Does any one know how to make feta cheese from scratch? I have lots of goat's milk.?!
1 Gallon goat milk
1/4 tsp lipase powder diluted in 1/4 cup cool water
4 tbsp mesophilic mother culture or 1/4 tsp mesophilic direct-set culture
1/2 tsp liquid rennet or 1/4 tablet dry rennet dissolved in 1/4 cup cool distilled water
1/4 tsp calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool distilled water
Blend the milk and lipase, heat to 86 degrees F
Add starter culter, stir, cover for one hour
Still at 86 degrees F, Add the rennet, stir for one minute, cover and let sit for one hour, still at 86 degrees.
Cut through the curds to ensure a "clean break"
Cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes and let rest for 10 minutes (still at 86 degrees)
Stir the curds for 20 minutes, pour them into a cheesecloth-lined collander with a catch bowl underneath, tie into a ball.
Slip the handle of a wooden spoon through the knot and suspend the bundle over a pot for four hours, or until the curds have completely drained.
Remove the curds from the cheesecloth, cut into 1 inch thick blocks, lightly sprinkle them with salt. Place in a covered container and let them ripen in the refrigerator for four days. This will keep fresh for one week (since there are no preservatives as in many fetas)
Additionally, there is a great resource for cheesemaking if you are interested at biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Che...
Answers: I am a cheese expert and have made many cheeses with great success. This recipe comes from a great book on cheesemaking from my extensive cheese book collection. Assuming that you are familiar with the VERY important sanitizing process before cheesemaking, here is a recipe for goat milk feta:
1 Gallon goat milk
1/4 tsp lipase powder diluted in 1/4 cup cool water
4 tbsp mesophilic mother culture or 1/4 tsp mesophilic direct-set culture
1/2 tsp liquid rennet or 1/4 tablet dry rennet dissolved in 1/4 cup cool distilled water
1/4 tsp calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool distilled water
Blend the milk and lipase, heat to 86 degrees F
Add starter culter, stir, cover for one hour
Still at 86 degrees F, Add the rennet, stir for one minute, cover and let sit for one hour, still at 86 degrees.
Cut through the curds to ensure a "clean break"
Cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes and let rest for 10 minutes (still at 86 degrees)
Stir the curds for 20 minutes, pour them into a cheesecloth-lined collander with a catch bowl underneath, tie into a ball.
Slip the handle of a wooden spoon through the knot and suspend the bundle over a pot for four hours, or until the curds have completely drained.
Remove the curds from the cheesecloth, cut into 1 inch thick blocks, lightly sprinkle them with salt. Place in a covered container and let them ripen in the refrigerator for four days. This will keep fresh for one week (since there are no preservatives as in many fetas)
Additionally, there is a great resource for cheesemaking if you are interested at biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Che...
Goat Cheese Basics
If you are using store bought goat's milk you don't need to worry about the pasteurization process in the recipe.
Pasteurizing:
Filter the goat's milk and heat it to 162° F.
Remove from burner and cool to 100°F.
Goats Cheese Process:
Dissolve 1/2 of a rennet tablet in 1/8 cup of water, (rennet tabs can be found in the pudding/Jello section of your grocery store).
Pour the rennet water, plus a quart of goats milk, in a yogurt maker, or thick pottery jug or thermos, along with a teaspoon of plain yogurt. (I've added some eBay auctions of yogurt makers for you at the bottom of this page. That way you get to see what they look like and get the best deal if you're interested in buying one.)
Incubating the Goat Cheese
Incubate the mixture (let it sit in a warm spot - 90° F) for 2-3 hours until the mixture resembles curds and whey (looks like thick globs of yogurt in a milky soup).
Filtration of the Cheese Curds
Pour the mixture into supported coffee filters (you might have to fashion a contraption that allows the liquid to filter out and away from the cheese).
Give this dripping filter process approximately 5-8 hours to complete the filtration task in the refrigerator.
What's left in the filters is goat cheese. The whey in the bottom of the jar or bowl can be used in cooking, but personally, I skip the whey. I'd rather be eating the good stuff!
well this seem to answer it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2086856_make-goa...
and here is another that seem reliable..
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Che...
Where is the link??