Can you say CHEESE!!!!!

[us4davis]

OK, so I have fantastic news!!!! Ok, so it's fantastic for me!! Well, as you may not know I have a purebred Alpine that is currently in milk, a big 4-H project of mine. And just last week we decided that we were over run with milk. So we get out the dairy book, look at a few posts on here, and decide to make cheese, the first batch was OK, it turns out that our thermomiter was broken, so the milk got to hot, and the flavoring of the cheese was just OK, so we made another batch later that day, this time with a new thermomiter, and tried for turn 2. The cheese was better, but still no flavor, so today with all of our extra milk, we tried yet again, this time adding more seasonings, we made 2 batches, and it is FANTASTIC!!!!! I am addicted!!! If I could eat MY cheese for every meal I would!!!! We took the leftover whey and boiled pasta, delicious!!!! And to wonder, what did I do before I had my goat??? We started out with boers for our 4-H project, and the Truly my registered alpine doe came into my life, ( don't tell my family but I love dairy goats more than meat goats!!!) I feel like screaming with excitement, YAY dairy!!!! So in the near future I hope to breed my doe with a registered buck, if I can find one. And maybe next week we will try to make soap!!! Although you can't eat it, but at least we will smell good!!!!
Sorry this is soooo loooong but I just had to share my FANTASTIC news with yall.

Chris' Wonderful daughter ,
Abbi

[PETSNEGGS]

Congratulations! It is great when you can have so much fun and learn and ALSO enjoy the things that you have made with your own hands. I'm sure everyone is proud. Wish I was there to try it. I am not lucky enough to have a goat in milk yet but, I am really looking forward to it. Enjoy and Good luck with the rest of you ventures

[us4davis]

Thank You for all of your kind words!!!! They really mean alot to me. Everyone that has tried my cheese has just praised it!!!!

Thanks,

Chris' Wonderful Daughter,
Abbi

[Callieslamb]

Congrats, Abbi. Way to go. I hope to be back next year asking you questions about how to do it.

[piglady]

OK, don't keep it a secret, let's have the recipe. The last one that is. I would love to try it myself. Give us all the details since this will be my first time too.

[Meg Z]

Yep, yep, yep! Cheese!

Give Truly a hug, please!

Meg

[us4davis]

Of course I will give Truly a hug for you!!!!
OK the recipe is for a vinegar cheese It is a slight variationof the vinegar cheese that is in storey's guide to raising dairy goats.

Recipe:
1/4 cup vinegar (we used white vinegar.)
4 to 8 cups of milk
seasonings, to taste(we used garlic salt and then we also added McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic and Herb,that we ground up as fine as possible in the food processor)


Heat the milk to 185*f for about 10 minutes, then add the vinegar, you will notice the curds seperating from the whey, pour them into a cheesecloth lined colander, we used a very fine meshed strainer, make sure that you have something under your straining setup for the excess whey, next we added the spices to taste,noweither tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang until completely drained, or let it strain through the fine mesh strainer until completely drained. This may take a few hours. then we put it in the fridge. It is DELECIOUS!!!!!!!!!

NOTE: our first 2 attempts were of the exact cheese that is in the storey's book. but I will say they didn't add any flavorings, and it had no taste!!!!!



And thanks for all of the wonderful comments,
Abbi

[KayJay]

Congratulations! Isn't it a wonderful feeling to make your own CHEESE?!

[us4davis]

Yes it is so exciting!!!!!!!!
I love it!!!!

Thanks for the comments!!!!

Chris' Wonderful Daughter ,


Abbi:banana02:

[Freeholder]

Abbi, congratulations!

You are right, the vinegar cheese (and all the similar ones) have little or no flavor without added seasonings. But when you get into making other cheeses, you'll find they'll all be pretty mild at first, too. The flavor in most cheeses comes mostly from aging. Have fun!

Kathleen

[us4davis]

Thanks for the info!!!! I will remember that!!!


Chris' Wonderful Daughter,

Abbi:banana02: