Today, we're going to be making fresh goat cheese. If you've never made cheese at home before, you're in for a wonderful treat! Not only is it easy to do, but it's going to give you a cheese that tastes so fresh, and that is so creamy, it's absolutely superb.
To make fresh goat cheese, you're going to need a starter called c20g that you can get from New England Cheesemaking Supply, a cheese thermometer, and fine butter muslin. You'll also need half a gallon of fresh goat milk, but make sure you let it stand at room temperature for one hour before starting making the recipe.
Now, to make cheese, it's important to use a non-reactive pan. So make sure you use stainless steel.
Place the milk in a medium or large saucepan and heat the milk over medium heat. This is a most important step; you don't want to heat the milk too fast. So just medium heat.
Place the thermometer in your pan. We're going to heat the milk until it's 86 degrees Fahrenheit. And you're going to want to gently stir it as the milk is warming.
Once the milk has reached the right temperature, we can turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the stove and sprinkle the milk with half of the package of the starter. This is a little less than 1/8th of a teaspoon.
Now you're going to let this stand for five minutes, for the starter to dissolve. Now whisk the milk for about 20 seconds to distribute the starter evenly throughout the milk.
Cover the pan and let it stand at room temperature for 12 hours, undisturbed. While the cheese is resting, the milk develop these thick curds. It's really like magic; I can't wait for you to see it!
The ideal temperature for that is between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. But if your room temperature is a little higher or lower, don't worry too much – your cheese won't fail.
Dip your butter muslin in a little bit of spring water and squeeze all the water out of it. Look at what happened to our goat milk! Can you see those thick curds that have formed? And when I opened the pot, if you could only be there to smell it.
It smells unbelievably fresh – a little bit like yogurt.
Suspend a strainer or colander over a large pot or bowl and line it with your damp butter muslin, making sure again that the strainer is non-reactive.
Carefully ladle the curds into your strainer or colander. You can just gently pour in the last bit.
Now we're ready to salt the cheese. Sprinkle the curds with the sea salt and gently stir it in.
Grab the ends of the muslin and tie them into a knot to make a package. Now you're going to put a wooden spoon or a stick through that bundle and suspend it over your pot or your bowl. And you're going to drain your cheese for another 6 to 12 hours, depending on how light and creamy you like your cheese to be.
Let's have a look at our goat cheese. Now you see, this has been draining for 12 hours, so it is quite firm. Look how beautiful and fresh it is!
You can use your fresh goat cheese in any recipes that call for it, but it's also absolutely delicious eaten on its own.
Serve it with a little drizzle of olive oil, maybe fresh herbs and a little pinch of salt, a crusty loaf of bread or olive oil croutons. It's absolutely divine. Happy cheese making!
