# Chevre Cheese Question



## GingersMaMa (Aug 4, 2011)

Has anyone used the Chevre Cheese Direct Set Starter Culture from Caprine 
supply ?
I want to use a recipe from Goats produce too! Well I found the Chevre Cheese Direct Set Starter Culture from caprine supply that says the culture 
is added directly to the milk, saving you time, and taking the worry out of cheesemaking. (Rennet is included in the culture.) 5 packets. Use 1 packet per gallon of milk. Makes up to 15 pounds of fresh creamy "chevre" goat cheese. 

Ok the recipe calls for cultured butter milk, do I still have too use the buttermilk 
or not ? If so where do I get the buttermilk ? Sorry if this is a stupid question 
but it's something I need to know before starting   . Any advice is appreciated ! :greengrin:


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Well, I have given up on recipes and cultures and am doing much better.LOL
The culture and buttermilk are mainly to put bacteria back into pasturized milk. If you are using raw milk it is unnecessary.
We have gone so far as to dry a suckling goat's stomach for our rennet. This is a lost art and took us over a year to find out how. I know most people do not want to do this.
As a second choice I would buy liquid calf rennet available from Mad Millie. But it only takes a drop in goat's milk. My cheese kept getting too hard.
Since I dropped the cultures and the store bought rennet everybody raves about my cheese.

If you are pasturizing your milk or want certain flavors of cheese such as cheddar; then certain cultures are needed.
I do not know if you are new to cheesemaking in general or just this recipe. It is called the art of cheesemaking for a reason. It has taken me a year to really get the hang of it.
Good luck to you.


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## GingersMaMa (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm new to cheese making and I know it takes time to get it right. just wanting to learn how to make goat cheese ( Especially the French style chevre ) I thought it might be better for a beginner to start with a starter set :shrug: I like raising our own food so I would like to learn to make goat cheese :greengrin: anyone here have any advice ?

*We have gone so far as to dry a suckling goat's stomach for our rennet.*
How do you do that ? I love learning how to live off the land ! :greengrin:


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## Frosty1 (Jul 12, 2011)

I absolutely love the website fiascofarm.com. They have wonderful easy to follow recipes for many different kinds of cheeses, as well as, yogurt, fudge, and GM soap. :greengrin:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Amanda...if you are wanting to use the packets that you bought, do not add any buttermilk...follow the package directions and then go to your recipe book and follow the directions on cutting the curd and putting it into cheesecloth....DO NOT USE CHEESECLOTH FROM A GROCERY STORE. This stuff is useless for cheesemaking as it is only gauze, if you haven't bought cheesecloth, turn a clean white pillowcase inside out and drop your curds into it, hand to drain for the time your recipe says.

*** Cultured Buttermilk from the milk section in the store is what I use as my starter for ANY cheese using a MESOPHYLLIC starter, I also use liquid vegetable rennet from Hoeggers. The book...Goats Produce Too is my favorite for cheesemaking....the soap recipes in there though are not for beginners, I did a couple and found the resulting soap to be too lye heavy.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Here is a link to the site we finally found and that helped us the most. Trying to find out about this was like trying to find out about blood-letting. Like it is too archaic to even talk about. Since they learned to GMO the stuff in 1990 they have totally suppressed this info so that most anyone you talk to about it will say, "HUH?!?"
All I know is that after a lot of trial and error I am making better cheese than ever. My husband and I eat it almost exclusively now, the rest of the family has eaten it, guests have eaten it and nothing terrible has happened to any of us.
I do use more of the stomach than he says and I soak it overnight in a babyfood jar of the whey from my yogurt. I store the dried pieces of stomach in a jar of salt. Most things we have found say it has to be from a baby that has had no solid food. We have found this to be false. As long as they are still nursing the milk will be in the abomasum and that is what you use. We butchered two 4mo wethers and that is what I have used to make such good cheese. (Much better than sacrificing a newborn like we thought we had to.)
Sorry for the lecture but this is one of my major pet peeves. So when anyone asks I give them all the information I have. The only person I know who has done this is a long dead Greek woman from whom I used to buy goats in the 80's. She offered to teach me how and I never took her up on it. Sure wish I had.

http://websearch.cs.com/wm/boomframe.js ... ation.html


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

The packets you have from Caprine supply are from New England cheesemaking supply. Most of the cheesemaking supplies they sell are from NEC. I use them all the time. They are very consistent and they already have the rennet in them. All you have to do is have the milk the right temperature, sprinkle it on, stir it in and let it set overnight and then put it to drain in the morning. It needs to be kept 70 degrees F or warmer. In the winter if you put it in your oven it will hold the temp with the oven light on even if your house gets pretty cold. It is the very easiest way to make any goat cheese there is, and it will work every time. It can be drained in molds, or in cloth, I like the plastic cloth, it cleans up a lot easier. I highly recommend this. I like it so much I got it in a set of a dozen 5-packs, because it has a huge price break at NEC that way, and I can give it to people. 

I did have trouble getting it to set with pasteurized saanen milk. It may be because it was pasteurized. But have never had a failure with my raw kinder milk. If your goats are NDs it will work great.

I like to mix it up in a food processor after it is drained, it makes it a LOT creamier. You can whip things into it then too. I call it whipped chevre. It is a hit. 

Jan


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

lissablack said:


> I like to mix it up in a food processor after it is drained, it makes it a LOT creamier. You can whip things into it then too.


Now why have I not thought of this!??! :doh: 
I am planning to make some with garlic and basil tomorrow. I will try the food processor. Thanks :thumb:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I've done a fresh chive as well as a dill.....and a sweet type with a touch of splenda and crushed pineapple...yummy!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

ooooo....I would like the pineapple!!
I finally bought some butter muslin. It is a bit pricey but can be washed and reused. I like it better than cheesecloth or just cotton cloth.


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## GingersMaMa (Aug 4, 2011)

Thank you everyone for your input, I'll be trying my hand at cheese making soon !! :leap: ray:


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