Finally, I myself with my own two hands made actual edible cheese that I was proud to serve. This time around, my friends won’t be guilted into trying it with grimacing smiles as they choke down rubbery mozzarella...I think I’ve found my cheesemaking calling...chevre.
I taught a class on cheese making at work so I thought I’d try again and bring it in provided it was edible. Of course it wasn't until afterwards that I thought of serving my customers a product that I made myself and not in a registered facility (gasp!), approved by our store (double gasp!) blah, blah, blah big box store liabilities...I did it anyway.
I was fully prepared to have the cheese fail, which in some weird cosmic way, I think had something to do with the fact that it actually turned out...I had ordered some chevre cultures from www.cheesemaking.com, and they had been chillin’ (literally) in my freezer for a few months. No really, it makes sense...in sub-freezing temperatures the starter cultures, which are helpful bacteria, can’t do their bacteria thing of multiplying and multiplying. The cultures lie dormant until taken out and warmed to room temperature. Then the cultures are added to the milk so it can ferment, create lactic acid, release whey, and become the wonderful stuff that we call cheese.
I decided to use whole goat’s milk from LaClare Farm up in Malone, Wisconsin (I don’t know where that is either). I had to double check that their product was pasteurized below 180 F because otherwise so many cultures are destroyed in the high temperature pasteurization process that you cannot use the milk for cheese making. And this is why I love the cheese business...in my process to double check the pasteurization temperature, I looked at LaClare's website and didn't find the answer to my very specific question, so I used the email from the website, emailed, and then in about an hour I got a reply, “we pasteurize at 163.” No run around, no auto-generated “thank you for your question, someone will contact you shortly,” just plain and simple: my answer and nothing more...no sales pitches or offers for coupons...So thank you Linda in the office for your prompt, pertinent reply.
So here's how you make chèvre, it's a lot of hurry up and wait. I felt like a true cheesemaker because I had to drag myself out of bed at 6 am (used to 9 am) to cut my curd and start draining out the whey. It felt like a rite of passage...
First thing, heat the milk to 86F, then add the cultures. Then let it sit for twelve hours...yes twelve hours! It sat out in room temperature for this length of time, which made me think...um, is this safe?? Getting my cheese certification and working in a grocery store for 9 years makes you think about all kinds of food safety issues and what can occur in food. However, I thought to myself that the beneficial bacteria must fight and win out against the potentially harmful bacteria, and if you have good milk, you won't have a problem in the first place.
Stay cheesy out there, friends!