Ways of making soft, hard, curd and melted cheese from goat milk at home. TOP 6 best recipes.
Goat cheese is a product made from goat milk. There are many varieties - from soft and young to hard and aged. The variety determines the appearance, flavors, aroma and even the use in certain dishes. However, goat cheese of any kind is definitely the healthiest and most delicious product. It is better digested than cow and contains more nutrients. The product can play the role of an independent snack - in this case, it is served on a cheese plate along with other cheeses, nuts, fruits, honey and a fresh baguette; can also be used as an ingredient in various recipes - both cold and hot.
Features of the preparation of goat cheese
Today cheeses made from cow's milk are so common that we have forgotten - the history of cheese making begins with goat's cheeses. Unfortunately, the attitude towards the "progenitor" of the product is currently quite skeptical: many shy away from goat cheese, appealing that it has a too strong aroma and an unpleasant "aftertaste" that everyone describes in different ways - "goat", "wool" and NS.
However, gourmets know that this is just a stereotype and that the characteristics of cheese are largely determined by the quality of the milk and the method of preparation. There are a huge number of recipes on how to cook goat cheese, but all of them can be divided into two large categories - hard and soft varieties, from each category, in turn, the most popular "star" recipes can be distinguished.
France is famous for soft cheeses, the most famous of them are:
- Chevre - distinguish between a young and matured product, the first has a very delicate curd consistency and mild taste, in the second, during aging, characteristic sharp and tart notes appear.
- Chabichou du Poitou - the same cheese with a "goat" smell, a speck in taste and a touch of noble bluish mold.
- Saint More - an original variety of the Turin region, falls out in ash, and therefore has a dark crust, which picturesquely contrasts with the snow-white pulp. The cheese has a pronounced salty taste with lemon sourness.
- Crotin de Chavignol - another cheese with a characteristic goat flavor, but with an interesting fruity and nutty flavor. It is always sold in the form of small heads.
"Named" hard cheeses are brewed mainly in Spain, among them are:
- El Pastor - soft semi-matured cheese with a delicate aroma, delicate and pleasant taste with light spicy notes.
- Garrotcha - The region of Catalonia of the same name is engaged in the preparation of this goat cheese. It is kept for about a month. The product has a creamy pungent taste, and the crust is covered with a blue-gray mold.
We should also mention such cheese as Gudbrandsdalen or Brunost - this is a dessert Norwegian brown cheese made from goat's milk, the preparation of which involves the addition of cream and whey. Its taste is truly unique and is somewhat similar to dense boiled condensed milk. Brunost is the "star" of Norwegian breakfast, served on a waffle or biscuits with a cup of coffee.
You can cook any, even the most eminent goat cheese, at home, you just need to find the right recipe. And although not every star cheese factory is ready to share its secrets, you can always get something very close to the original recipe.
TOP 6 goat milk cheese recipes
Of course, the classic cheese-making recipes, how to make goat cheese, are rather tricky, require a lot of time, experience and skill, and therefore, probably, not every housewife can do it. In addition, in this case, specific ingredients are required, which, most likely, can only be ordered on the Internet. However, everyone can repeat simple homemade recipes.
Simple homemade goat cheese with kefir
The simplest goat cheese recipes are soft cheeses like feta cheese. An additional plus to the simplicity of preparation is the low calorie content in comparison with aged hard varieties.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 300 kcal.
- Servings - 8-10
- Cooking time - 10 hours
Ingredients:
- Milk - 4 tbsp.
- Kefir - 4 tbsp.
- Eggs - 6 pcs.
- Salt - 20 g
- Greens, spices - to taste
Step by step preparation of simple homemade goat cheese on kefir:
- Mix milk and kefir. Beat the eggs, add salt to them and beat again. Heat a little milk and kefir and add the salted egg mixture in a thin stream.
- After boiling, according to the recipe for homemade goat cheese, boil for a few minutes - the whey should begin to drain.
- Turn off the stove, cool the mixture slightly and add all the prepared ingredients and spices.
- Cover the colander with gauze, pour the mass into it, level it.
- Form a "knot", let all excess liquid drain.
- When the serum is drained, take out the resulting "head", put it in the refrigerator under a press overnight.
Goat curd cheese
If you love rolls and, moreover, prefer to cook them at home, you can go ahead and cook delicious curd cheese for them yourself. The recipe for this homemade goat's milk cheese is quite simple, but it turns out to be almost indistinguishable from the original "Philadelphia".
Ingredients:
- Milk - 1 l
- Sugar and salt - 1 tsp each
- Kefir - 2 tbsp.
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Citric acid - 1 pinch
Step by step preparation of goat curd cheese:
- Boil the milk in a saucepan, when it boils, add sugar and salt.
- Turn off the heat, pour in kefir slightly warmed separately, stir until you see that the mass begins to curdle.
- Place the mixture on cheesecloth and let it drain for about 15 minutes.
- Beat the egg until frothy with citric acid.
- Transfer the cheesecloth mixture to the eggs and beat with a mixer until airy.
Overall, the cheese is ready, but if you have the patience and refrigerate it, it tastes even better.
Note! If you are afraid to use raw eggs due to potential salmonellosis infection, use 3-4 quail instead of one chicken. They are the least likely to be infected by this bacterium.
Processed goat cheese
You can also recreate processed cheese at home. It will be very similar to the store "Friendship" or "Yantar", but the composition will be much more pleasant.
Ingredients:
- Milk - 3 l
- Butter - 100 g
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Salt and soda - 3 g each
Step-by-step preparation of melted goat cheese:
- Boil half the milk with salt.
- Remove the mass from the stove and transfer it to a warm place for 2-3 days, or just leave it in the room, but make sure that the temperature does not drop below 23 ° C.
- Before making melted cheese from goat's milk, slightly heat the mass, fold it onto cheesecloth and hang it so that all the liquid is glass.
- Unfold the cheesecloth, transfer its contents into a deep container, put all the other ingredients in it and beat with a mixer to get a dense mass without lumps.
- It remains to put the mixture in a water bath and simmer until a viscous consistency.
In general, you can eat the product right away, but it is better to put it in the refrigerator for several hours.
Hard goat cheese with sour cream
This homemade goat's milk cheese, of course, does not turn out to be as hard as the store cheese, but its consistency is denser than that of feta cheese.
Ingredients:
- Milk - 6 l
- Salt - 5 g
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Soda - 8 g
- Refined sunflower oil - 110 ml
Step by step preparation of hard goat cheese with sour cream:
- Boil half the milk with salt.
- Remove the mass from the stove and transfer it to a warm place for 2-3 days, or just leave it in the room, but make sure that the temperature does not drop below 23 ° C.
- Heat the mass slightly, fold it onto cheesecloth and hang it so that all the liquid is glass.
- Pour the second part of the milk into a saucepan, when it boils, put the contents of the bundle into it.
- Simmer for a quarter of an hour over low heat, put in a gauze knot and let drain.
- Gently mix the resulting mass with the rest of the ingredients, and then warm up for about a quarter of an hour in a water bath.
- Put the cheese in the refrigerator, taste it no earlier than a day later.
Professional leavened goat cheese
To prepare this cheese, which will turn out to be already very close to the store-bought cheese, you need to purchase a special sourdough and some other non-standard ingredients that you cannot find in a regular supermarket. In addition, a thermometer, professional uniform and a drainage bag are indispensable.
Ingredients:
- Milk - 15 l
- Mesophilic starter culture - 1/8 tsp
- Frying enzyme - 3/4 tsp
- Calcium chloride solution - 3/4 tsp.
- Water - 4 L (for brine)
- Rock salt - 1 kg (for brine)
- Vinegar 6% and dry calcium chloride - 5 g each (for brine)
Step-by-step preparation of goat cheese with professional sourdough:
- Heat the milk to 29 ° C, stirring constantly, remove from the stove.
- Spread the starter culture on the surface of the milk, after a few minutes it will be moistened and you can add it to the total mass.
- Mix the calcium solution and the enzyme separately with a quarter glass of water each, add alternately to the total mass, stir in, do not touch the future cheese for 30 minutes.
- If after half an hour the clot does not work out, let it stand for another 10-15 minutes.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the curd into small cubes.
- Stir the mixture slowly and continuously for 5 minutes, then leave it alone. Now stir for 10 minutes and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Drain about 10% of the whey (1.5 l), pour in the same amount of hot water at 60 ° C instead, stir for 10 minutes, then leave it alone for 10 minutes.
- Now drain a third of all whey (about 5 liters), replace with water at 43 ° C, mix, measure the total temperature, it should be 37 ° C.
- The stage that requires patience is the most - stir the mass for 20 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, drain as much whey as you can, cover the mold with a drainage bag, lay out the mass, put a 4 kg press on top.
- Transfer the cheese after pressing to make it denser, increase the press to 8 kg.
- Prepare the brine: mix water and salt, boil, cool, strain, add vinegar and dry calcium chloride.
- Soak the cheese in brine for 12 hours.
- Leave the resulting cheese at room temperature for a couple of days, the crust should dry out. Turn the "head" over from time to time so that the drying process proceeds evenly.
- Refrigerate for at least 6 weeks. If you have a special cheese wax, after a week they need to cover the crust and set again for aging.
The original Brunost goat cheese recipe
If you want to feel like a real cheese maker, cook the Norwegian Brunost.
Ingredients:
- Milk - 1 l
- Serum - 3 l
- Cream - 250 ml
- Sugar - optional
It will take about two days to prepare the cheese, while the second day will be spent on aging, that is, your active participation is not required.
How to prepare the original Brunost goat cheese step by step:
- Combine milk and whey, put on the stove, wait for a boil. Foam will form as it boils, remove but do not discard. When it stops appearing, put it in a mug and put it in the refrigerator.
- Continue cooking the whey itself over low heat - as a result, you should get about 1/4 of the volume, and on average it will take 5-15 hours to cook. Remember to stir occasionally.
- Pour the skimmed foam into the whey, also pour in the cream, simmer, stirring, until the mass thickens and turns light brown. At this stage, sugar can be added if desired.
- Before making homemade Brunost goat cheese, pour the mixture into a blender, beat for a couple of minutes.
- Pour into a saucepan again and simmer over low heat.
- When the consistency of thick fudge begins to turn out, remove the pan from the heat and place in a large container of cold water - while the mass is cooling, stir it.
- Divide the mass into molds, put in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Brunost is stored for a very long time, you can eat it without fear of spoilage for a whole month, however, most likely, you will eat this delicious dessert cheese much faster.
