# problem getting Nubian milk to set.



## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

I am having a problem getting the milk from my nubians to set. Can any of you who make chevre from pure nubian milk tell me what temperature you pastuerise to, at what temperature you add your rennet and how much also do you add extra calcium if so how much.
I did a test batch yeaterday using 4 litres of nubian milk and had a problem with the set, I have done a batch of cheese today using 6 litres of nubian milk mixed with 12 litres of normal goat milk and still I am having problems with the milk not setting HELP


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## lovinglife (Mar 19, 2013)

I have never had a problem with Nubian milk, I am new at this but mine turns out wonderful. I don't know what you mean by adding extra calcium.... I made summer cheese the other day, using buttermilk and one drop of rennet, turned out GREAT! Out of one gallon of milk I bet I got at least two pounds of cheese, I was surprised at how much it made.


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Quentin,

Here's how I make my chevre. I've been doing it this way all year and with consistent results. I use raw nubian milk, but if I were to pasteurize, I'd still do it this way. I'm sorry but all the measurements will be what we use in the states.

I also start the cheese around 6:00 PM.

I start with about 20 lbs of milk and heat it in a double boiler to between 82 and 86 degrees F, but no more than 86F. If I'm using the milk from the night's milking I might need to cool the milk down to between 82 and 86 degrees.

To that I add 3/4 cup (6 ounces) cultured buttermilk which is at room temperature. Buttermilk is a easily available and a decent mesophilic culture. I stir that into the milk and let it sit for five or so minutes.

Next I add 5 drops of double strength liquid vegetable rennet to five tablespoons of cool water and add 1 tablespoon of that to the milk and stir it in.

I cover the cheese pot and let it sit overnight till about 10:30 the next morning. 

Then I cut the curd and ladle the curds into a butter muslin lined milk strainer (like a 14 quart sized).

I bag the curd and let it hang for 8 to 9 hours, occaisonally tightening the bag. I like to hang until I see no more than 5 drops per minute.

The yield has been around 4 pounds of chevre.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

A friend of mine was just telling me recently that she always had to plan extra time for her Nubian milk to curd. We thought maybe there were other variables, but it's interesting to see this question posed by another.


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Could something have happened to the rennet? When you say added calcium, I assume calcium chloride? I don't use that anymore, since I found that it wasn't necessary.


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## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks for you replies, very interesting. Yes I do mean Calcium chloride, Ive done a bit of reaserch since I made this post ( internet and I emailed the lady who taught me how to make cheese ). It would appear that different types of milk may require different amounts of rennet eg goat cow and sheep. It also turns out that milk from different breeds of the same species, in my case nubian and local breed may require different amounts of rennet to make the milk set. 
With the cheese we make from the local breed milk the later in the season it gets the less rennet we use as we have found that with more rennet, when placed in the mould the curd retains more air and comes out a little holey. This is also the same if you buy the shop bought stuff. So we have added a little more rennet to the nubian milk and seem to have corrected the problem.
We make a Bulgarian cheese called SIRINE, it does not contain any starter but unusualy gains its flavour by maturing it in sealed plastic buckets containing heavily salted whey. In priniple a brine, but not using water but using the whey produced fom making the cheese. This imparts a very tangy flavour to the cheese, and is best matured for a minimum of 40 days.


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