My wife finally talked me into a milk goat. She got a Mini La Mancha, and may i say this is the best goats milk I have ever had. Very sweet, very close to cows milk in that the flavor of "goat fur" does not pervade the flavor from start to finish. it starts sweet and creamy and ends with just a faint bitter note of "goat fur" that has come to characterise goat milk and cheese for me.
The original agreement was I never have to milk the thing. Now, of course, I occaisionally help her out when she has overbooked her schedule. I am getting pretty decent at it, at least more milk gets into the jar then on my pants leg or the ground or even the odd spray into my face, then used to.
anyway the reason i bring it up is that we have started making cheeses and yogurt from the milk. While we have both checked out some online sources and followed the recipe. The consistency of the cheese seems to differ for almost no reason. while we have made only a few batches it can be a little disheartening especially when your not exactly sure of the process. we have made 2 batches of a basic cream cheese style sort of like the basic Chevre, one was really nice the other seemed a bit watery and didn't have as good a texture as the first one. We have also made 3 batches of yogurt, which if I had known how easy it was to make would have opened my own dam yogurt company years ago. Kidding, but it IS very easy to make. and tastes delicious.
last week we made a Feta, this is basically the next step up in making cheeses or so I have been told. Here is my problem. it's not good and i could use any advice anyone could give me. The cheese itself is edible, just spongy and too salty. when i make my next batch i will be cutting down on the salt as it seems the whey intensifies it when you put the hung cheese back in it . my main question is how do i get a nice tight feta? you know, crumbly and moist at the same time. Also is it better to try and squeeze whey out of the cheese or to just give it time drain while it hangs in the cloth?
The original agreement was I never have to milk the thing. Now, of course, I occaisionally help her out when she has overbooked her schedule. I am getting pretty decent at it, at least more milk gets into the jar then on my pants leg or the ground or even the odd spray into my face, then used to.
anyway the reason i bring it up is that we have started making cheeses and yogurt from the milk. While we have both checked out some online sources and followed the recipe. The consistency of the cheese seems to differ for almost no reason. while we have made only a few batches it can be a little disheartening especially when your not exactly sure of the process. we have made 2 batches of a basic cream cheese style sort of like the basic Chevre, one was really nice the other seemed a bit watery and didn't have as good a texture as the first one. We have also made 3 batches of yogurt, which if I had known how easy it was to make would have opened my own dam yogurt company years ago. Kidding, but it IS very easy to make. and tastes delicious.
last week we made a Feta, this is basically the next step up in making cheeses or so I have been told. Here is my problem. it's not good and i could use any advice anyone could give me. The cheese itself is edible, just spongy and too salty. when i make my next batch i will be cutting down on the salt as it seems the whey intensifies it when you put the hung cheese back in it . my main question is how do i get a nice tight feta? you know, crumbly and moist at the same time. Also is it better to try and squeeze whey out of the cheese or to just give it time drain while it hangs in the cloth?
