# Trader Joe's Crumbled Goat Cheese



## Bernice

I was in Raleigh, NC yesterday and decided to try out Trader Joe's Store. It's a cross between a organic foods store and gourmet store. In fact, they have a policy, if you buy it, don't like it, they will refund your money, no questions asked, can't beat that! Has anyone ever shopped there and tried their Crumbled Goat Cheese? It's like a crumbled blue cheese, not a chevere or crumbled feta, but a mix of the two. I just tried the cheese and it's not bad when it first hits the taste buds, but about 20 secs later it has a, "bucky" taste. It needs something or needs to be balanced out with some kind of food to enhance it. It's made in California, but does not say by whom. 

Here are the ingredients: pasteurized goats milk, cheese culture, microbial rennet, salt, powdered celluose (anit-caking), natamycine (natural mold & yeast inhibitor. Contains milk and soybean. Made in Monrovia, CA. 

For those who make cheese, what is microbial rennet? I've not heard of it before. 

I noticed a lot of goat milk cheese in their cheese section. Including a gouda. I bought a package of shredded mozarella, haven't tried that yet. I sure hope it doesn't taste funny either. I'll let you know how that one is. I like my homemade cheese better because it doesn't have that, "bucky" flavor. Is most goat milk cheese supposed to have that bucky twang to it?


----------



## linuxboy

Microbial rennet is most often made by R. mihei (a fungus). They take that, feed it in a huge fermentor, then extract the rennet.


----------



## nightskyfarm

Not in my book! Jennifer


----------



## Aja-Sammati

Trader Joe's, or Traitor Joe's as I call them..., has a contract with the biggest goat dairy in CA. They have over 1,000 does, the dairy is in Sonoma County if I remember right. The cheese they make doesn't qualify as 'real' in my book.


----------



## Bernice

That's what I was thinking, that it wasn't supposed to have the, "bucky" aftertaste. Jennifer & Michelle, you just explained the, "why"....seems over 1000 is more like industrial goat farming! Thanks! 

Maybe one night this week I'll try that shredded mozarella. That package says made in Canada. I'll let ya'll know.


----------



## mulish

It seems like this is the reason so many people think that they hate goat cheese - inferior product! I know because I used to be one of them.


----------

