Fresh Chevre

Fresh chevre hanging to drain

Making cheese seems to be dominating my schedule these days. We usually stop milking our doe in Dec. or January when it's really cold out. Having some frozen milk and much frozen cheese helps ease the loss until she kids again later in the spring. What's hanging now is from 4 gallons of milk and won't lose enough liquid to make it smaller but it will make it drier.  I put it into individual sandwich size baggies and freeze when it's the consistency I like   I drilled a hole in the bottom of the top shelf on this cart and added an eye bolt for when I am draining cheeses. 

For anyone thinking about getting a goat for milk, chevre is really easy to make and so much can be done with it.  In addition to chevre plain or with flavoring it can also be used in making cream cheese icing, cheesecakes, as a substitue for sour cream (just add a little milk to it and mix) to name but a few.  I use the recipe from "Goats Produce Too!"

5 Qts. whole goat milk

1/2 cup cultured buttermilk 

2 tbsp dilutd rennet

dilution = 3 drops liquid rennet in 1/3 cup cool water

Warm milk to 80 degrees. 

A good thermometer and rennet can be bought at Hoeggers

Stir in buttermilk and mix well. Add 2 tbsp diluted rennet mix. Stir well again. Cover and let set at room temperature for 8 - 12 hours.   When the milk looks like thickened yogurt it's ready to drain. 

I lable or pour the milk into a  colander lined with cheesecloth set inside a larger bowl to catch the whey.  I use these alligator clips to hold the cheesecloth in place when I'm first pouring.  After I pour it through the colander I tie the corners together and hang it for a day usually. 

Separate it into package sizes you want and freeze what your not going to use in the next week.  I package unflavored. 

Yield 1 1/2  to 2 lbs.          1 lb. of cheese = 2 cups.

I've had much better luck using cultured buttermilk from the store than with starters.   I also reculture the buttermilk so I only have to buy on occasion.

Jalapeno Lime Yogurt Cheese

Yogurt

Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime

Chopped Jalepeno

Salt

Drain your yogurt until it reaches the consistency you want it.  Add the rest of the ingredients to taste.  For 1 cup of yogurt cheese,  I used about a teaspoon of Mrs. Dash,  2 or 3 heaping tablespoons of fresh jalepeno peppers chopped and a few sprinkles of salt.   I use fresh goats milk yogurt but any plain yogurt will do.  The yogurt cheese has just the right amount of tangyness for these stronger flavors.  Mrs. Dash is very limey which was perfect but it isn't at all hot so I added the peppers.  I also like the texture of the peppers in it.  I liked it so much I am draining/ straining more yogurt to make some more yogurt cheese.  I will probably add some cilantro the next time too. 

Put the yogurt in a colander lined with cheesecloth that's sitting inside a bowl to catch the liquid that drains from it.   I leave it in the fridge to drain overnight.   Making yogurt cheese from plain yogurt is that simple.  It can be used to replace sour cream or cream cheese plain or flavored.

Fresh goat's milk yogurt & yogurt cheese

Wild black cherry yogurt .  Couldn't  wait to freeze in the ice cream maker before trying it.

After a summer of gardening I am ready for kitchen time again.   Normally by this time of year I've got a number of pounds of cheese frozen and ready for the winter.  This year I'm starting late but ready to make up for lost time.   Last night I made a gallon of yogurt.   I wanted some for frozen wild black cherry yogurt, some for just plain yogurt and some for yogurt cheese. 

Yogurt cheese ready to use or add flavorings - Yummy

Bliss

That is sooo good

Ya, right there.   That's the spot

Awwwww..... just don't stop

Hey.... what about me?  I want some too!

Thank you.

Hey Pa,  how come they get all the good stuff and we just get treated like we're...... I don't know....like we're a couple of pigs or something?  

I don't know son, that's just our lot in life I guess.

Drought conditions and feeding animals

A big bowl of broken cubes, misted with syrup flavored water to soften and make more appetizing.  Goats can be picky eaters.  These actually smell good when moistened just a tad.

We have been having the driest weather here I can remember.   Hay is getting increasingly difficult to get.   My hay man sold all his hay early on thinking he would just make more later for his own animals and is now looking to buy some for himself.  Hay that I was able to buy from a different source was so bad my goats won't even touch it.  I am having to buy a poor quality that I would not  have considered feeding my animals before.   The end result of this is that for the first time since getting goats I am having to feed them exclusively alfalfa pellets and cubes for their roughage.   They still get a small amount of sweet feed each day but they have no hay available to them at all.

The cubes have to be broken for them which can be a tedious task at best.  I do it while watching a movie at night.  After they are broken up I mist them a bit with water flavored lightly with  Kings syrup or molasses.  They seem to love them.  Previous years they've turned their little noses up at them, flavored or not.  I guess they are realizing this is as good as it gets this year.  Of course this isn't a very practical solution f you have more goats than a few.  I only have the two does so it works for me.

I am on a mailing list from the University of Md. Extension Service Called the Shepherd's Notebook.  They have goat and sheep related workshops on occasion and some things that are just online so if your not local you could still benefit from them. 

Today I got the email below from them and thought I would share it.  It's about a handbook for feeding your livestock in drought conditions.  I've only looked at the table of contents so far but it looks as if it has some good info in it. It's a free pdf file, 79 pages long I believe and the link to it is below.  

Shepherd's Notebook

Some parts of Maryland and surrounding states have experienced their worst drought conditions in years. University of Maryland Extension has compiled a publication to help producers deal with the 2010 drought.

The handbook is for animal and forage producers. The original handbook was developed in 2007 by Craig Yohn from West Virginia University. The handbook was adapted to Maryland conditions.


A drought handbook for grain producers has also been developed.