Why?

I cannot seem to be able to get ricotta right. Why? This is supposed to be about the easiest cheese out there and it continues to be my nemesis.

Ricotta - Another try

So, I am going to give ricotta another try today. I am using the sous vide and some thermophilic culture to develop acidity. I also have some ph testing strips to help tell me when things are good to go. Instead of putting the milk into a pot to heat, I am going to keep it in the sous vide the whole time.  Wishing myself luck. Milk ph was 6.25 at the start. I am aiming for 5.75 to 5.9 before heating.

Chèvre Cooking

With the recent chèvre we made a focaccia bread and a quiche, plus we had some as an appetizer on Friday. There is still a good amount of cheese left. This batch was really tangy and held its own to other flavors.

Focaccia Toppings: Chèvre, marinated artichokes, tomatoes, pesto, preserved lemon

Chèvre  as an appetizer.  

A Llama?

The farm where we get our milk bought a llama. Their reason is that it keeps the coyotes away from the goats! Who would have thought that.

Starting over

So...after my series of setbacks (ricotta that didn't work and feta that went bad), it was time to start with straight forward chevre again. This time, however, I am not using the pre-measured packages of culture and rennet that I was before.

From making ricotta and feta, I have all of the raw ingredients to make chevre in a more economically and, long term, more sustaining and flexible way. I started with a gallon of milk heated to 86 degrees F, put in 1/8 teaspoon of Flor Dancia culture, a few drops of rennet and some calcium chloride. I also let the cheese "age" on this mixture for a full 18 hours, instead of the 12 hours I would before.

My....what a difference. The curd was better set than before and my initial thought was about how tangy the curds were. This morning I pull the cheese from draining (15 hours draining) and packaged it. The result is a much creamier and much more tangy version of chevre than I have made in the past. Things are looking up once again!

Goats Will Be Goats

The farm, where I get my milk, posted this great picture of the goats roaming free in the country. I am hoping that the move to natural foods, instead of alfalfa will make the milk more complex.

Square One

After a failed attempt at Ricotta a couple of weeks ago, I was a bit gun shy about cheese, but I need to get back on the goat, so to speak.

Also...while making some decent feta cheese, it appears that the ability to age is not what I had thought. I think that the curds need to be stiffer before forming in order for it to age the way I want it to. That said, I had one batch of feta go bad and another saved "just in time" from the brine that appeared to be killing it.

This week, I circle back to straight-up chèvre. I need to re-read some materials about acidity and temperature before I try to make anything more complex.

While starting out well, I think I cannot rush myself. You can't run before you can walk.

Taking a break this week

With a busy week and weekend, there will be no cheese this week. I also think I will need to invest in a PH meter, as the PH readings do play an important role in the cheese making procedure. Looking to get one at a reasonable price. That is the difficult part

Goats will be Goats

I have been in contact with Alain and Sylvie Audé recently. I hope to visit their farm again in October. They informed me that several hours after we left their farm, two goats escaped from the pen and found large bags of feed. The two goats ate and ate until they died from overeating!!!

I feel terrible for Alain and Sylvie, knowing that their life depends on healthy animals. But...goats will be goats.

Ricotta - Blinded Me With Science

Cheese Making is definitely not like cooking. There is no room for "gut feel" whenever it comes to making cheese.

My first batch of ricotta was excellent. My second was a total failure. As I go through this learning curve, I am finding out a few things:

• You cannot rush cheese
• You really have to pay attention to the science
• Don't make any assumptions

After aging the milk with a thermophilic starter for 4 hours, I poured the milk into a pot to heat it up. After 4 hours, the acid levels of the milk should have been just right for making ricotta. I thought this in the first batch I made also (aged for 3 hours...splitting the 2-4 hours recommended in the middle), but still had to add acid before my ricotta formed curds.

Figuring the 4h on the culture would be plenty, I went with that assumption on the second try. I heated the milk...got to 170 degrees, then 180....no curds...went to 190....no curds. Resorted to acidifying with vinegar....no curds. I then left the milk to sit...some curds formed, but they were whispy at best. 

Batch Ruined!

Learning from this fail:

• I need to be certain of the PH and leave the culture ripen until I reach the appropriate PH levels
• Don't heat the milk too fast. If I do, I run the risk of going over temperature too far and ultra-pasturizing before the curd has a chance to form.

I live, I learn.

Must be more patient! Must honor the science! (at least until I know what I am doing)