Have you guys had success making chevre cheese in the past? I'm not sure what the deal is, but it takes way over 24 hours just to get a decent curd with our raw goat's milk. We used the chevre culture that contains rennet from cheesemaking.com. I tried using calcium chloride with my 2nd batch and that didn't seem to help, but I diluted it in tap water instead of non-chlorinated water...so that may have affected the result. I think the temp was about 75 degrees with the 1st batch and 80 degrees with the 2nd. I assumed that fresh milk straight from a farm would produce a curd almost instantly. Also of note, the milk was 4-7 days old.

I personally despise using any culture that has rennet in it already.
When making chevre I use Flora Danica culture and rennet.
Mine cultures overnight and I start the draining in molds the next morning.
I also use raw goats milk for my cheese.

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SuzyHomemaker
rtfmfarm.com
LaMancha goats , Nubians, and Icelandic Sheep

Well, despise is pretty strong.

I've done both ways. Complete culture/rennet packets and separate culture and rennet.

I do pasteurized due to hubby being on anti-rejection drugs.

I also use the calcium chloride.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

I would use fresher milk. Older milk will be more acidic, and at a certain point it will prevent the rennet from working.
When I make cheese, I prefer to use just-milked or 1-2 days.

thanks for the helpful replies!

I have used raw milk that was a week old with no problem. Could be the rennet was old in the packet.
It should take overnight to form a curd.
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Make sure the temp is at least 85.

I am having problems with chevre and fromage blanc cheese. I am using raw goat milk, not pasturizing, adding packaged culture, in the morning I get a thick rubbery mass on top that has a lot of "airy" holes in it. Tried lower temp, but still getting this problem. Is it just too darn hot in the house?

Air holes in cheese means some type of contamination.
Have you sanitized everything that comes in contact with the milk starting with the milk pail down to the the spoon you stir in the culture with?
If so I would check the milk itself.

If your rennet is still fresh, it should curd in just a couple hours. I buy the rennet that is in tablets and each tablet will curd up to 5 gallons of milk.

I have used milk that was several days old with no problems.

I would say that your rennet was either old or you didn't put enough in your milk.

Holes is usually a sign of coliform contamination. Common in hot weather and also common if you use raw milk contaminated with goat manure dust.