I followed (cough, cough) the recipe at FiasCoFarm.com for chevre. I made a mistake and while the picture doesn’t really show it, let me tell you what not to do when making chevre “bag-style”: do NOT fold your cheesecloth twice (making it four layers)! This causes the chevre to take alot longer to drip out. It is supposed to take 6 to 8 hours, but it took almost three days the way I did it. Okay, so now that you know, just don’t do it.
By the way, this cheesecloth is the high-quality 1m x 1m muslin cheesecloth available from DairyConnection.com.
Who knows if this is the best way to drip out the whey, but it is what I rigged that I thought would work in my kitchen. I didn’t want to tie up the sink, so I strung paracord over a cupboard door (you can see the excess looped over the cupboard knob), and hung the bag like-so over a stoneware baking dish. Later on, I covered each end of the stoneware with a towel, covering all but where the whey dripped. This was to keep out dust and flies.
Thankfully, even with all that extra draining time, the cheese appears to have forgiven me because we ate it this morning on still-warm sprouted spelt scones. I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the about 2 cups of cheese that resulted after the whey dripped out.
It looks good, how did it taste? What does it taste like?
Tiffany – Good questions! I was so relieved that it tasted good and didn’t spoil (but how could it with all that good bacteria?) that I didn’t think to describe it.
It tasted much like the chevre we’ve bought at Trader Joe’s before – creamy, salty and a bit sour. Like yogurt cheese, or lebani in Arabic. Not sweet like cream cheese, but more like sour cream.
It would make a good sour cream if I would blend it in the food processor. Maybe adding a little milk, but perhaps it wouldn’t need any.
By the way, this cheesecloth is the high-quality 1m x 1m muslin cheesecloth available from DairyConnection.com.
Whey to go! Looks delicous. Now you have whey for pickling vegies!
Your cheese looks delicious! How much milk did you use? And how much cheese did that yield? The recipe called for 1/2g but didn’t mention the amount of cheese. Thanks for sharing and I hope your goats are feeling better!
Mary – you’re too funny! I read somewhere that you can’t use all whey for pickling, but I can’t find the information now so I don’t know if I can use this whey or not! Anybody know?
Jessica – I started with 1/2 gallon and ended up with about 2 cups cheese, give or take. It was a little wet in the middle due to not being able to drain through my four layers of cheesecloth.
Two of the goats are still ill, but hopefully on the mend. Thanks for your kind comment.
Mom, it was so good!
And the biscuits too. Our breakfast was superb!
“Adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the about 2 cups of cheese”, is that what it usually takes? Or doesn’t it go in opinion?
Naomi
Naomi, sweet Naomi, yes, that amount of salt would be called “to taste” – it depends on the opinion of the cook! Love, Mama
Thanks, the more I look at that the more my mouth is watering!
When I washed out my cheesecloth, I remembered my thinking the other day. It seems too thin to hold up full of 1/2 gallon of cultured/curdled milk. Maybe I’ll try a double layer to be safe? Or be brave and let the whey drip out through a single layer? I’ll let you all know!
Tiffany – before I meant to say it would make a good ’sour cream’ if blended in the food processor.
Wardeh – congrats on your first cheese! Did you get the chevre molds? You could make your own by poking holes in little yogurt containers too. It’s really easy to make it this way;
http://sustainableeats.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/soft-goat-cheese/
And when you guys are doing sugar again you need to make a batch of this for your freezer: http://sustainableeats.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/cajeta-goats-milk-caramel/
I still have not found the answer to the whey question but I believe that if you cook it and use rennet to make cheese it doesn’t have the same lacto-fermenting power as if you let it separate on it’s own and develop it’s own strain of culture. In NT Sally Fallon says to make whey by leaving it out and separating it to use for lacto-fermenting but she never addresses the cheesemaking whey issue for some reason.
I save my cheese whey for pizza dough or other unleavened bread like pita, or for smoothies or pastry dough for quiches and pies. Anywhere cream cheese would work and you need some liquid it’s great to use. I do also use it for soaking beans but if I soak grains with it the dough gets all sticky for some reason.
I’m so glad you are enjoying your goats and so envious!
Sustainable Eats – I did get the chevre mold, but I only got one and it would not have fit all the curds from that recipe. I think I would have needed 4 or 5 molds total, so I went the bag style. I liked the bag style, even though I’m not sure about doubling up layers or not.
I do want to make your cajeta caramel! Wow, that stuff looks awesome and caramel is a weakness for me!
I’m glad you shared what to do with the cheese whey. I did save mine this time because I thought I could use it somehow, if not for lacto-fermenting purposes.
We are enjoying the goats. Though two of them are very sick from the move. It is sad.
The rest are doing okay to great. We bought four milkers but we’re only milking two of them. Of the ones we’re not, one is too ill and has not much milk (so one of her babies is not doing well, we’re having to bottle feed her with milk from the other two) and the other we’re not milking because her baby is coughing and we want her to get all her mom’s milk until she is well. We’re just muddling through and trying to figure things out. The milk is awesome though and we love this!
Wardeh – you can give the whey to your goats! Just put it out in a separate dish. The bacteria that has developed will help them as well. I hope they get better soon.
Sustainable Eats – great idea! Thanks! I’ve been wanting to feed them kefir for its antibiotic properties, since two of them have pneumonia. But I don’t have enough yet. I will share the whey, though!
Hi Wardeh – this seemed like a good place to answer your question about the goat milk ice cream!
We actually use a modified form of the NT recipe… 3 yolks, 1/2 c. maple syrup, 1 T vanilla (although we’ve used a wee bit more to cover the taste of … goat 
), 1 T cornstarch/arrowroot, and (here’s the modified part) 1 c. cream, 2 c. milk instead of 3 c. of cream… 3 c. of cream makes a sticky icky on our tongues, and well, as I’m sure you know, goat’s milk doesn’t separate out nicely so we just kinda “aim” for the creamy part of the milk when we’re measuring out the milk. We’ve also learned that peppermint flavoring really cuts down on the extra goat-y taste that happens after a few days with our raw milk.
Also, I was going to second Sustainable Eats comment about the whey – definitely feed it to your animals… they LOVE it, and it’s so good for them!
AND… we learned the hard way (har har) not to use cheese whey for anything except soaking beans or using in smoothies… It adds such a funky flavor to ANYTHING I soak with it (flours, pickles, etc). A friend of mine actually uses it on her hair… but I’m not there yet! 
Meg – thank you so much for all the info! You’ve cleared up so much for me! I can’t think why I didn’t check NT for an ice cream recipe.
It is great to know your modifications for goat milk. I know just what you mean about aiming for the cream! What do you think would happen if I left out the egg yolks? My son is allergic to eggs, in particular the whites, and mildly allergic to the yolks. I’m going to test him with yolks in mayonnaise, but I don’t want to overdo him all at once. Regardless, I can’t wait to try this – your way! Our ice cream will turn out much better, I’m sure. Thanks again for letting me pick your brain.
Hi Wardeh-
I was just remembering when I used to make that type of cheese. I would strain it in a thin kitchen towel or muslin fabric, and I would squeeze it to hurry it along.
I once asked a friend who used to live among the Amish to share how she made cheese, since I didn’t have internet then it was my primary resource of info. She wrote it on little paper that I keep in my recipe box.
Perhaps you would like to have a copy too
Here are Bethany’s recipes in her own words;
“Ricotta: (freezes well)
heat up goat milk to at least 180 degrees then remove from heat and slowly stir in vinegar or lemon juice at the proportion of 1/4 c. to 1 gallon.
The curds should seperate and float to the top within seconds. If not add a little slug of more vinegar. Let it cool some and strain the curds into a collander. I usually save the whey to use in breads, soups or feed it to the chickens or cat.
Raw Goat Cheese:
I like to put more salt and herbs into this cheese and eat it on salad or bread or crackers.
I use the older milk at least several days old. In order to leave some room at the top of the jar for expansion, I skim the cream. We use 1/2 gallon mason jars and I take several inches from the top and then set the jar in a warm place until it seperates (the milk). I pour this into a collander lined with cheesecloth. I sprinkle some salt on the cheese maybe 1tsp. or more per 1 gallon batch? Then I put a cover on it and let it strain for a day. Next I cinch up the cheesecloth with a big twisty tie and hang the cheese over a pan to drip for a day or so. You’ll get the hang of it
Raw Yogurt:
Get some plain yogurt from the store. I like Brown Cow. Use the fresh warm milk. Put a heaping Tbls. of yogurt into a very clean qt. jar. Strain fresh milk into jar @ 1/4 full and mix milk and yogurt well (opt. mix vanilla and honey in as well, usually has good results), then fill jar up with milk. Set in a warm place or find any inventive way to keep it warm for 8-12 hours then get it cold. I always make a 1/2 pint of yogurt with every batch to have fresh starter, keep your starter plain.
Yogurt Cream Cheese:
Strain yogurt through several layers of cheese cloth and leave untill thick like cream cheese.
Sour Cream:
Skim cream off of milk, mix 2 Tbls of yogurt into 1 scant pint of cream and let sit in a warm place untill thick.
HAVE FUN!”
Well, its one more point of reference based on the experience of someone.
I hope you find it helpful!
Blessings, Christina
Christina – What a wealth of information! Thank you for taking the time to give me my own copy.
What I love about them is how flexible they sound, and also how they don’t require specialty cultures. Next time I visit, I would like to see Bethany’s handwriting. I’m sure she never thought her words would reach so far…
That looks fantastic! I want to try cheese sometime soon. Now that my CSA farmer has a cow and goats maybe I’ll give it a try!
Wardeh –
) so we’ve figured out how to leave the eggs out on the occasion where we know he’s already been exposed during the day… unfortunately, it’s not the healthiest of replacements. 
We use the vegan vanilla (or, ahem, chocolate) pudding mixes (I can’t think of the brand right now) and mix one package in with the milk instead of the eggs. It actually tastes better (of course, cos it’s not healthy!) than the egg version, but we also have chickens, so we try to use them as much as possible. Anyway… I hope that helps!
As far as I know, our oldest is allergic to the whites as well (and can I just say, I LOVE the excuse to do all-yolk omeletes
[...] This recipe comes from Fias Co. Farm (like most of the recipes I follow), and it is delicious! We spread it on toast, or use it as the dairy base for a delicious creamy dressing. This is a 48-hour cheese and it pretty much makes itself. 24 hours for culturing, and 24 hours for dripping. I use two layers of 90-count cheesecloth and find no need to hang the cheese up – a colander suspended in a pot works just fine. I have learned alot about this process since my first attempt. [...]