No, no, don't bother looking back through my archives to see what crazy cheese making adventure you missed in March. I was a slacker and didn't make any. March went by really quick - it was cold and snowy, it was my birthday, then I was at my Mom's all last week, and yesterday already was the first day of April! So I scrambled to find a cheese recipe that didn't require a culture and apparently I am running out of options, so I might actually have to buy some starter for next month's recipe. I knew I wanted to make a goat's milk cheese, but chevre uses a starter. Since I wasn't too thrilled with the ricotta that I made last month, I thought I would try it again with goat's milk instead of cow.
I found the recipe in Ricki Carroll's book Home Cheese Making, which is kind of like the cheese making Bible. I cut the recipe in half because it calls for 1 gallon of whole goat's milk and I didn't want to spend that much money on something that might not be edible. So I used 1/2 gallon on raw goat's milk from a local goat dairy. It is owned by a really nice couple and we always enjoy seeing them at the farmer's market. They also sell their goat milk and other dairy products in some local stores, which is where we bought ours.
So here is how it went.
1. I heated the 1/2 gallon of raw goat's milk to 195 F in a stainless steel pot on medium heat. Every 5 minutes I stirred it with a stainless steel spoon and checked the temperature with a digital thermometer. As the temperature rises, it heats up more quickly, so I checked it every 2 minutes or so towards the end.
2. When it reached 195 F , I removed it from the heat and immediately stirred in 1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar. I poured it in gradually, slowly stirring as I poured. You are supposed to see a clear separation of the whey. The whey is the liquid and the curds are the clumps that will form (hopefully). The recipe says that if your whey is still milky after adding all of the vinegar, you should increase the heat by 205 F instead of adding more vinegar, which would add a sour taste to your cheese. I did not have to do this. My curds and whey separated right away.
3. I prepared a colander lined with cheesecloth (actually it is the bag from our apple cider press, but doubled up it works just the same). I let the milk separate for about 15 minutes, occasionally stirring it, careful not to break up the curds. Then I gently ladled the large curds into the colander first and then carefully poured the rest of the curds and whey on top.
4. I let it drain for 1 minute than scooped the curds into a glass bowl.
5. This is where the recipe got a little funky. For the cow's milk ricotta that I made last month, this was the final step. You just salted it a little bit, maybe added a bit of the whey back in, and ta-dah you had ricotta cheese. Well this recipe says that now you are supposed to add 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
I mixed it together and this is what I got.
It still is not like the ricotta that you buy in the store. The ricotta that you get out of a plastic tub is creamy and sort of sweet. I like just eating it with a spoon sometimes. This ricotta is curdy and sort of dry. It should be eaten with a fork. It is not the same. I don't know why the butter and baking soda are supposed to be added, maybe to make it sweeter and creamier? It seems a bit too buttery to me. I have not cooked with it yet, so I don't know how it would taste in a dish like lasagna, though I think it would be fine. The recipe says you can keep it for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Cottage cheese is my favorite homemade cheese so far. I would make that every week if I didn't then have to try and figure out what to do with a quart and a half of whey!
