Goatucation - Goat's Milk Cheesemaking: Cheddar

It's another Monday so that means another Goatucation. We haven't covered all the cheeses that the publicist makes so I have another post in the goat's milk cheesemaking series. This time it is cheddar cheese. I know that a lot of you humans love cheddar cheese - it's the favorite of both the publicist and male person so she makes a lot of it!

The publicist starts as she always does with her big stainless steel pot full of two gallons of rich goat's milk. She then warms it to 88*

Then she adds 1/2 cup of cultured buttermilk. This time she used buttermilk she cultured herself! She used the buttermilk leftover from when she made butter! She just added some commercial buttermilk to it to culture and it was ready to go in a couple of days.  After the buttermilk ripened in the goat's milk for an hour she then adds a diluted rennet solution and lets the milk sit for 45 minutes until it curds up.

Then the publicist cuts the curds, lets them rest for 20 minutes and then she has to stir them gently while slowly bringing the temperature up to 98*. This is what the curds look like after all of that.

Then the curds get to sink to the bottom of the pot and rest for about half an hour. Then she pours off the whey and let the curds sit in her cheesecloth lined stainless steel colander for about 10 minutes.

Then they go back into her pot with 4 tsp. of kosher salt. She mixes them all up and they sit for an hour.

After this the curds get put into a cheesecloth lined cheese press.

The follower goes on - this is basically the wooden lid.

Then they sit with 15lbs of pressure for 20 minutes.

 

Doesn't it look like some kind of cheese torture device?

The cheese gets turned and re-wrapped three mored times; each time for longer periods at higher pressures. The last one being at 40lbs for 24 hours.

Then the cheese gets unwrapped and has to air dry for several days before it can be waxed.  
Next week the publicist will show you how she waxes her cheeses. 
An no, they are not hairy!
Heh heh.

Don't forget the sale in the publicist's shop. It ends tonight - 30% off and free shipping.


Tomorrow:  On the bark hunt.

I Love to Answer Questions!

I am a very smart goat. I say this with all humility....

I also love to answer questions and I am so very happy when my readers ask them of me. In yesterday's post I wrote about what it was like to be milked and Daisy and my Aunt Vicki wanted to know more so here I am today with answers to their questions.

Actually it is my publicist and her male person that are providing the answers because I have never tasted cow's milk or goat's milk cheese but I am quite pleased to pass them along. According to them goat's milk tastes exactly the same as cow's milk. The only difference the publicist finds is that it is much richer as my milk is somewhere between 4 and 6% milk fat and she was used to drinking skim milk. What made her most happy was that if she drank any kind of fatted cow's milk she would get horrible heartburn buy our milk does not give her any discomfort at all. Goat's milk is also very good for people who are lactose intolerant because it doesn't contain any lactose. Many babies who cannot drink cow's milk or formula become quite happy and chubby on goat's milk.

Nigerian Dwarf milk is naturally homogenized so the cream does not rise to the top which makes is difficult but not impossible to make butter. But making ice cream is easy, fun and quite tasty! The publicist has done it quite a few times; by all accounts Triple Chocolate was the clear flavor winner.

As to how much milk we give, I am on a rest right now as I have mentioned When Abby and I are both producing at full volume we will give the publicist about a gallon a day. Right now Abby is giving just short of a quart a day (That is yesterday's milk in the photo). It is enough for the male person's morning coffee and cereal plus any baking needs. The rest goes in the freezer for soap or if any barter opportunities arise.

Now to the cheese! The publicist and the male person love cheese. She has done a bit of experimenting and has been very successful at making soft cheeses like feta and chevre. Her mozzarella was not quite as good but she has not given up! She also made two hard cheeses; a cheddar and a Colby. Both were very good and she is looking forward to making more this summer. It is hard for her to make cheese in the winter because her kitchen is very small in the trailer and she cannot keep the milk mixture at the right temperature because she cannot fit her pot in her sink. But come this summer she plans to make lots and lots of hard cheeses to have in her pantry for winter. They have to age for at least four months and get better the longer they sit.

I hope this answered the questions and by all means ask any more you might have. I do love to pass on any goat information I have.