# Kefir. yogurt and soft cheese



## doulanobles (Aug 15, 2006)

God willing, I'll start milking my 2 goats in March after they kid. I mainly want the milk for the above. If you could recommend one website and one book on the making of these, what would it be? I want to be prepared but not overwhelmed. I have a Hoegger's catalog, Country Living Encyclopedia and One Acre and Independence as resources now.

Thanks in advance! :baby04:


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Kefir is pretty much a no brainer..you put the grains in your milk and leave it sitting on the. counter til it is the desired tartness/consistency.
Yogurt you just add a bit of store bougyht to your warmed milk and leave to incubate in a warm place overnight..there are a variety of methods from warm water in a cooler , inside a gas oven with it's pilot light, even a heating pad wrapped around it.
Soft cheese is by far the easiest to make...you an use buttermilk, vinegar or lemon juice to seperate your curds and whey.....
this is the right place to get your info. 

Good luck with your goaties.


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

Dom Kefir has a kefir site, you don't need more information than that, just don't start with the stupid powdered cultures, ask around for live starts, I usually have plenty to share for postage since I use it myself daily and give it away to all my customers.

Soft cheese, start at cheesemaking.com I love Rikki's books, and her cherve culture which contains starter and rennet is the best start, it gives you confidence to have it work soo easily, use the whey to make your own ricotta. Then move to other cultures and then hard cheese.

They sell yogurt culture also, with a live culture you can keep your own goatmilk yogurt, which I use in my kefir smoothy each morning, going for months, I maybe start with a new culture every 6 months or so and make new batches each Monday. Using a little of my old yogurt to innoculate my new.

Don't go buying tons of equipment, my kefir is in a small mason jar with a paper towel and rubber band on it. My yogurt I make in a large mason jar with a plastic mayo lid on it, wrapped in a towel on top of my gas hot water heater, during the winter wrapped in a heating pad on low. Cheese...well I did splurge and buy the cool plastic 1 gallon food grade containers, that will hold up to steam tables, at a resturant supply. But I use a cheapo thermometer for candy from wallmart etc...and strain in new white all cotton pillow cases. Vicki


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## doulanobles (Aug 15, 2006)

Thanks for the info. I always like to hear when things are going to be simpler than I thought! 

I've discovered that while i do ok with cultured dairy(yogurt, kefir, etc.) the actual milk has some unpleasant effects on my digestion. Of course, I'm talking cow's milk ( organic store bought) so maybe goat milk will be different. 

AS a family, we go through a lot of dairy and my son and I drink kefir(store bought) everyday. Gettn' kinda expensive!

Maybe I should get some of my neighbors fresh cow's milk and practice before the goat milk comes...


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Lactose intolerance is usually only caused by cow's milk. Most people find that goat's milk is tolerated.


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

Lactose intolerance is also caused by pasteurizing. The high temps destory the enzyme that helps digest lactose, among other detrimental actions. I am blessed to have my own raw goat's milk to make my kefir and cheese. 

Here is the URL to Dom's site. 

http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

He is a kefir genius. He also has a yahoo forum that I participate in where you might be able to find someone to send you some grains. Of course, Dom's grains are considered to be the absolute best due to his "breeding program". He has an American supplier named Basirah. She is found on the forum, where she is a moderator. If you want that site, let me know!

I tried a few kinds of cheeses and everyone's absolute favorite, so far, is Ricki's chevre, as Vicki said. It is a delicious cheese. The mozzerella and ricotta is good. The ricotta made fresh from goat's milk is SO GOOD! A little nutty and sweet tasting. Oh my. I eat it straight from the bowl. :nono:


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Here's a fairly detailed description of how to make yogurt. He also has some good cheese pages if you surf through his links and shorten up the url I listed here. DH likes me to add a little sugar to the milk before heating and then we don't add anything later when we eat it. 

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm


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