Any goat cheese makers out there?

[BeltfedGoodness]

The wife and I are getting into raising goats and would like to get into making our own cheeses. Anyone out there making different varieties? I found several websites out there with info and starter cultures, but first hand experiance is always a plus when going into something like this.

We would like to make several varieties of cheese and really enjoy the craft.


What equipment have you eventually evolved into getting?
Where do you get your starter cultures?
Can you make your own starter cultures?
What are your favorite recipes?
Do you milk using equipment?....if so what kind?
What grain feeds make the nicest flavors of milk/cheese?

:licking::licking:

 

[Briana03]

Yum! That sounds good. Goat cheese is my favorite.

Best of luck in your learning process. :thumbsup:

 

[OrangeAgain]

A friend in Huntington, Vermont started making his own goat cheeses for sale a few years ago. You can connect with him through his Midnight Goat Farm website: Midnight Goat Farm - HOME.

He has six females and one male. I toured his farm and creamery recently. I don't know if you are planning on selling your cheeses but making cheese to sell is a whole different level with the oversight of State and Federal agencies.

 

[Mousefield]

We have 4 does :goat: , two I am milking at this time. Wife makes cheese and butter from our goat's milk. Honestly it would take too long to answer all your questions in depth. I would suggest getting a couple of books on goats and how to make cheese.
If you have specific questions send me a PM (private message) and I will try and get an answer for you.

 

[Combustix]

wife makes cheese, yogurt and soap from our goats. She mostly makes soft cheese but has looked at making other types. I am happy with the soft is it is pretty darn good. Have a goat roast thawing on the counter right now as well. we raise meat goats with our dairy's so we have a freezer full of goat as well. Kids only drink goat milk as well. They certainly are a lot of fun and provide us with good food.

 

[BeltfedGoodness]

Thanks for the replies!!... I will no doubt be asking questions to those who are cheese "crafters" here as i get closer to actually "making".

The wife and I just want to get back to a simpler life style and have done so in many other areas of our lives already....the goats will be just another chapter of this fulfillment. I hope to post some of our successes from the farm in the near future.

I do not plan to go into commercial cheesemaking as i do not want to mess with the "state" or any .gov regulatory system whatsoever. I retired from a heavily regulated industry and do not care to get back into another.:thumbdown: I just want to be able to make what I want when i want it for myself and maybe close family/friends.

I have read many articles already and have some of the basic stuff down for getting a few of the easy styles of cheeses made. I'd like to know if some of the exotic ones (hard cheeses) have been tried and if its worth the extra work in making it.

I was also wondering if anyone made their own cheese presses or had graduated up into some semi-proffesional systems but still used it for personal use. I have a full fab shop and can build my own stainless equipment. I'm not afraid to put a bit of investment into cheese making. I am wondering if anyone here has gotten into it a bit more and what equipment they would suggest in looking for or wish they had.

My roots are from Wisconsin and I have "cheese" in by blood.....I'd love to pass on this skill/knowledge to my two daughters as well as eat product off our own farm. I also think cheese would be good future barter commodity.

FYI>>the wife just commited to two spotted bred nubian does this afternoon. Looks like i'll start milk production in about January.....so i better get studied up on it all!

 

[BeltfedGoodness]

Well, it has been some time since I posted on this topic ....thought I'd update our goat adventures thus far:thumbsup:.

We first started out last fall with three goats. All Nubians and young at about 4-5 months old. After doing the math on how long it would take to get them bred and to wait to freshen, the wife and I decided to get a few more that would produce a little quicker for us. so we found two more that were bred, a registered spotted Nubian buck, and a two year old Nubian/oberhalsley cross. Last February the nub/ober freshened as well as one of the Nubian does......so we had our first milk!! BUT almost all of it went to the kids for the first three weeks.

Finally started to back off the milk to the kids and get grain in them and then we started getting house milk again!!:licking:

The milk was great for drinking and we haven't bought house milk since last Feb.

Almost every week, I had surplus for cheese making....wow is this great! First batch was the basic Cheve style. That lasted a day or two between wife and me and the two girls sampling it!! Second attempt was a pressed Cheve. My wife bought be a basic cheese making kit but no cheese press. I improvised by using her sugar storage jar and a suit case tractor weight on top of it as my press!!! Needless to say it pressed very well!!!

My final and favorite cheese now is mozzarella....WOW is this awesome! I made three batches so far. One was all made like string cheese for snacking and the others were in about 3/4 pound ball form for shredding.

Overall, I never made cheese before in my life and found it to be VERY easy to do and the satisfaction of making something from scratch that tastes so good is priceless!!!

The next phase of this is to wait for the next two does to freshen in May and read up on other styles of cheese from the 200 type recipe book she bought me!! Also, I need a real cheese press...

 

[brin]

Sounds great...I bet in time you may be able to make enough cheese to sell some locally and on line...have a nice side business or full time venture...good luck.

 

[magicheater]

My favorite is Feta.