Something slightly different...

[Half Caper Farm]

Goat school? Now i have a vision of baby goats with glasses sitting on a schoolbench.
Not wanting to make fun of you ofc! What's it like? Do they teach you to make goat's milk cheese or how to keep goats? My mom used to have goats when she was little, but they had a certain scent she can't forget which make her stay far away from the meat, milk and cheese. I'm not gonna make a cheese that won't be eaten so I don't make it.

Anyone who'd ever try a basic fresh cheese: heat a quart of milk (can chose what type) till it starts to simmer and add the juice of a lemon. You should see it starting to separate, if after a couple of minutes it's still not separating add some more lemon. Pour the whole thing through a cheesecloth (or a kitchen towel, rinse first to get rid of soap, its not so tasty...). Drain the whey of (takes between 1 and 2hrs), add salt and herbs and give it a try! (It's better if it has been chilled in the fridge for a while)
I believe this is a common "recipe" in the US. People in the US seem to make a lot more homemade things then people in europe or is that just me?

My goat kids would be tapdancing on the bench.

I make my cheese like that, only with white vinegar rather than lemon juice. Sometimes, I leave it as a soft ricotta-like cheese, but more often I make it into a pressed, feta-like cheese. I line a container (that has drain holes) with cheesecloth, spoon the salted (cheese salt or coarse pickling salt - not iodized) cheese into it, cover it with the cheesecloth then put a weight on top. After a few hours, I take it out, unwrap it and turn it over, re-wrap and put it back with a bit more weight for another 12 hours or so. Unwrap, rub it with coarse pickling salt, then cover with plastic and let it sit in the fridge for a few days. Great chunked into salads or spaghetti sauce, or sliced in sandwiches - doesn't melt though. Best eaten within the week or it tends to get rather goaty.

 

[Sanguine]

Not sure what you are thinking about but meat is not cured with same culters as cheese. Meat is done with spices and salt and sugar or in a brine. Yes, it is allowed to make them if you are doing it for personal use or are USDA lic and inspected. Just not for sale of the farm.

I'm thinking about sausages, is that not cured? I've seen people use the same culture for those sausages with the white outside, as they use for brie, camembert and all the others white fuzzy cheeses

 

[bodhi]

I'm thinking about sausages, is that not cured? I've seen people use the same culture for those sausages with the white outside, as they use for brie, camembert and all the others white fuzzy cheeses

Yeah, there are a couple places that are allowed to do meats, but not the same as the originals.

And now we all know where to get our cheeses

 

[mel z]

For sausages just google curing sausages. They are different than salting or smoking meats and using that meat for sausage. It is fascinating and fun, look for the old school recipes.

And for cheese, oh my, it is different for each cheese, the ingredients, curing, curing places are important, I could go on, but maybe DeeAnn can step in with the chemical processes means and reasons why. DeeAnn, can you do a show on PBS??? (Hint, Hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

 

[houseofwool]

I've been on a cheese and yogurt making binge lately. I made feta cheese last week that was fantastic, but tedious.

 

[Sanguine]

I made a feta cheese a few months ago. That wasn't a succes
I added it to a brine to let it cure a few weeks, after 3 weeks I let my dad try it first (my dad is ALWAYS the guinea pig ). It was awfully salt so I poured 50% of my brine away and added fresh water instead. After 3 days the feta just started to dissolve (loss of calcium we know now) it sure was a strange sight!
Opened up my brie a week ago, good taste, sadly not creamy on the inside and a bit to salt on the aftertaste. Atleast it was better then my previous one