# Chevre not strong enough?



## Starla (Aug 29, 2013)

I had a lady tell me my chevre is not strong enough!?! I use very fresh milk to make cheese...do you think if I let my milk sit longer it would make the cheese stronger in flavor? I don't like the strong tasting chevre, but apparently this lady does.


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

She's dumb. LOL. 

Probably if you use older milk, it will make the cheese nasty enough for her. Lipase is what gives the "goaty" flavor, due to breaking down of fats. You can have a similar effect, using lipase powder.


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Okay, that was mean, but I do not understand why some people would actually WANT that flavor in their cheese. If I want to taste buck, I could just walk outside and lick mine...


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

OR, is she talking about the kind of sour taste to the cheese from the culturing/rennet? If that's the case, then maybe if you just let it set longer before draining, it will satisfy this gal.


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## Starla (Aug 29, 2013)

you know, Im really not sure what she was saying....I need to ask her. she is a cook and she is using my cheese in one of her recipes and she says you cant taste my cheese enough.....?? so I was assuming that it needed to be stronger in taste. and I KNOW Nancy! She is going to have to buy the whole batch when I make it, because no one else is going to want it! Everyone loves it because my cheese is so mild! and I do too! I usually use milk that is no more than 48 hours old when making cheese, thought I would use milk that is 7 days old for her cheese.....that is when I can tell a difference in my milk. Thanks for the responses!


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

There are alot of factors that give cheeses flavor. My favorite flavor is the simplest - salt. You can inoculate your milk with buttermilk or another culture and let it set for a little while before adding the rennet. It will give it another layer of flavor. I always use old milk for cheese cause I get higher yields - not sure why, but I do notice it making a huge difference. But I don't notice a goaty taste.


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## Sans Gene Goats (May 15, 2011)

If it is the tangy flavor she is after, I would let the the curds ripen longer before hanging and see what that does. You could hang longer too, but this likely will also change your texture and make it drier. Also take a look at the temperature while ripening; if temp is under 70-72, the culture won't be as active, so you need longer set time. Meso cultures really like temps in the 70's! (don't we all? *grin*)

I agree a little more salt could work. I've also had luck with just letting a finished batch of chevre age in the refrigerator for a few days in a sealed container to get a bit more flavor on it.

You could also play around with cultures; some culture blends are more mild, others more tangy. 

What I would not do is use older milk, though. You will have more acid development, which can give you more tang, but also more likely to get goatie flavor from breakdown of capric acids, as well as off-flavors.

Good luck and hope this helps!
Dixie


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## Starla (Aug 29, 2013)

swgoats said:


> There are alot of factors that give cheeses flavor. My favorite flavor is the simplest - salt. You can inoculate your milk with buttermilk or another culture and let it set for a little while before adding the rennet. It will give it another layer of flavor. I always use old milk for cheese cause I get higher yields - not sure why, but I do notice it making a huge difference. But I don't notice a goaty taste.


Would you use buttermilk AND Chevre culture? Right now I am using a chevre culture from Hoegger. If only buttermilk, how much per gallon?

Thank you for your help!


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Starla,

You would use buttermilk instead of the culture. Here's a link to another thread where I posted my chevre recipe using buttermilk as a starter culture: http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/f22/problem-getting-nubian-milk-set-34082/


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Farmers_Cheese.htm

The only thing I've ever found to make goaty cheese is leaving whey in the cheese or using a whey brine. I have not found cheese curd to go off, and I always use older milk as a rule.


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