Recipe: How to Make Homemade Chèvre (or Goat Milk Cheese)

(photo: moist curds <ladled after 12 hours> before hanging to drain further, courtesy of Dr. K.)

Our good friend Dr. K has passed along his homemade chèvre (goat milk) cheese recipe and I'm excited to be able to share it with our loyal Scordo.com readers.   Goat cheese is made in Calabria, of course, and it's some of the best produced cheese on the planet.  In Aspromonte, close to our family's village in Pellegrina, you'll find Caprino dell'Aspromonte in either a soft or hard variety.  Click here for my homemade ricotta recipe and my guide to southern Italian cheeses.   

I was excited about Dr. K.'s recipe because of it's simplicity and the fact that buying chèvre from the store is expensive.  In turn, here's Dr. K.'s recipe:

Take a gallon of goat milk. Make sure it's not ultra-pasteurized. If it's raw, you can pasteurize it yourself on the stove. Heat it to 86 degrees, or cool to 86 after pasteurizing. Add 1 packet of chevre direct set culture. I get mine from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company  - great resource for cheese making). Stir thoroughly. Cover with lid and let stand at room temp for 12 -20 hours or until firm. Ladle the curds into butter muslin (like a very tight woven cheesecloth, not the kind they sell in most stores) over a bowl or colander.  Hang the cheese in butter muslin and allow to drain 6 - 12 hours, depending on how thick you want it. Add salt and herbs if desired. I add Herbes de Provence.

(photo: draining the cheese for 6-12 hours, photo courtesy of Dr. K.)

The recipe yields at least a pound of cheese which would, as stated above, otherwise cost a ridiculous sum at the store.  Make the recipe at home, and the cost includes only the milk plus maybe a dollars for the culture.

(photo: the final product used with fresh tomatoes, courtesy of Dr. K.)

Here's another excellent recipe for goat Chèvre from the folks at the Humble Garden.  Click here for my homemade ricotta recipe and my guide to southern Italian cheeses.