Make Blue Cheese From Goat's Milk
Though cow's milk is the usual base ingredient for making blue cheese, you can also use goat's milk to make a healthier version. According to J.B. Tracey, MD, goat's milk is beneficial for the treatment of asthma, eczema, migraines, stomach ulcers, liver complaints and contains more vitamins and minerals than cow's milk. Goat's milk also is more easily digested, does not have the same effect on individuals who are allergic to cow's milk and does not form excess mucus.
Making blue cheese from goat's milk is not difficult or expensive, and it can be quite enjoyable.
Instructions
Make the Cheese Curds
1. Warm the two gallons of goat's milk 28 to 30 degrees Celsius or to 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the large pot, and then remove it from the burner.
2. Dissolve the 1/2 rennet tablet in 1/4 cups lukewarm water.
3. Stir the buttermilk into the goat's milk with the large spoon, mixing the milks thoroughly.
4. Stir in the rennet dissolved in the water. Mix the rennet thoroughly into the milk.
5. Cover the milk with the pot lid, and let the pot sit for 24 hours.
6. Check the curds. If they can be cut into 1/2-inch cubes, the cheese is ready to drain. If the curds cannot be cut into 1/2-inch cubes, let them sit for another 1/2 day.
7. Place a sterile cloth into a strainer or colander and ladle the curds onto it, letting the excess water drain into a sink
8. Put the strainer or colander with the curds in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
9. Salt to taste (about 1 to 2 tsp.).
Make the Blue Cheese
10. Boil a pot of water, and place the handkerchiefs and screwdriver into the boiling water for about five minutes. Allow to air dry.
11. Remove the cheese curds from the refrigerator and place them in a large bowl.
12. Sprinkle 2 tsp. of salt over the cheese curds, and then mix the salt into the cheese curds with a spoon until the cheese curds form pea-sized crumbles.
13. Blend 1 tsp. uncontaminated blue cheese with 1/4 cup cool, clean water. This is called the inoculum.
14. Pour the inoculum over the cheese curds. Toss with the spoon, mixing the curds and inoculum thoroughly.
15. Line the cheese press with a sterile handkerchief. Put the curds into the handkerchief. Press the curds together lightly, retaining air spaces within the cheese. Leave the curds in the press overnight.
16. Remove the cheese from the press. Screw the screwdriver into the cheese, making holes about 1 inch apart.
17.Rub the surface of the cheese lightly with 1/8 cup salt. Place the cheese on a dry, sterile handkerchief. Fold the handkerchief lightly over the cheese.
18. Place the cheese wrapped in the handkerchief on a non-corrosive rack.
19. Put the cheese and the rack into a "cool box" or refrigerator.
20. Monitor the temperature and humidity of the "cool box". Keep the temperature around 10 degrees Celsius, or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity around 70 percent. If necessary, you can increase the humidity in the "cool box" by placing a pan of cool water in the bottom of the "cool box." Ensure the humidity is not so much as to keep the cheese "wet" or "weeping."
21. Turn the cheese daily. Replace the handkerchief with a sterile, dry one when the handkerchief is wet.
22. Keep the cheese in the "cool box" until there is a white and "bloom" growing all over the surface of the cheese, the holes have white and green "bloom" growing inside of them and the interior of the cheese has a white and green "bloom" growing inside when cut open. This will take about six to eight weeks.
Tags: cheese curds, bloom growing, goat milk, Make Blue, Make Blue Cheese, over cheese
