When we first moved to our first farm in central NY state, one of the first farm animals we got was a goat.  We bought her from an Amish farm nearby. She became part of our family.  My grandson named her Goatie.  She used to play with my grandson and the dogs and fought with the dogs to eat their food.  It was so funny to watch.  She eventually gave birth to two female kids, otherwise known as Does.  Female goats are called Does and the males are called Bucks, just like Deer.

My grandson named the two does Jasmin and Bella (pictured above with my husband).  We milked Goatie everyday and used her milk to make cheese.  Yummmmm!!

We have since sold that farm and sold the goats as well.  We now have a smaller farm and we are thinking of getting more goats.

Goat’s milk is good in so many ways. Many people are able to tolerate it better than cow’s milk.  Our animals were all pasture fed (except for the occasional couple morsels of dog food…lol).   Being pastured makes their milk even more nutritious and delicious.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  It’s very easy to make and you don’t need a goat to get milk.

This is an easy recipe to make goat milk cheese requiring only a few ingredients and no fancy apparatus or appliances.  Goat milk is healthier than cow milk, and as I mentioned above, it’s well tolerated by many who cannot tolerate cow’s milk.  An added bonus is that it contains more protein. Goat milk is available at local grocery stores.  However, fresh raw goat milk makes the best goat cheese.  Purchase goat milk from a farmer’s market or a local farmer to make the freshest cheese.  Goat cheese is expensive and can be hard to find at grocery stores.  Making cheese from goat milk will save you money.  The process only requires a little patience and effort.

Things You’ll Need

• Half Gallon goat milk
• Stainless steel kettle
• Cooking thermometer
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• Colander
• Spoon
• Cheesecloth

Instructions:

Pour the goat milk into a stainless steel kettle or pot.

Place kettle on medium heat on a stove-top burner. Let the milk simmer until it reaches a desired temperature of 180º F Remove the goat milk from the heat.

Allow the milk to cool to 100º F or less before continuing. This is essential for the curds to form properly, and it prevents you from burning yourself.

Gently add 2 tsp of lemon juice. Stir the lemon juice and the milk. The curds will start to separate. Continue to add more lemon juice if this does not happen. Once the milk resembles cottage cheese, remove it from the stove-top.

Line a colander with a piece of cheesecloth. Spoon out the curds onto the cheesecloth. Allow the curds to strain for two hours to drain any excess liquid.

Discard the liquid.

Gently squeeze the cheese cloth with the curds to remove any lingering milk.

Open the cheesecloth and place the curds into a container.

Place cheese curds in the refrigerator. Refrigerate the curds for at least 24 hours before consuming to ensure they are the right texture.

Press curds together in a small container to form a block of cheese.

Tips… You can add any type of dried herbs to season your cheese, such as chives, rosemary, or parsley, just to name a few. Also add minced garlic if you like. Spread on crackers or add crumbled goat cheese curds to top off salads for a healthy alternative to cow cheese.

Be creative!   Goat cheese is very versatile!

Enjoy!!  🙂

Bon appetit!