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Learn how to make this mild goat cheddar cheese recipe using goat’s milk.
Making Goat Cheese From Scratch
Mild Goat Cheddar Cheese Recipe
This cheese is wonderful grated and used to top homemade pizzas. It’s also a tasty topping for burgers. (See “cheesemaking tips” below.)
To 1 gallon whole goat milk add 1/2 cup buttermilk and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Heat milk very slowly to 86 degrees, then add one-half tablet rennet dissolved in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Cover kettle and let sit about 45 minutes, during which time curd will form. Cut the curd, slowly slicing large curds with knife. Do not drain whey. Start heating slowly to 102 degrees. Stir occasionally for even heating and to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and immediately pour curds into colander lined with cheesecloth. Drain briefly. Gently roll curds back and forth in cloth to drain off excess whey. (Whey can be saved and fed to pigs. They love it.) Salt curds with about 1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to your taste.
To drain and mold the cheese: Gather up corners of cheesecloth and tie with string. Hang on cabinet knob over a bowl, and by morning most of the whey will have drained off. This cheese will not keep as long as a pressed cheese, so use within two to three days or freeze it. Freezing will change its consistency, but the cheese is fine for grating when partially thawed.
Cheesemaking Supplies:
- Fresh goat milk
- Buttermilk (this acts as the starter culture)
- Rennet* (an enzyme that makes the warm milk form curds)
- Salt (Sea salt, cheese salt or kosher salt without iodine)
Cheesemaking Utensils:
- Cooking pot: 5-quart enamel or stainless steel kettle
- Slotted spoon
- Large knife or spatula
- Cheesecloth
- Colander
- Cheese molds (for French Goat Cheese)
- String (for Mild Cheddar)
- Rack for draining
- Dairy thermometer (recommended but not required)
*Rennet may be available at natural food stores or supermarkets.
Goat Milk Cheesemaking Tips:
If you don’t have a dairy thermometer, 86 degrees feels lukewarm to the touch, and 102 degrees is very hot but still tolerable.
You can buy cheese molds or make your own from inexpensive, 16-ounce plastic tumblers. Perforate each tumbler by running a hot 10-penny nail through the bottom and up the sides in a random pattern. The more small holes, the better the whey drains. Rinse out cups to wash away any plastic residue before you use them.