# FIX my chevre-PLEASE



## mamatomany

I have gritty cheese folks...now what? It was very crumbly when I put it in my blender - it took a while to cream it up...wiered grittiness in it? Obviously drained it too much :down


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## homeacremom

I'm sorry it's not working well. Especially since I LOVE chevre right now and can't imagine life without it. Would you please detail your process? 
-culture and amount of rennet and amount of milk
-temp of milk when adding culture
- raw or pasteurized milk
-room temp while culturing
-any visible separation of curd from sides of culturing container
-any whey on top of the curd
- hours left to culture
- molds or cloth for draining
- ladled out of culturing container, cut curd and ladled, or poured
-texture before blending?? I knead in the seasonings by hand or use a mixer. It should be pretty smooth and creamy before hand with not much need for high powered mixing.

Ok, those are the variables I'm thinking of at the moment...


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## mamatomany

Wow Judith...I'll try to answer them in order
1 gallon pasturized milk
1 envelope chevre culture
78 degrees inside
sat 11 hours
ladeled it out, looked like thick yogurt
left it out on counter and turned it over after 3 hours and hung back up for 7 hrs.
dry as a bone when I got back to it. Put it in the fridge for about 5 hours. Took it out, put about 1.25 tsp. kosher salt, whipped it in teh blender and it is grainy. Draining was from the cheesemaker's pantry..not sure what it is is textured on one side and like plastic on the other. Yes there was whey on top of teh curd.


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## chewie

i'm no pro by any means, but i dont' let mine hang near that long. i also like mine very creamy and smooth!


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## homeacremom

Try to find a cooler place to let it stand for culturing- somewhere in the low 70s. My chevre started turning out drier as my house got warmer with the summer weather. I now put it close to the window AC unit overnight and it is back to smooth and creamy. Think this might be the biggest key for you.

Was your milk around 86* when you added the culture? You might try a cooler temp for the milk as well and possibly try one envelope per 5 qts of milk.
If you pastuerize your milk at 145* it should be ok. I haven't pasteurized much for cheese making, but it seems like the few experiments I tried that higher pastuerizing temps didn't allow for a good curd set and ended up in drier cheese.
Ladle your curd gently. I find that ladling in 1/4 - 1/2 inch slabs of curd and disturbing as little as possible until it is drained yields a creamier cheese.
Try draining for just a couple hours and see if that works.

Did your kosher salt add to the graininess? For chevre I ended up preferring fine ground Real or sea salt.


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## mamatomany

Can I use raw milk for chevre - I really would prefer that too! I thought you shouldn't cuz' it messes up the process. Ya know what, since we are on this subject..the directions stink for making cheese. 12 hours...come on...I'm a directions freak - love them....they really adjust what it says on the plastic bag that comes with it  I use the fine no iodine salt too. I will jump up and down if you tell me I don't have to pasturize  It is such a hastle for me


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## buckrun

I use all raw milk- always for everything cheese.
Just use it quickly and be clean with it on the way from goat to cheese pot and there is no problem. It is a very expensive niche market in some places.
Don't tell the cheese police!
HA!
Lee


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## Sondra

I use raw milk straight from the goat also but don't like the pkg chevre mix or the FB. I use rennet and FD I hang it to drain abt 1/2 thru I take it down add my sea salt knead it in and then hang to drain again. I also do a big no no and squeeze out moisture from time to time. Probably hangs only 6 hrs.


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## Bernice

I use raw milk too and like Sondra & Lee straight from the goat. In my experiences it makes the best cheese. I don't have as good results with using cold milk then heating it up or with pasturized milk. And....like Sondra I squeeze too!


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## buckrun

I don't squeeze ( cheese) but I do use just rennet and FD too- the best flavor!
I do hang for 12 hrs- so easy to fit in the milking schedule- milk- culture for 12 hrs- at supper time drain and hang over night. In the morning put it in the food processor with salt or herbs or whatever. yummy and creamy - hang time just makes the flavor stronger- it should not make it gritty.

My extra aged cheeses are gritty but they are sposed to be- like way stout Romano and stuff like that. I don't know what makes it gritty over time so for sure don't know with fresh cheese.

You can write to Jim Wallace at NewEnglandCheesemaking.com- he answers questions.
Lee


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## mamatomany

O.k. well it is obvious I'm doing something wrong cuz I made some Fromage Blanc using pre-packaged culture and it came out gritty too. The grits break up when you roll it between your fingers, almost like cottage cheese or something. Let's talk about what is it supposed to look like when it is done hanging? Does it separate from teh sides into a whole piece? No more drippin at all. I tried adding a little whey back into it and whipping it and it makes it creamy, but still gritty...I'm at a loss..I must be doing something wrong...my FB hung for only 6 hours, must be still too long. Do you let the milk cool to 86 degrees before you make your cheese or does that not really matter?


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## doublebowgoats

I am so glad you asked this because I made this yesterday with the same results but I think I put in too much rennet. It turned out just like vinegar cheese. Now the only chevre I have had was like cream cheese so that is what I am expecting. I am trying it again today. Hoping for smooth and creamy...


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## homeacremom

Linda, I think it does make a difference to have the milk cooled to 86*. In this hot weather where the room temp tends to be higher I cool the milk even down into the low 80*s. In the winter months when the room temp where I usually culture is 68* or so it doesn't seem to matter if I use fresh, warm milk. 

Have to keep in mind to that the milk components are changing all through out lactation and that is going to affect the outcome of any cheese recipe.


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## Bernice

Linda....I was going to mention this when I posted last, about using the packaged culture. I am beginning to wonder if that may be part of the problem? I haven't used packaged cultures in ages. When the chevere is done draining and ready it will be in a round ball. It does separate from the sides of the cheesecloth. The times when it doesn't I know I may have a difficult batch, such as in the summer heat. When I used to make chevre before we had AC I had to stop from June - late September. I got all sorts of interesting brews, including the crumbly. 

In my experiences too much rennet makes my chevere bouncy like a rubber ball. It will make a good feta with a few tweaks though.


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## mamatomany

I think I will use 5 quarts of milk the next go around. I just made some yogurt with this morning's milk. I'm trying to make as much stuff as I can while they are milking good  I did ask the cheese guy via email so I will post what he thinks I should do too :crazy Thanks everyone for trying to help me out...I can screw up a good dream


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## homeacremom

OK, now I have cheese problems. I opened a new set of culture packs and last night's batch OBVIOUSLY had too much rennet. I even used 5 1/2 qts of milk like I have been doing and it was rubbery and dry although not exactly "gritty". Will let you know if this continues to be a problem....


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## buckrun

So what is your rennet dilution?
I use 2 drops to 1 cup of water. Often the amount is not as important as the dilution.
It freaks out the milk if you don't add it in a mild form with gentle inclusion
Just barely lift the bottom milk to the top with a slotted spoon.
Lee


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## buckrun

oooops i forgot to say 2 drops in 1 cup to TWO gallons.
sorry- long hot day!
L


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## homeacremom

Right now I am using the DS chevre culture packs from cheesemaking.com just like Linda is trying to use. I need to look and see if there is a batch # or some such. It is likely that hers and mine are the same since they came together in a bulk order.


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## buckrun

Oh i am so sorry- i forgot you were using culture packs.
You would be lots happier with just rennet and some Flora Danica.

for chevre- the best best best is to sprinkle 1/2 tsp FD granules into 2 gallons warm milk- let sit floating on top at least 5 mins to hydrate the culture- stir gently into the milk and let sit 30 mins to an hour depending on how strong you like your flavor. 

Add 2 drops liquid rennet to 1 cup water and stir gently into milk-place in a warm area leave undisturbed and come back whenever you have time from 8 to 12 hours later - drain- the whey should be clear and have no milk solids left. 

Hang for 12 hours (overnight here since i am culturing the morning milk) and once it is no longer dripping-place in food processor with salt and herbs or lemon pepper or whatever you wish to flavor it with (or nothing at all)and then jar and chill. So simple! So good!

If you only use salt that will also let you use it as cheesecake base or other sweetened cheese based desserts.
Hope you get past this culture setback. Hard when you have spent the $$ to get these failures. A small pak of FD goes a very long way and the flavor is so nice.

You may want to follow Christy's directions tho- I am rather casual about it because we do not expect it to taste or behave the same way each time. That is part of the fun of it! Not type A here! 
Lee


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## Leo

I've never had problems with graininess(sp?) in chevre, but when I was making some mozz, I was tired and accidently put in 2x the CA, it came out sooo grainy. Could the defective cultures you have some how over acidify the milk? Not much help, but if it's the culture maybe a quick switch will resolve the problem.

I also second the Flora Danica.
Megan


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## mamatomany

Well, in consulting with a cheese expert  it was determined that you should use 2 gallons of milk for those pre-made cultures. There is just too much rennet in them. So 1 gallon fresh from teh goat and 1 gallon last night's milkin....I have to say that will wipe me out of milk for the day


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## doublebowgoats

The chevre I made yesterday turned out good. I made some with strawberry and some with chili and garlic. Can you skip the culture and just do rennet or will it have no flavor? What is flora danica?


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## hsmomof4

Flora danica is a different type of culture.


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## Dacaree

Okay, don't laugh. Probably a very dumb question. Am I making chevre? I use rennet and 1/2 cup buttermilk to 5 quarts raw milk. Sit, drain and use. I also get 1.7 lbs of cheese out of the 5 quarts. I milk in the evening, bring it in and add the rennet and buttermilk. Drain in the am and hang. It is ready that evening to do whatever with.


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## doublebowgoats

I also have another question. If you drain it and there is a lot solid in the whey, how do you correct for that? When I drain the whey is not clear.


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## Bernice

Dacaree I make my chevere the same way as you do. I have found in my experiences that this method works best vs using a culture. In Goats produce Too......my, "Bible" (if you will..)for cheesemaking the recipes call for either culture or buttermilk so I use the buttermilk. In the book the recipe for chevere is almost the exact same as the mild feta. 

Soft Chevere calls for 1/2 gal milk 2 T buttermilk or culture, 3 tsp diluted liquid rennet in 1/4 C of cool water. In reading the process again I just discovered the direction say to drain for 2 days and in the fridge with a cake pan under to catch. Wow.......I usually drain for 12 hrs! Wonder why now I do that? Hmmmmmm.......

The mild feta calls for a gal of milk, 1/4 Cup culture or buttermilk, 1/2 tsp liquid rennet, and 1/4 C cool water. The processing is different though.


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## Bernice

Michelle, I have had that happen before too, in my case my rennet was too old or not enough. I've got to run to get feed, when I get back I will check my cheese notes.


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