Cheese making need not be overwhelming or complicated. Time consuming yes. But once you grasp the basic rules making cheese is as difficult as most food preparation. Let's start simply with a sweet cream cheese. Cream cheese is probably the most versatile cheese to make. You can have it as a soft cream cheese spread or allow it to become more firm to roll in fresh herbs or dried spices. For a Mediterranean flavour the more firm cream cheese can also be rolled into tiny balls and immersed in olive oil with garlic or chilli. And then there is Cheesecake
There are some essential basics to follow to make (almost perfect) cheese:
Care of your milk producers being top of the list. I love my beautiful goatie girls. Their health and happiness is a priority to me and it definitely reflects in the sweetness of their milk. Hygienic protocol during the entire processing of the milk goes without saying. Having the right equipment is important. Then, once you have your rennets and culture, you are good to go!!
Commercial dairies, both cow and goat, pasturize their milk. They also follow - IMO - not the most ethical handling of their goats. Being hippie organic and a lover of animals my goats roam. I do not inject them or brand them. We abhor the cruel debudding practices and removing babies from their mothers. I refuse to feed my goats GMO or animal protein. Most of the time if I need to treat them it is naturally (unless a crisis). You can read more on my recent Cheese Making and Cheese Tasting . Everything plays a part in the longevity of the animal as well as the purity of the goat milk.
But let's get to the cheese making! The only time I pasteurize milk is to make yoghurt and cream cheese. I still believe the best milk is raw but over the years I have realized that yoghurt and cream cheese is such a finicky food that it is prone to disaster if not first taken through a heating process. Because I have large quantities of goats milk I usually handle 30 litres of milk at a time. I have 35 litre pots to make the cheese. But for today we will only make cream cheese using 10 litres. Over a low heat raise the milk to 80C. It is probably best to use a double boiler. While your milk is heating stir often. You can also use this time to prepare an ice bath to bring the temperature down fast. The reason is twofold. Firstly to save time. Secondly goats milk kept at a high temperatures triggers that goatie flavour that the cheese is famous for - and which most people don't like.
Once the milk hits 80 C and you have transferred it to the ice bath keep stirring. When necessary replace the iced water. The temperature must get down to 22 C for perfect cream cheese. The slow process of setting cream cheese takes 8 to 12 hours, depending on weather. I usually leave it overnight in a quiet corner of my kitchen. Once at 22 C sprinkle a teeny teaspoon tip of your culture over the milk and gently stir in. Then add one drop (per 6 litres) of rennet to a tot of water and slowly stir that through your milk. Place the lid on and leave until set.
Now most cheeses require both culture and rennet. Cheese culture goes in first and then rennet. Rennet sets the curd of the milk but first the culture has to convert the lactose into lactic acid by quickly raising the acidity of the milk. With no other bacterial presence outside of the cheese culture the rennet can work.
Prepare a large bowl or bucket, which will hold your colander inside of which is a clean cheesecloth (muslin cloth). Remember that everything must be sterilized! Once your cheese is set, in the morning, carefully scoop the curds into your cheesecloth.
Hang it up or leave it (covered) to drip for another 8 hours. For a soft cream cheese this should suffice. For a more firm cream cheese leave it to drip longer. Up to 24 hours depending on your preference.
Once you are happy with the consistency refrigerate the cream cheese. My goat milk cream cheese can last up to one month. Being goat milk it does tend to become rather goatie in flavour over time but that is an indication of building foreign bacteria.
Goat milk is naturally more salty than cow. Which is why I never add salt to my cream cheese. If you want to add extras such as salt, sundried tomatoes, garlic, olives or fresh herbs then you need to do it at the dripping stage of the cream cheese. One of our favourite flavours is a firmer log of cream cheese rolled in dukkah spices. Truly spectacular.
Of course with the plain cream cheese you can make quiche or Cheesecake. My cheese making skills have improved radically from the early days. Much has changed on our homestead over the years. But what remains I am happy with. My handful of favourites and a manageable amount of wonderful liquid gold! I hope it is enough to inspire you - if so come back next week for a special hard cheese.
