Ready for making goat cheese? There are more additional utensils and tools you may require before making goat cheese.
Tools - You will also need the following kitchen utensils and items to make cheeses, initially only the basics or substitutes:
1. Slotted type stainless steel ladle to stir the curds with.
2. A long bladed knife for cutting the curds.
3. A large stainless steel colander to drain the curds with
4. Molds. I bought several types from New England Cheesemaking and also picked up some from Alliance Pastorale in France. If you go to Alliance Pastorale who also can supply so many good goat products, they are also available from Leeners
5. PH tester
6. Cheese Mats
7. Cheese Cloth
8. Cheese Press
Bacterial Cultures - The bacterial cultures you use are the key to success. The bacterial cultures impart the flavor to the cheese, acidify the milk, and this assist in the curd coagulation. The bacteria that consume the lactose within the milk and excrete lactic acid then acidify and ripen the cheese.
Cheese cultures come in 2 types, there is Mesophilic and there is Thermophilic. Thermophilic types do well in heat and the Mesophilic ones are for medium temperatures. Meosphilic cultures are what we generally use when making goats cheese. You can purchase a wide of variety Mesophilic cultures, and each is for different styles of cheese. You can buy cultures as Direct Vat Inoculates (DVI) which are also known as direct set cultures, and they can be added directly. They are more expensive as they cannot be recultured and so reused however the results are consistent and predictable.
For making goat milk cheese such as chevre and Feta the (LL) Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and the (LLC) Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris cultures are used. The temperature growth range = 10° - 42°C (50°- 108° F) and the optimum growth rate = 25° - 30°C (77°- 86° F) so you can see how important temperature control is when cheese making. Lactococcus lactis subsp. Cremoris is a more salt sensitive culture (<4%) and also more temperature sensitive (40°C/104°F) than the Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis. One thing to note is that most cultures come in commercial quantities and usage recommendations and you will have to reduce and find the optimum amounts to use. It’s trial and error initially, and some suppliers do supply smaller packs although it works out more expensive. About making goat cheese.
Penicillium Candidum are freeze-dried mold spores. They are used to make my favorite surface ripened French style goat cheeses such as Saint Maure. The give your cheese a cream-like white appearance and velvet-like texture. You can add straight into cheese with other culture or spray on. The VS is a mild flavor and most use the Neige for goat cheeses as the flavor is much better. Enjoy home made goat cheese and also making goat cheese