Goats, Molasses and Cider Vinegar

Making Soft Goat Cheese

At the moment, we have an abundance of goats’ milk, so my husband and son decided to have a go at making Goat Cheese.

The recipe that we used comes from here.

It uses 1/2 gallon fresh goats’ milk (unpasteurised), the juice of two lemons and sea salt.

Firstly, we heated the milk on medium heat to 185°F. Then we removed it from the heat and stirred in lemon juice, continuing to stir it until the milk has curdled. Next, we added ½ tablespoon coarse salt (kosher salt or sea salt). After this, we strained the milk through cheesecloth. Finally we wrapped the curds in cheesecloth and hung it in the refrigerator to drain overnight.

This soft goat cheese is great on cracker biscuits or added to a salad or pasta.

The nutritional information for soft goat cheese per 1 oz is:

• Calories ~ 76
• Protein ~ 5.25
• Total Fat ~ 5.98g
• Carbohydrate ~ .25g
• Sugars ~ .25g
• Calcium ~ 40 mg
• Magnesium ~ 5 mg

Finally, the taste test, and it tastes like a cross between Playdough and car tyres – oh well, back to the drawing board! Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a good recipe for soft goat cheese – one that tastes like cheese.

Introduction to Deborah’s Kids – Elisabeth & RG

Last night, Deborah gave birth to twins – a buck and a doe, and the little doe is ever so tiny. The
buck would be almost double her weight. These kids are Toggenburg paternity and Deborah is a
British Alpine/Saanen cross. We trotted Deborah down to the yard, near the house, so that we
could keep an eye on her and her kids simply by picking her kids up and carrying them. Deborah
is such a good Mum and ever so protective. Best of all, she’s an excellent milker!

Making Goat Butter

Last night my husband separated the milk from the cream using a hand separator. He started out with nine litres of milk and this produced 700 millilitres of cream, and this in turn produced about 300 grams of butter. A word of warning, though – unless you have a new separator, this can be messy, so do it in a place where mess doesn’t matter. We used our car shed, with the separator set up on a bench top.

We can still use the goats’ milk as it is skim milk, and it is delicious. In fact, I had a glass full of skim milk with my lunch today.

After separating the cream from the milk, he placed the cream into the blender with a teaspoon of salt flakes, and blended it in short bursts until it became lumpy.

Next, he took it out of the blender, and continued to beat it using an electric hand-mixer until it became quite thick. Next, he drained the buttermilk off, and placed the butter into a colander and poured very cold water over it in order to make it set. After this, he placed it onto the chopping board and used the spatula to knead it.

We now also have buttermilk to make Mixed Berry Buttermilk Muffins.

Then, he placed the completed butter into a butter container in the refrigerator to set hard. It is also a different texture to bought butter – it is sort of crumbly and harder, similar in texture, when spread, to cottage cheese.

This butter is absolutely delightful, and doesn’t leave that greasy aftertaste in your mouth that cows’ milk butter does. It is also different in taste to bought butter, but it is absolutely delicious, and there is no goaty taste to it.

All in all, making goats’ butter is incredibly simple – all that you need is a little time and patience. Would we do anything differently next time? Yes, we would place the salt in with the butter after draining the buttermilk off. You live and learn with experience!

Goat’s Milk Butter and Cheese

Well, it appears that most people knew what our mystery object was – clever people, for I had not a clue what it was when he brought it home.

My husband is going to try and make goats’ butter after he has separated the milk from the cream. Then, after that he will try goat’s cheese, as we have an abundance of milk at the moment.

In Old Testament Bible times, the goat was considered a clean animal because it chews the cud and has a split hoof. Deuteronomy 14:4 A kid was often slaughtered for an honoured guest Judges 6:19, and goats are still considered most valuable for their flesh is eaten, and their milk is made into cheese and butter. Goats’ hair is woven into tents, carpets, coats, sacks and slings Hebrews 11:37 . In Old Testament times, the hair was also woven for the curtains of the Tabernacle. Exodus 26:7

Goats in Palestine and Syria are largely responsible for the arid landscape, as goats will stand erect to the height of a man and love to eat not only of the herbs, but also shrubs and small trees. In the middle of our paddock is a pine tree, which is enclosed with an old rainwater tank, but the goats still manage to keep it well pruned.

Goats would have to be the most versatile of all animals, and are definitely the easiest to care for. Our goats have become a very definite integral part of our lives, and it is difficult to imagine life without them. God has truly blessed us with the introduction of goats to this, our hobby farm.