# Cheddar cheese made from goat milk



## thegriffiths (Jan 15, 2004)

So, does cheddar cheese from goats milk taste like cheddar cheese from the store? Or does it taste like goat cheese?

Thanks!


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Cheddar cheese tastes like cheddar cheese, whether it is made from cow, goat, sheep, mare, or yak milk. It is not the origin of the milk that makes a cheese "cheddar", but the cheddaring process.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Yup. Cheddaring and aging. We eat a lot of 'young' goat milk cheddar, so it's not as strongly cheddar flavored, but it's a lovely cheese.


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

I'll be the odd man out here.

All cheese tastes like the milk it comes from. 

I have tasted goat chedder that was like the sort you get in the store, some that was way better than that and some that was very goaty. 

I have friends that make and sell it commercially, and I've tasted 2 difft batches of theirs, one that was some of the best I've ever eaten and another very bucky.

We are used to cows milk so we don't notice but cows milk cheddar varies also.


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## April (Nov 28, 2006)

The only difference I've found in cheese we've made from cow's milk vs. cheese from goat's milk is that the goat's milk cheese is a bit drier and crumblier. That's probably something I'm doing wrong!


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## CageFreeFamily (Jul 19, 2012)

how much goat milk does it take to make a pound of cheddar?


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

depends


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

how long is a piece of string? had to say it! I'm getting 2 6-7inch wheels, using 4 gallons raw milk. I have saanens, so that might make my yield less. I use the book 200 easy homemade cheese recipes, I like that it uses 4 gallons at a time, I find it easy to understand, and so far, the products have been very good. the gouda is our favorite!

my cheddar is very sharp, and also a bit drier and crumbly-er. I like the colby I made from goat milk better, but I've only opened one. if the others turn out similar I will just make that instead of any cheddar. 

slight thread drift, but if my cheddar is plenty sharp now, can I put it in the reg. fridge to keep it from going any further?


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

The folks that don't taste goat are folks that don't taste goat. Folks that do... do.

All milk contains enzymes that break down the lipids that surround the fat in the milk. This is always the case. Pasteurized or not.

Goat milk fat has a weaker lipid shell so the enzymes break it down more rapidly. This is what gives goat milk and it's products the characteristic flavor. If you work with it your products will taste great. If you use standard cow milk recipes and you taste goat, you will be disappointed. I like recipes that are salty and sweet. Or spicy and sour. Not salty and sour or spicy and sweet. I taste goat. 

The fresher the milk is when you make the cheese the less goaty it will be. But it will be goaty to some always.

p.s. The "thinner" shell is what makes goat milk so highly digestible, Or differently it's the "good" part.

P.P.S Goat milk fresh should taste sweet and fresh,and should taste that way for about a week. If you have goaty milk off the bat your doing something wrong.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I will say that my chevre made with fresh milk doesn't taste goaty like the chevre you get from a store. My friends also say this.

Yes, goat cheddar is dryer and crumblier. It's the different structure of the proteins. We eat it anyway.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Hmmm, stanb, what if you are a person that likes ALL of those flavors?

I will maim you for some honey-roasted cashews. (salty and sweet)
Do yourself a favor, and don't get between me and some Thai style sour chicken. (sour and salty)
Mmmmmm, Vietnamese style sour pork! (spicy and sour)
Thai style cashew chicken! Lemme at it! (spicy and sweet)

I kinda have to be in the mood for sweet and sour though, I have to admit.

I don't know what you are doing to your milk, but I just finished off a gallon that is 3 weeks old and it was JUST starting to turn and taste "off". (That goaty taste you get before it starts thinking about becoming sour)


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## IndyGardenGal (Apr 5, 2009)

I can't eat store chÃ¨vre, plus if I get a hankering for the taste of store bought chÃ¨vre, I can go lick my buck. :gaptooth:


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Store bought goat ANYTHING tastes *nasty*. I don't know what they do to the stuff to make it taste so awful.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

CaliannG said:


> Hmmm, stanb, what if you are a person that likes ALL of those flavors?
> 
> I will maim you for some honey-roasted cashews. (salty and sweet)
> Do yourself a favor, and don't get between me and some Thai style sour chicken. (sour and salty)
> ...


Those flavors aren't what I'm opposed to. They are the flavors that mesh with the goat flavor that is inherent in goat cheese.

Kinda like chevon with garlic, onions,and salt tastes bitter. But with rosemary and sage it is heavenly and sweet.

Your someone that doesn't taste goat. Some people can taste it at 1 day. Myself it generally takes about a week.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

CaliannG said:


> Store bought goat ANYTHING tastes *nasty*. I don't know what they do to the stuff to make it taste so awful.


It's because the age of the milk and milk products.
As I pointed out above it is a feature of goat milk.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

stanb999 said:


> It's because the age of the milk and milk products.
> As I pointed out above it is a feature of goat milk.



~shakes her head~ I don't think so.

I have had store-bought chevre....and I have had chevre that has sat in the bottom of my crisper for God knows how long because DH had forgotten it was there.

I can't say that a tupperware container in a refrigerator crisper is the best environment to keep chevre for...oh.....6 months or so?

But it was STILL okay. A bit sharp, but okay.

Chevre from the store tastes like buck...so I am fairy certain that my taste of "goaty" works fine, as that stuff tastes goaty as all get out. :shrug:

Goat milk from the store doesn't tend to taste "goaty". It actually tastes like someone spilled some bleach in it.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Read up. It's rather interesting.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02557.x/abstract

Google "Flavor of goat milk and it's yogurt" 


A ton of studies have been done. They are infact talking about adding Cyclodextrins(a food additive) to goat milk products to fix the issue. As a side note it's the active ingredient in febreze.


p.s. the reason they wish to do the effort is that goat milk is much better for you.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

My experience is that fresh milk makes all the difference.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> My experience is that fresh milk makes all the difference.


I agree to a point. IMHO, We as goat lovers shouldn't be blind to the facts and tell folks their milk wont taste goaty. All goat milk after a time develops off flavors. It's the nature of it. Those flavors don't necessarily mean the milk has gone bad, it's a component of the milk.

For instance I love the flavor of good thick and creamy strong tasting goat milk in my coffee, To me it doesn't taste goat at all. It has hints of the forest, adds to the roasted flavor to make it taste almost smoky. A truly different and lovely taste. Put butter made from week old cream on toast... I taste barn.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I don't use week old cream. Don't use week old milk.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

stan, I noticed a difference in the keeping quality of my milk when I changed procedures..

It used to be that I brought my milk inside, filtered it for a third time (I put two filters on my milk bucket) and then put it in a glass jar in the back of my fridge to chill.

Now, I filter it the third time, and it goes in a glass jar in my freezer. Since I am getting about a third of a gallon left after I feed babies and everything, two milkings go in that jar in the freezer, then the third milking, I pour it over the frozen milk and put it in the fridge.

So my milk is either getting frozen, or getting an ultra-fast chill that is basically adding milk-cicles to it.

Freezing DOES change milk slightly, breaking down the calcium a little (although not like pasteurization) and damaging some bacteria.

So the fact that my milk doesn't turn goaty very fast may just be a result of my practices.


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## onebizebee (May 12, 2011)

Have a cheese related question. Is it possible to make mozzarella cheese that melts like regular cow mozzarella on pizza etc? My husband and daughter miss cheese pizza the very most since they found out the protein in cow milk is what is making them sick. Not the lactose. They are allergic to the protine  They wanted to know if anyone has a way of making cheese that is melty stretchy yummy like reg mozzarella? They do not like store bought goat cheese. They both hate the goaty flavor. I have just now got them tasting goat milk from our goats. My daughter is eating it with cerel in the mornings and likes it. Hubby is still getting his toes wet so to speak! The store bought stuff really turned them off. 
Thank you so much in advance.


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Jul 28, 2006)

I am so ready to make more cheeses this year. Can some of you who have been doing this a while please recommend some good goat cheese making books? I noticed it was mention that you are better off using recipes designed for goat milk rather than cow. So I want some books that the recipes are designed for goat milk.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

April said:


> The only difference I've found in cheese we've made from cow's milk vs. cheese from goat's milk is that the goat's milk cheese is a bit drier and crumblier. That's probably something I'm doing wrong!


We had the same problem with the cheddar we made last year. It was our first time making cheese, it turned out very dry. I wasn't sure if I had done something wrong or if goat cheese is just that way.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

Oat Bucket Farm said:


> I am so ready to make more cheeses this year. Can some of you who have been doing this a while please recommend some good goat cheese making books? I noticed it was mention that you are better off using recipes designed for goat milk rather than cow. So I want some books that the recipes are designed for goat milk.


Me too.  Or could some of you post your tried and true recipes for goat milk cheeses?


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

onebizebee said:


> Have a cheese related question. Is it possible to make mozzarella cheese that melts like regular cow mozzarella on pizza etc? My husband and daughter miss cheese pizza the very most since they found out the protein in cow milk is what is making them sick. Not the lactose. They are allergic to the protine  They wanted to know if anyone has a way of making cheese that is melty stretchy yummy like reg mozzarella? They do not like store bought goat cheese. They both hate the goaty flavor. I have just now got them tasting goat milk from our goats. My daughter is eating it with cerel in the mornings and likes it. Hubby is still getting his toes wet so to speak! The store bought stuff really turned them off.
> Thank you so much in advance.



Short answer is YES! goat mozzarella is wonderful.

How is Goat milk different than cow, 
Do test your PH I find that the ph is easy to lower.
Do expect it to be a bit softer, nice really, not a downside. But when you initially work the curd it can have a tendency to drain the cream if your not careful. Go easy at first and you will have success. If it looks and feels like a rubber grommet, you overheated it or over worked it. 
Use a little less lipase 

Freeze it or eat it. No refrigerator storage. It will go goaty.


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## CageFreeFamily (Jul 19, 2012)

Oat Bucket Farm said:


> Can some of you who have been doing this a while please recommend some good goat cheese making books? I want some books that the recipes are designed for goat milk.


Ditto! 




chewie said:


> how long is a piece of string? had to say it! I'm getting 2 6-7inch wheels, using 4 gallons raw milk.


Thanks! Just looking for a general idea! I had read that it takes so much goat milk to make hard cheeses that it isn't worth it, so I was surprised to see so many making hard cheeses and had to ask. 

RE: tasting goat/barn I am a person who can taste even a hint of goat barn IF it is present. One of our does never produced this flavor, even if the milk was old, but another was producing that flavor from the moment it was being strained. My family couldn't taste it, but it made me want to wretch. It got better after a month or so and finally disappeared, but her milk goats goaty after about 3 days and I can't stand it. After it is strained it goes in the back of the freezer for 1.25 hours until it is 40 degrees and then gets moved to the fridge. I've also noticed that our LaMancha's milk doesn't have the creamy looking swirls on the top of the milk that the Nubian's has.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Sonshine said:


> We had the same problem with the cheddar we made last year. It was our first time making cheese, it turned out very dry. I wasn't sure if I had done something wrong or if goat cheese is just that way.


IF your cheese was dry 
#1 you over heated it. Those temps are critical. Yes 100F means 100F not 102. 
#2 Or over worked it. If the whey wasn't clear and yellow is how to tell. It's easy to do with the "weaker" goat curd.

If your cheese was crumbly.
Did you add the right amount of renet, mix it well, then leave it alone for the specified time? Did you get a "clean" break.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

CageFreeFamily said:


> Ditto!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Here is the approx yields. My girls are nubian/lamancha

from 1 gallon.

1 pint of cream(I have a seperator) This leaves the milk about the consistancy of store bought 3%. This made into butter makes about 1 stick.

1 pound of curd cheese if made without the cream. all are about the same. Mozz, farmers, etc. + approx 1/2 cup of ricotta. 

1 pint+ a little of soft cheese made with the cream in it. Dryer/ or wetter can change yield. but this is the average.
neufchÃ¢tel is one we like. It tastes kinda like sour cream dip, but it's cheese.


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## onebizebee (May 12, 2011)

stanb999 said:


> Short answer is YES! goat mozzarella is wonderful.
> 
> How is Goat milk different than cow,
> Do test your PH I find that the ph is easy to lower.
> ...


Thank you so much! There may be pizza for the family in the near future! YAY!!!!! I have no idea how to make mozzerealla or any cheese for that matter so if you could point me in the right direction for tried and true recipe that would be awesome! I do have an Amish store near by to get rennet etc. Now I am getting excited!


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## fellini123 (Feb 2, 2003)

IndyGardenGal said:


> I can't eat store chÃ¨vre, plus *if I get a hankering for the taste of store bought chÃ¨vre, I can go lick my buck*. :gaptooth:


Ok now I've spit my tea all over the monitor!!!!! LOL

Do you like your cheese with hair in it??

Alice in Virginia


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

onebizebee said:


> Thank you so much! There may be pizza for the family in the near future! YAY!!!!! I have no idea how to make mozzerealla or any cheese for that matter so if you could point me in the right direction for tried and true recipe that would be awesome! I do have an Amish store near by to get rennet etc. Now I am getting excited!



We have used the recipe @ fiasco farms and the fine professors website. Both work well.

Fiasco Farms. The DW prefers this site.

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/mozzarella.htm

The Biology professors site. I prefer this one.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html


Both are nice.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

chewie said:


> how long is a piece of string? had to say it! I'm getting 2 6-7inch wheels, using 4 gallons raw milk. I have saanens, so that might make my yield less. I use the book 200 easy homemade cheese recipes, I like that it uses 4 gallons at a time, I find it easy to understand, and so far, the products have been very good. the gouda is our favorite!
> 
> my cheddar is very sharp, and also a bit drier and crumbly-er. I like the colby I made from goat milk better, but I've only opened one. if the others turn out similar I will just make that instead of any cheddar.



Chewie, do you use any old cheese recipe to make the Colby? Or is there a special goat milk recipe?


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...made+cheese+recipes&sprefix=200+easy+,aps,198

I have these first 2 books. the first one listed, the 200.., is my favorite. I find it very easy to use and understand, and does have versions just for goat milk. the gouda is one that my family is liking a lot. its not a difficult recipe, and makes a softer, smooth cheese that's great to snack on or use on burgers, etc.

also, that book uses mostly 4 gallons at a time, and that is good in my situation--my 2 milkers give 3+ gallons per day, so this uses it up fast. this way the cheese is being made with very fresh milk. 

I bought 2 stainless steel molds, and hubs made me a press to fit them both at the same time. this also makes a wheel that is a good size for our family to use up. my press is a simple one with 2 boards and 4 'legs'. use hand weights on top. I use a larger dorm sized fridge with a johnson controller for a cave. this fall, my first real season of hard type cheese making, I filled it. so don't go too small on that, I was going to get a tiny wine cooler but someone talked me out of it and I am so happy they did.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

stanb999 said:


> IF your cheese was dry
> #1 you over heated it. Those temps are critical. Yes 100F means 100F not 102.
> #2 Or over worked it. If the whey wasn't clear and yellow is how to tell. It's easy to do with the "weaker" goat curd.
> 
> ...


Since it was our first time trying it we followed the recipe to a "T". Made sure the temps were right, added the amount of renet that was recommended ect. Not sure what you mean by a clean break. The only other cheese we have tried is mozzerella and it's great.


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