# Chevre too acidic?



## Island Creek Farm

Not sure if I did something wrong....my chevre is WAY acidic...overpowering the herbs (garlic/chives etc) in it. Too much culture, too much rennett, too long culturing, too long hanging???

warmed milk
Set for 1/2 hour after adding culture
Added rennet 4 drops vegetable in 1/2c water to 1 gal milk, set 5 hours (this is less than Hoegger's instructions...they wanted 1/4 tsp)
hung for 9 hours

all stainless equipment, all boiled or bleached/rinsed prior to use


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## linuxboy

Raw milk or pasteurized? What kind of culture? Did it actually set completely in 5 hours?


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## Island Creek Farm

Yes, it set up in 5 hours...and it was raw milk from that evening's milking, goat is 4 months fresh. Milk still tastes fine...wasn't sure if I had too much of "something"? Flora Danica culture from Hoegger and the vegetable rennett. Not "goaty" just ACID. Seemed fine when I first salted it (sea salt) and added the herbs (Dave tried it too), but the next day..WHAM! Acid! Surely it wouldn't turn that fast? But it didn't taste/smell bad or rotten...just like someone had dumped vinegar in it. Is this how it is supposed to be? I was wanting creamy! If someone can recommend a "creamier" culture, please let me know!


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## hsmomof4

That's way more rennet than I use, and I let mine sit longer (like 8-12 hours) to come together after I add the rennet. For one gallon of milk, I would use just 1 drop of the rennet in the water (I use 2 drops for 2 gallons). What kind of water was it? (Tap is not good, better to use spring water from the store, or distilled. You don't want the chlorine.) How much FD did you use? It's a wonderful culture to use for chevre, so I don't think that a different culture is the answer. I use 1/4 tsp in 2 gallons, so you would need less than that for 1 gallon, but probably a little more than half.


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## linuxboy

For chevre, 1/4 tsp FD is a LOT of culture. If it's danisco's FD, it's supposed to be about .07 grams, if CHR Hansen's, .065 grams per gallon of pasteurized milk. Chevre is supposed to set in 8-12 hours. If you start draining curds as soon as they're set, you get a creamier chev. 

But in this case even the excess culture and the excess rennet isn't what causes extreme acidity, it's the natural bacteria. Do you mean it actually smells like vinegar? If so, that's acetobacter contamination.

If you mean it just became extremely tart, that's because the milk had natural lactobacilli. Whereas cocci bacteria, like the ones in FD tend to quit around a pH of 4.4-4.6, bacilli will keep producing more acid. Some, like lactobacillus bulgaricus and strains of acidophilus will keep producing acid until the pH is below 3. And that's really sour, it has about 1,500x the acidity of normal chevre.

I'd try it again with less FD, less rennet, and/or pasteurize the milk.


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## Sondra

agree too much FD and rennet


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## MF-Alpines

Are "tart" and "acid" two different things? Obviously, but what?

Have you ever tried the DS packets from cheesemaking.com? I'm not sure how much cheese you are making....if lots, then it is not profitable. But if you're making cheese on a really small scale, I find the packets wonderful. 

My preference is the Fromage Blanc. Great flavor. Better than the chevre. Even in the fall with stronger flavors from the milk.

Pav: As always, thanks for the great education! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!


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## Squires

Is it possible that the curds were fermenting while hanging?

There is a type of cheese made by putting some curds in a sterile jar, closing it and let it "blow up" on its own. It is some sort of fermentation process (probably from yeast found in the air). When it settles back down to half its maximum height, you add alcohol to stop the growth If you don't add the alcohol to pickle it and stop the fermentation, it continues to ferment and becomes "like battery acid." This is where wine-cheeses and the concept of "cheese whiz" came from. 

So, I was thinking it might have got some yeast in it from the air, fermented in a warm room while hanging, and is continuing to ferment? 

Just a hunch. Could be totally wrong.

Chris


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