SC - lenkuchen

[LHG, JRG]

Diamond wrote:
> 
> Thought I would let you know that tonight I made some goat cheese. The
> first time I ever tried anything like this. The recipe that I used was very
> simple, 1/2 gallon goats milk ( I used caned ) and a 1/4 cup vinegar. heat
> the milk to 180 degrees then add vinegar stir and remove from heat. I was
> supposed to come out with a ricotta type cheese but instead I've got cream
> cheese. I'm not sure what I did wrong. It tastes fine but I am going to
> have to put it in a mold.

Well, you said you made some goat's milk cheese, and goat's milk cheese
appears to have been what you got, so I don't feel you necessarily did
anything wrong. Is it good stuff? Apparently, yes. It might perhaps not score
style points as adherent to somebody's idea of chevre or some such, but again,
that doesn't make it wrong.

Technical points to consider for further experimentation: Goat's milk does
tend to have a finer curd than cow's milk, no matter what the method of
curdling. Also, canned goat's milk (the stuff I've seen is spray-dried and
then canned as a powder, is that what you used?) is pretty well homogenized,
first by the goat, and then by the spray drying machine, which means the fat
in the milk acts the same way as a shortening: it shortens polymers, making
the lumps of protein (curds in this case, gluten strands is what would be
involved if this were baking) smaller.

One thing I have done successfully in the case of cow's milk cheeses when I've
had to use pasteurized and homogenized milk, is to add a few drops of calcium
carbonate solution (at least I think that's what it is, maybe someone who's
already had their tea or coffee might confirm this); this tends to reverse the
effects of homogenization and produce tighter curds in cow's milk cheeses, it
might help with the type of milk you are using, if you have  no other option.
You can get this at a cheesemaker's supply house. (Also at the hardware store
for melting snow, buuuuuuttttttttttttt..........)

You also might want to experiment with using rennet. You can use that or an
acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, but if you're going to have to go to the
cheesemaking shop anyway...might as well give it a whirl in the hopes of a
firmer product. It certainly won't do less than what you are already using.

This is all assuming everything else is more or less above the cheesemaker's
board, and that you don't have the option of quickly getting some fresh raw
goat's milk to play around with. I don't have easy access to real goat's milk,
but I've been able to work pretty well with the canned stuff. 

Adamantius, whose preference is for goat's milk cheese preserved in olive oil

Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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