I started doing ricotta with cream and powdered milk and it comes out fine . I would like to try it with the whey i get from preparing greek yogurt , but am not sure how. If you can help ?
I was wondering if i can also make cheese from got yogurt prepared with powdered goat milk . Do you think it would work !
I have never worked with powdered milk so I have no idea. I’m sure it would be fine and might actually be faster since you’ve already killed the bad bacteria by drying it. I would try, it’s worth the mistake to find out you can’t, right?
I just tried making whey ricotta from yoghurt whey and got nothing. Heated it properly, added citric acid and did not get one curd! I am very successful in getting Ricotta from sweet whey…at least 8 ounces from a 2-gallon pot. You should try it, though, to see for yourself.
I just started making cheese from goats milk chèvre . Do u use culture to make chèvre I used lemon juice. could u send me your receipt I live in MountainHome Ar.
Once you go cultures, you’ll never go back to lemon juice. The lemon juice method is sooooo hard to get right – it’s so sensitive to temperature. With the cultures, it’s 1000× easier – the milk only needs to get to 86° – but I’ve let it get to 100° by accident and it still made great cheese. So you heat your milk to less-than-body temp, sprinkle on your cultures, stir them in and go to bed. 12 hours later, it’s cheese. You just need to hang it in a cotton cloth sack for about 6 hours. After that, I usually run it through a food processor to really cream it up but it’s not necessary. The cultures are cheap and DEFINITELY worth the investment.
where do u buy your cultures sounds like culture is the way to go
thanks for answering my question also for the e-receipts
where can i get the cultures from?thanks for your prompt answers
I buy mine from New England Cheesemaking Supply.
I use vinegar, and almost always comes out just right. You have to let it sit for 15 minutes or more for the curds to coalesce enough to ladle them into the cheesecloth.
I’ve made goat cheese twice now with the chèvre culture. It turns out very bland and does not have that delicious goat cheese tang. Any suggestions?
Salt and time. Age the milk (assuming it’s fresh, raw milk) by letting it sit out of the fridge for a day. It may clabber on its own, though mine takes closer to three days to clabber fully when I make cheese that way. So, after a day, make your chevre as you would, drain it for four hours, then add salt to taste (and herbs, too if you want it flavored like that), then hang again until it’s as dry as you like it. Knead it, shape it, and pop it in the fridge. It should be much tangier this way. I do aged chevres, too – put them in the cheese cave at 52-58F for a few weeks. They will grow a “brainy” white mold – geotrichum candidum – that occurs in raw milk naturally and the longer you age, the funkier they’ll get!
Cheddar from goat’s milk is problematic. The cheese gurus can tell you why. I just know it is a fail here too. However, I have found if you make Colby and age it a really long time – like 9 to 12 months, it tastes like cheddar to me.
I haven’t had that issue but I have noticed that the older the milk is, the more flavor my cheese gets. Maybe the milk is too fresh? Also, find out the breed of the goat – each breed produces it’s own flavor. I have a nubian producing the majority of the milk and the flavor is great.
That’s helpful. I’m going to pay someone to show me how to make the cheddar or anything similar. I also need to try my hand at parmesan…
Hi, Kat…I love that you are so self-sufficient!
I recommend contacting Kate Johnson, at The Art of Cheese. She is a goat farmer in Longmont, CO. She moved her in-person cheese-Making classes on line and you just missed her Cheddar-making class yesterday. She can teach you how to make Cheddar…gooduck!
I also find Gavin Webber’s YouTube videos super clear and easy to follow. Never had a cheese flop with his guidance. I use the New England Cheesemaking Supply recipes for ones he’s not yet done a video of, but have a better understanding of technique because of his tutorials. His Wensleydale recipe is like a young cheddar….
I just LOVE his videos!! Just made his Wensleydale over the weekend. Used my own sage which I dried in the sun. Trying to decide what to make this week. He has such a nice, easy-going style. I want to try his petite blue cheese, but have to buy more forms and cultures.
I did his English Coulammiers but added penicillin candidum to the milk with culture and let it age for a week to get the bloomy brie-like mold, then wrapped in cheese paper and aged 3wks….for a French coulammiers. It was great, but go lighter on the salt!
I have been making goat cheese from my own goat milk for 25 years here in Wisconsin, land of cow milk cheddar. My opinion is that goat milk does not lend itself to the harshness of the traditional cheddaring process. Goat milk shines in chèvre, feta, aged alpine style, or many other cheeses—but not cheddar.
I’ve found a young Wensleydale can be just as sharp as a good cheddar, when using goats’ milk. That’s my go-to when I’m in a hurry have have milk that must be used – easy to age in the cave because it’s waxed and ready in 3-6 weeks.
What breed of goats do you have?
I have a nubian, a dwarf nigerian and a mixed breed of the two. Although, my mixed breed has taken on ALL of the dwarf nigerian traits and none of the Nubian traits….
Do you know if your Nubian goats would eat burdock plants? I have horses and I’m over run with Burdock. Someone suggested goats but I would only get them if they could serve another purpose (like giving milk). Not to sound gruff, but we have long winters here and if the animals can help do something other than eat, it would be great!