The Easiest Goat Cheese Recipe

I should have written this post a long time ago.  You see, I have a really silly reason for not writing a post about how to make goat cheese (or chevre, as we call it) before now.  The problem?  Well, making goat cheese is really, really EASY.  And once you realize just how simple it is, you are likely to be downright angry at the $1 per ounce you are likely paying for this delicious food at the grocery store.  That is, of course if you even splurge on this luxury food that my chickens and pig eat regularly.

In fact, the only hard part about making goat cheese is actually acquiring high-quality goat milk in the first place!  If you are like me, however, you just might have a few (OK, maybe a dozen, I’m afraid to actually COUNT the little boogers!) goats running around the neighbor’s pasture your backyard to provide you with delicious pure-white milk.  If not, it seems that good quality (read: local and not ultra pastrized) goat milk is becoming increasingly accessible in my area.  Perhaps yours is the same!

So, to recap, the hard part is deciding to keep dairy goats (here’s my top 10 reasons to take the plunge) and training them to the milk stand.  After that, making your own fresh goat cheese is easy peasy!

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First, you need a gallon of goat milk.  You must heat this milk to a whopping (are you ready for this?) 86°!

But stop the presses!  

Isn’t milk at about 100° when it leaves the cow?  Why yes it is!  I’m so glad you asked! 

What I’m telling you is that if you have a gallon of fresh-from-the-udder milk, by the time you get said milk to the house and strain it, your milk is probably in the neighborhood of 86° and therefore you can skip the heating step all together!  

Next, you must add a packet of chevre starter.  I buy mine in bulk from cheesemaking.com but Amazon offers it too.  *affiliate link*

Let the powder re-hydrate in the milk for about 2 minutes and then stir thoroughly.  

Now, cover your pot and let the mixture sit for 12-24 hours at room temperature.  Don’t mess with it.  (Also, don’t forget it for a week or two, um-kay?  Trust me.)

After it is set and you get around to it, pour the curds into a cheesecloth and hang to drain out the excess whey or scoop it into draining cups.  (I keep the whey for the pig, but there are lots of good ways to feed it to humans too!)

When it is done draining, transfer to a storage bowl and you are all set!  From here you have a blank slate.  You can add salt and herbs, you can turn this into a spectacular dip or even cheesecake!  The sky is the limit with this extremely simple cheese.  

So, there you have it!  Now you know how to make goat cheese!  Which flavor are you going to try first?

Just be warned, once you realize how much cheese a gallon of milk will yield, you will never be willing to buy it at the store again!  (Pictured above is my chevre dip.  This is my go-to dish to bring to parties.  The recipe is featured in my cookbook!)

For more great cheese-making advice, I HIGHLY recommend the book, Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll *affiliate link*

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