How to Make Goat Cheese
Goat cheese is a delicacy often used in many wonderful European dishes. This cheese can be pricey and somewhat enigmatic in quality. However if you learn how to make this fabulous cheese, then your search for the perfect goat cheese will end right in your own kitchen. Follow these key steps to make goat cheese and enjoy this tasty treat any time you want.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Colander
- Cheesecloth
- Goat milk
- Fresh lemon juice or vinegar
- A large pot
- Ladle
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Buttermilk (optional)
- Additional seasonings (optional)
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1
Make a grocery list and obtain the basic materials needed to make the cheese. The list includes goat milk (about 1/2 gallon), lemons, kosher salt and cheese cloth. Also, you may also add buttermilk for an extra creamy flavor, if desired.
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2
Heat the milk in a stainless steel/non-reactive pot to at least 185 degrees (or low heat). Allow to simmer, watching carefully to avoid boiling or burning.
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3
Remove the milk from heat and allow to sit. Add lemon (or vinegar), stirring until the curds separate from the whey. The mixture should look like large clumps of cottage cheese when properly separated.
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4
Line a colander with several layers of the cheesecloth. Ladle curds into a strainer, discarding the whey.
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5
Allow curds to cool, squeezing as much moisture out of them as possible. Put curds in a bowl and season with sea salt. You can also add other seasonings of your choice, such as Herbs de Provence or whatever else you desire.
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6
Press curds into the bowl to make a block, or wrap in cheesecloth. Place curds in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 days before removing and tasting.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Be creative with the seasonings you add to the goat cheese. The French prefer salt and pepper. However Herbs de Provence, parsley and olive oil are sometimes used. You can also make this cheese without any seasonings.
The whey can be used for protein shakes or other enriched meals if you don't want to discard it.
Go to a farmers market for fresh goat milk. Supermarkets often do not carry goat milk or if they do it is of substandard freshness.
Let the cheese warm to room temperature before serving to bring out the maximum flavor.
Don't age the cheese too long if you plan to eat it fresh. The best goat cheese is not aged long at all (at most 2 days).
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Comments
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How much lemon juice?
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Thank you
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yummy
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iratherfly
Sep 23, 2010
This is like Paneer or Queso Fresco from goat's milk. Not a real chevre. A real chevre is not coagulated with acid (lemon in this recipe) but it a semi lactic cheese. It has to be made with goats' milk that has not been ultra pasteurized (watch out, most store bought brands are ultra pasteurized or UHT). It is only heated to 77F (you can go up to 86F but no more) and then an acidifyer culture is added. Couple of tablespoons of cultured buttermilk would do the trick. Along with it, you would need to add 2-3 drops of rennet. If you have no access to it, you can find something called 'junket tablets' in your grocery store, usually by ice cream and baking supplies. This is a weak type of rennet and would be enough to start the enzymatic activity. Cover the pot and wait between 8-12 hours until the curd pulls away from the sides of the pot as a single lump and is covered with about 1/4"... -
hotoes40
Sep 30, 2007
this makes OK cheese, however it is NOT chevre that most people think of when they think goat cheese, chevre is just as easy to make, and much more versatile
