Home Made Goat Cheese / Goat Whey / Farmer's Cheese

A sister here at church gave me a gallon of fresh goat milk today, so I decided to try and make the yummy goat cheese she served us with supper last week.  I followed her instructions and I have to admit, I was very surprised at how simple it was.

First, put the milk in a pot and heat it to almost boiling.  I stood near by and stirred it frequently to check on it.  I waited until it just started to boil, and then I turned off the heat.

Next, add 1/4c white vinegar and stir.  You should see the milk separate almost right away (that's what happened to mine anyway).  Let it sit to cool off.

Drain off the whey.  I got a big pan, put a colander on top and a cloth over the top of that to catch the whey.  I then gathered the cloth to where the whey was a ball and I gently squeezed it.  You can let it sit over night either in the colander with a plate on top of it to weigh it down, or tie a string around the cloth and hang it over the pan to drip off.  This will produce a firmer cheese.  I just gently squeezed it till hardly anything came out.

Last of all, stir in about 1 1/2t salt and store in the fridge.

From one gallon of milk I got about 2 1/2 cups of soft cheese that resembles cottage/cream cheese and spreads easily, and nearly 3 quarts of whey (I used a few cups already, so the picture shows only 2 1/2 quarts).  We'll use the cheese to spread over toast, put on pizza, or spread over tortillas and eat like quesadillas.  YUM.

RAW GOAT CHEESE - Do not heat the milk; put a small bit of a crushed rennet tablet into a gallon of fresh, raw milk.  Allow to sit till separated, then proceed as usual.  

So ... what do you do with all that nutritious whey that's left over? Here are a few ideas:

- We plan to use most of it for soaking grains.  You can soak grains like rice, millet, quinoa, wheat, oats, and so on, for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature in some water with 1-2 tablespoons of whey per cup of soaking water. You can then rinse the grains to remove any acidic taste to them, and then cook in fresh water or just use the soaking water to also cook them in.  You can also do this to flours - we like the taste of our bread a lot when we soak the whole wheat flour for at least 12 hours first.  Just soak the flour in the cooking water with the whey and add the rest of the ingredients prior to baking.
Soaking the grains makes them much easier to digest and helps absorb more nutrients - this was actually a common thing to do not too long ago.

- You can drink the whey if you like the taste of it ... or give it to your animals.  Put in smoothies or make lemon aid out of it.

- Another idea is to use it in place of milk in baking - biscuits, pancakes, breads, cakes, etc.

- Or you could use it in soups as a stock ... we might use some in potato soup.  You can even use it in mashed potatoes to add a bit of flavor and nutrients.

Be creative, don't throw it out.